Theatre at UBC
Alumni Spotlight
Alumni Spotlight: This special page is focused on our inspirational alumni who are using their talents to advance theatre locally and internationally. If you have someone to suggest we feature, please contact publicity.theatre [at] ubc.ca.
Congratulations to BFA Design & Production alumna Rebekka Sorensen who has
Rebekka launched her design career in theatre and eventually expanded into the film and television industries. She has since designed in both Vancouver, BC and Norway. Her reputation as a passionate and detail-oriented designer has afforded her the chance to work with the industry's most respected directors, producers, and actors including Laurence Fishburne, James Cromwell, John Cryer, Cole Hauser, Max Martini, Thomas Dekker, Kevin Pollak, Juliette Lewis, Debby Ryans, Heather Locklear, Emanuelle Chriqui, Anne Heche, Doris Roberts and Sarah Hyland.
Her flair for constructing costumes that capture each character¹s persona is particularly evident in her most notable creations featured in Miss Saigon, The School for Scandal, A Flea in Her Ear, Beauty and the Beast, Othello, A Christmas Carol and The Buddy Holly Story.
We wish her much continued success!
Alumna Katey Wright in Floyd Collins – alumna spotlight
The musical Floyd Collins, produced by BFA Acting Alumna Katey Wright’s company, Patrick Street Productions, will be playing at the York Theatre from March 11-30, 2014. Wright is the cofounder and co-artistic producer of Patrick Street Productions.
Set in 1925 Kentucky, this riveting musical is based on the true story of an American cave explorer and entrepreneur who, in his search for the ultimate tourist attraction, found himself trapped 100 feet below the earth.
A co-founder of two successful theatre companies prior to Patrick Street Productions, BFA Acting alumna Katey Wright has directed, written, and participated in numerous collective creations. Katey has devoted countless hours to volunteer work in Vancouver’s theatre community, spending 12 years as an elected regional rep and national councilor for Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, and three years as President of the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Society (having served an additional 6 years on the Jessies’ board). She has been a member of Theatre Cares Vancouver since 2001.
Katey Wright has been a professional performer for over 20 years and has worked with many companies including Bard on the Beach, Manitoba Theatre Centre/Citadel Theatre, Grand Theatre, London / Playhouse Theatre Co., Touchstone Theatre, Belfry Theatre, Victoria / Arts Club Theatre) and Chemainus Theatre. Katey also has extensive film, TV and Voice-Over credits. We wish her continued success with her own company and in all her endeavors.
CONGRATULATIONS
Torrance Coombs (BFA'05) L.A.’s People’s Choice Award
BFA Acting alumnus Torrance Coombs' new show REIGN, in which he has a leading role, has won The Favourite New TV Drama Award
at the People's Choice Awards in L.A at the Nokia Theatre. Torrance rose to fame as the villainous Thomas Culpepper in Showtime’s popular series The Tudors.
What a year for new TV shows! But if the people love one show above them all, it's Reign. The show won over a smörgåsbord of terrific new shows nominated such as Marvel’sAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Betrayal, The Blacklist, Dracula, Hostages, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, The Originals, Sleepy Hollow, and The Tomorrow People.
See Torrance with the rest of the winners on the red carpet at the People’s Choice Awards streaming online: peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/live-video/2014.jsp
Professor Tom Scholte joins Student & Alumni in Vancouver Film Critics Circle Nominations
UBC Department of Theatre and Film Associate Professor Tom Sholte has received a nomination for “Best Actor in a Canadian Film” from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle for his performance in The Dick Knost Show. Scholte is also a BFA Acting and MFA directing alumnus and the film was written and directed by his long time collaborator MFA Film Production alumnus Bruce Sweeney.
MFA Film Production alumnus Charles Wilkinson’s Oil Sands Karaoke is nominated for “Best British Columbia Film”, along with Jason DaSilva’s When I Walk. MFA Directing student Cari Green was an Associate Producer for When I Walk. The recipients of the awards will be announced January 7, 2014 at The Railway Club.
More: vancouverfilmcritics.com
Alumni & Students Kickstart Season 2 of Shakespeare Web Series
Blank Verse
Blank Verse is a an exciting new web series about William Shakespeare and the great writers of his time re-imagined as modern day university students. The series has a first season under its’ belt that can be seen on YouTube and the producers are now turning to KickStarter to create Season 2.
This project has involved an army of talented alumni and students in front of and behind the camera. The creative team includes: MFA Theatre Studies alumna Amanda Konkin (Writer and Director), BFA Theatre Production and Design alumnae Geneviève Bolduc (1st AD), Jen Waterhouse (Costume Assistant), Laura McLean (Transmedia Producer) and Jayda Novak (Continuity Supervisor) with MFA Film Production alumna Charlie Allison (Cinematographer), BA English & Theatre alumna Carolyn Rapanos (Production Designer), BFA Acting alumnus Xander Williams (Addition Sound), Film Production student Asher Isbrucker (Motion Graphics), BFA Design student Laura Fukumoto (Costume Designer), BA Theatre alumna Ashley Noyes(Locations Manager) and UBC staff member Adrianna Eyking (Make-Up).
The acting ensemble for Season 1 includes BFA Acting Alumni Xander Williams in the title role of William Shakespere along with Emma Middleton, Claire Hesselgrave, Andrew Lynch, Matt Reznek, Georgia Beaty and Pippa Johnstone as well as BA Theatre alumna Deb Pickman with Theatre & English Professor Emeritus Errol Durbach. Many other students and alumni were background actors in the series premiere.
Find out more here: kickstarter.com/projects/370135311/blankverse-season-2
Theatre Design Alumnus Mike Inwood Wins Coverted NYC Prize
Design Alumnus Mike Inwood Wins NYC Prize For Macy’s Christmas Windows
DDI Magazine has named Macy’s Herald Square in New York City as the Platinum Award winner in the annual Winning Windows Manhattan holiday retail window competition.
This year, the Macy's Herald Square windows (Lighting Design created by BFA ‘01 Design alumnus Mike Inwood) tell the story of a young boy’s dream on Christmas Eve, where he travels to a magical crystal forest and learns about the meaning of Christmas.
High-definition LED screens fill the back wall, expanding the windows’ scenery and creating impact. One window also contains a surprise interactive element that finds you rather than you finding it. The windows combine state-of-the-art technology with handcrafted artistry.” - DDI judges
The second-place Gold Award went to Bergdorf Goodman, and the third-place Silver Award went to Anthropologie Rockefeller Center.
For the 14th consecutive year, the DDI Winning Windows awards honour the top three Manhattan retail stores for their excellence in holiday window design. DDI Winning Windows judges walked New York, touring the storefronts and delighting in the creative, festive and impeccably executed designs that window teams across the city have spent the past year planning.
Judging was based on three criteria: originality and creativity, spirit of the season and technical aspects of execution. This year’s 2013 judges included Alison Embrey Medina, executive editor, DDI Magazine; Jessie Dowd, senior editor, DDI Magazine; and Peter-Tolin Baker, principal at P-T B Design Services.
See the windows unveiled on video as covered by Associated Press: nasdaq.com
Photo Credit: Mike Inwood
Maura Halloran Earns Best Actress at United Solo Festival
Huge kudos to BFA Acting Alumna Mara Halloran who has earned the award for Best Actress at The United Solo Theatre Festival in New York. United Solo is the world's largest solo festival with 121 productions this year from 6 continents.
Mara’s award comes at the end of a tour with her original one-woman show Pussy which was originally conceived as a short for Theatre at UBC's Tour de Force Festival. The full length version of Pussy premiered last year at DIVAfest in SanFrancisco and went on to success at the New York International Fringe Festival as well as to Seattle Fringe Festival.
Maura is pictured here with actress Fiona Shaw who also was presented with a special award at United Solo in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the art of solo performance.
Next up for Mara is participating in the San Francisco One Minute Play Festival. Later in the new-year she joins The Cutting Ball Theatre's Risk is This… Festival for a reading of Stegosaurus by Andrew P. Saito, directed by Rob Melrose.
In Spring 2014 Maura returns to The Cutting Ball Theatre for Communique No. 10translated and directed by Rob Melrose.
Find out more about Maura and her work here: maurahalloran.com
Alumnus Torrance Coombs Takes Lead in New TV Series
BFA Acting Alumnus Torrance Coombs in Reign
Our alumnus Torrance Coombs takes a lead role as "Bash" in the new TV series Reign.
Reign will transport viewers back into history to tell the fictional story of Mary, Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane). The story begins with her arrival back at the French Court after surviving an assassination attempt.
She's been engaged to Prince Francis (Toby Regbo) since she was a young child, but whether they will marry or not is questionable. On her arrival, it's immediately apparent that Francis' half-brother, Bash (played by Torrance Coombs), is smitten by the Queen.
Previous to this new series Coombs most recently appeared in a recurring role as Thomas Culpepper in the television series The Tudors, and in CBC's Heartland as Chase Powers.
More about Reign at cwtv.com/shows/reign
See Coombs in a preview and interview about his role in the new series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyS2SA6BPLA
Alumnus Luke Beattie in London’s West End
Wishing Luke Beattie (BA 2000) a broken leg across the pond where he’s appearing in London’s West End. He’s in the production Strangers on a Train at the Gielgud Theatre. The show is a psychological thriller and is brought to life by the producers behind the James Bond films. Luke will be sharing the boards with some of the UK’s most noteworthy actors, the play stars Laurence Fox, Jack Huston, Christian McKay, Miranda Raison, Imogen Stubbs, MyAnna Buring and is directed by Robert Allan Ackerman.
Since graduating from UBC Luke has gone on to graduate with distinction from the MFA in Staging Shakespeare and earned his PhD in Drama at Exeter University as well as earning six awards there during his studies. He’s also founded two theatre companies Foul Papers Theatre Company in the UK and Vanguard Theatre Society in Vancouver. This past summer he was an assistant director here at Bard on the Beach. We wish him much continued success!
MFA Directing alumnus Craig Holzschuh wins Marcus-Banque Nationale Prize
We’re thrilled to announce that Théâtre la Seizième Artistic and Managing Director (as well as our MFA Directing alumnus) Craig Holzschuh has
won the Marcus-Banque Nationale Prize. This prestigious award is the French Canadian version of the Siminovitch Prize.
Given every two years, the Prix Marcus-Banque Nationale highlights the work of exemplary French Canadians artists whose work has made a major, durable impact on both the regional and national levels. The prize is accompanied by a cash award of $15,000. In order to promote relationships, the development of the theatrical milieu, and the transmission of theatrical knowledge, the winners of the 2013 edition of the Prix Marcus-Banque Nationale were asked to choose a protégé they will mentor during the following year. Holzschuh has chosen two artists from Vancouver, Émilie Leclerc and Gilles Poulin-Denis, to contribute to the artistic directorship of the company over the course of the 2013-2014 season.
More at: www.seizieme.ca
Alumnus Brian Cochrane receives nod for December Man
Congratulations to MFA Directing Alumnus Brian Cochrane (2011) who has received his second consecutive Saskatoon & Area Theatre Award Nomination for Achievement in Directing for Colleen Murphy's The December Man. The show was staged in November 2012 by Fire In The Hole Productions as part of the Live Five series of independent theatre in Saskatoon. The awards are on September 30.
The list of nominees is here: satawards.ca
Congratulations to alumna Amanda Larder who graduated with a BFA Design and Technical Theatre in 2012.
Her extensive involvement in Theatre at UBC and
in Greater Vancouver has led her to the position of Paint and Props
Supervisor at Douglas College. At the link you'll find an great interview
with Amanda where she talks about her motivation to transform her ideas into
reality, and how it benefits a student to take every opportunity get
involved with projects both in their program of study and the larger
community outside of UBC.
Alumni Receive 2013 Dora Awards
Toronto’s professional theatre awards, The Dora Mavor Moore Awards, have recognized the work of three of our talented alumni.
We couldn’t be more proud of them:
Astrid Janson – MA Theatre Design
This year’s 2013 Dora recipients include our very accomplished alumna Astrid Janson who earned an award for Outstanding Costume Design in the Independent Theatre Division for The War of 1812 (Videocabaret & Young Centre for the Performing Arts). Janson’s work as a production/set and costume designer has been seen across Canada, in Paris, N.Y, Amsterdam and Berlin. She has designed theatre, opera, dance and film projects for the National Ballet, The Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, The National Arts Centre, Soulpepper and many films and television specials. Significant exhibition work includes Expo '86 and a Discovery Gallery for the ROM. Awards include 14 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, The Silver Ticket Award for Lifetime Achievement In The Theatre. She has also received a Toronto Drama Bench Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre and the 2004 Gemini Award for Production Design.
Gavin Crawford – BFA Acting
Congratulations to Gavin Crawford who earned a Dora for Outstanding Performance/Independent Theatre for his role in Sky Gilbert’s A Few Brittle Leaves (Buddies In Bad Times). In his acceptance speech, Crawford, formerly a cast member of CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, espoused the value of theatre as an art form.
I left 22 Minutes because I wanted to do something interesting,” he explained. “Don’t do something because it’s good, do something because it’s interesting. Don’t do something because it’s lucrative, do it because it’s interesting.”
In the coming months Crawford takes his acclaimed new solo show, Sh**ting Rainbows, to Just For Laughs in July and the Edinburgh Festival.
Also look to CBC TV online to Gavin’s hilarious Little Britain-style ode to Western Canada, Gavin Crawford’s Wild, Wild West, at the link: http://www.cbc.ca
Bruce Dow – BFA Acting/MFA Directing
In the Musical Theatre Division of the Dora’s alumnus Bruce Dow, a Stratford Festival and Broadway veteran, won for Outstanding Performance for his work in Alistair Newton’s Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical (Buddies in Bad Times). Dow, who‘s taking a season off from Stratford, was honoured by the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards earlier this year for the same role.
Other recent acting credits for Dow include "Nick Bottom" in A Midsumer Night’s Dream at The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. On Broadway he portrayed King Herod in the Tony® nominated Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Neil Simon Theatre in NYC. The production originated at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in their 2011 season, and after Broadway continued on to the La Jolla Playhouse.
Kudos to all three of our alumni on receiving Dora’s this year – and best wishes for continued success and fulfillment their craft.
Alumni, staff & new student in TUTS!
Our alumni, staff & new student SHINE in this summer’s Theatre Under the Stars:
Head to Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park to enjoy the high-octane energy of our talented alumni whose work is showcased in two musicals running in repertory all summer long in Theatre Under The Stars 67th Season.
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying is helmed by MFA Directing/BFA acting alumna Sarah Rodgers (Director) and new BFA Acting grad Alen Dominguez (Assistant Director & Male Understudy) with BFA Design alumnus Drew Facey (Set Design), as well as alumna & staff member Jennifer Suratoes (Performer) along with new BFA Acting student Julia Ulllrich.
Running in Rep is Legally Blonde: The Musical, which features the talents of BFA Design alumnus Drew Facey (Set Design), BFA Acting alumna Jocelyn Gauthier (Performer & Female Understudy) and new BFA Production grad Yeon Kreom Kim (Stage Manager).
Check out this great preview for these exciting shows from City TV’s Breakfast Television:
Alumna is new Production Manager at Presentation House
Congratulations to BFA Production & Design alumna Breanne Jackson, who has
just taken the position of Production Manager at North Vancouver's
Presentation House theatre for their 2013/14 season. Alongside her work as a
technical director, Breanne is a very accomplished stage manager, set
designer and visual artist. Companies she has worked with include The Shaw
Festival, Axis Theatre, Arts Club, Blackbird and Theatre Twenty Something
Theatre. See her paintings and projects at http://www.breannejacksonart.com
Former BFA Acting (2008) classmates at Stratford & Soulpepper
BFA acting alumna Courtney Lancaster will appear in Soulpepper Theatre’s newly announced 2013/14 Season. This is Courtney’s second season with the company and she will be playing the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville, a new adaptation by Michael O’Brien with music by John Millard (adapted from Rossini). Last year Courtney was selected to train with the Soulpepper Academy, the Soulpepper Theatre Company’s paid training and performance program. This past year she performed with them in The Crucible, The Royal Comedians and Death of a Salesman. More at http://soulpepper.ca
The Stratford Festival announced that Courtney’s former classmate, BFA Acting Alumna Sarah Afful, is returning for her second year in their Birmingham Conservatory program. This season Sarah will appear as Mariana in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (as well as understudy the role of Isabella) and will appear with the Ensemble in Mary Stewart by Friedrich Schiller. The Birmingham Conservatory is the only program in North America that concentrates exclusively on training for the classical actor within a classical repertory theatre. The 10 actors chosen this year embark on five months of intensive training under the direction of Canadian stage legend Martha Henry.
More:http://www.stratfordfestival.ca
Alumnus Camyar Chai in film premiere of “Refuge” at Tribeca Festival
Camyar Chai (MFA Directing, BFA Acting) recently appeared in the short film “Refuge”, which premiered at the Tribeca festival. The film is in Persian and English, with subtitles in English. The writer and director, Mohammad Gorjestani, is an Iranian American filmmaker, creative director, and entrepreneur based in San Jose, California. Alumnus Camyar Chai co-stars in the film along with another Canadian, award winning actress Nikohl Boosheri.
Refuge, is one in a series of fictional short films called FUTURESTATES, which offer intriguing visions about what life in Asmerica will be like in the decades and centuries to come. Presented by ITVS.
Alumnus Camyar Chai has worked in theater, opera, film, television, and radio for more than two decades. He has appeared in numerous U.S. and Canadian productions, most recently in the independent feature “Ambrosia”. Chai has directed the plays Bollywood Wedding, Adrift on the Nile,Mother Courage and Her Children, and My Acid Trip. He is also a published playwright whose work ranges from satire and drama to musical theatre, along with librettos for children’s opera, including Elijah’s Kite. He is the founder of Neworld Theatre.
See a Camyar Chai in a trailer for Refuge: futurestates.tv/episodes/refuge
Alumna brings new web series to life
DADS
http://www.dadsdotcom.com
Dad’s is a new transmedia comedy series curently in development created by Theatre at UBC alumna Siobhan McCarthy with Adam O. Thomas and directed by Peter DeLuise. Siobhan received development funding for DADS from BC Films, as well as Media’s Interactive Fund, and has recently been awarded a Women in Film mentorship from Banff 2013. Not 'just' a web series per se, DADS is also developing apps such as 'Dadvice,' GPS messaging (ie – where to find the nearest playground) and game playing.
DADS charts the path to being a man, and a dad, for the X-Why bother Generation. Set in the Pacific Northwest, DADS follows a group of early 30's long-time friends, now turned stay-at-home dads, as they explore the meaning of being a parent from a new and irreverent perspective. The series captures the real-life disasters that occur when a group of guys are left to try and figure it out for themselves. With the local playground as their home base, Tim, Jesse, Davinder along with their unattached still-partying friend Josh, roam the neighbourhood all the while changing diapers, pushing strollers and keeping a cavalier eye on their kids. With the best of intentions but prone to distraction, they are constantly trying to hold onto their reckless pasts — while surviving the present. More http://www.dadsdotcom.com
See the hilarious trailer here: http://youtu.be/bifvPPfsKN8
Alumnus Wladimiro Rodriguez takes position at Theatre Junction in Calgary, Alberta
Congratulations to BFA Theatre Production & Design alumnus Wladimiro A. Woyno Rodriguez on being appointed as Head of Lighting at Theatre Junction in Calgary, Alberta.
Since Wlad graduated in 2012 he’s gone on to work as Projection Technologist for Vancouver dance company 605 Collective on tour (National Arts Centre premier). Next up was a tour with Kidd Pivot's Tempest Replica as Head of Projection, Audio and Rigging - the highlight of which was a run in Holland at the Nederlands Dans Theatre. The NDT show was live streamed on opening night to 600 movie theatres and toured the Nederlands as well. View his portfolio at www.wawr.ca
Here's a clip of the production Kidd Pivot's Tempest Replica that Wlad designed for, as performed at Nederlands Dans Theatre in Holland. http://www.ndt.nl/balletten/89
BFA Acting alumnus Torrance Coombs (The Tudors) has landed a lead role in the CW’s drama pilot Reign, from CBS TV Studios.
It chronicles the rise to power of Mary Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane) when she arrives in France as a 15-year-old, betrothed to Prince Francis (Toby Regbo), and with her best friends as ladies-in-waiting. Coombs, repped by D2 Management and King Talent on Vancouver, will play Sebastian, Francis’ resourceful illegitimate half brother, a favorite son of King Henry II and his most favored mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Congratulations Torrance!
More at: deadline.com/2013/03/torrance-coombs
UBC Alumni Affair's magazine "Trek" interviews Torrance
Alumna Moya O’Connell flying high at Arts Club & Shaw
Welcome home to our BFA Acting alumna Moya O’Connell who is back in Vancouver to star in the mile-high romantic comedy Boeing-Boeing (to Feb 24) at the Arts Club’s Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. The production is directed by MFA Directing and BFA Acting alumnus David Mackay. Later this year Moya returns to the Shaw Festival for her seventh season with the company. She’ll appear in Enchanted April by Matthew Barber and Peace in Our Time: A Comedy by John Murrell.
Also rejoining the Shaw ensemble is our talented BFA Design alumnus Alan Brodie who will design Shaw’s Major Barbara and Our Betters by W. Somerset Maugham for the festival. The press has rightly dubbed The Shaw Festival “One of the great repertory theatres in the English-speaking world.”
Alumna Anastasia Phillips back in Bomb Girls
Exciting to see BFA Acting alumna Anastasia Phillips is back as 'Vera Burr' for yet another season of Global TV's hit series “Bomb Girls”. Bomb Girls profiles the stories of four women working in a Canadian munitions factory during World War II, beginning in 1941. The show started as a mini-series and is now a full fledged 12 part series airing in Canada, the United States, UK and in Ireland. The new addition to their interactive website for the show is a real blast. Enter The Jewel Box, an art deco bar inspired by the nightlife of the 40's.
Explore the music, design inspiration and history of the era here: globaltv.com/bombgirls
Theatre and Film Alumna win Crazy8s!
Film Production alumna Nimisha Mukerji and BA Theatre alumna Orsolya Szabó, are two of the CRAZY8s winners this year with their film pitch HAPPY HOMECOMING. (Writer: Orsy Szabó, Director: Nimisha Mukerji).
Happy Homecoming is one of only six projects chosen, from a list of 40 semi-finalists, who pitched their ideas to a jury of industry professionals. The winners receive $1,000 and a production package with everything they need to make their short five minute film in just 8 days. This year’s winners begin their 8 “razy days of production on Feb. 8. Then you can see the brand new films they’ve made at the Crazy8s 2013 Gala Screening at the Centre for Performing Arts on Feb. 23, 2013. Crazy8s is now in it’s 14th year. http://www.crazy8s.cc/ index.html
Faculty, Alumni & students get curtain call: Courier Year in Review
The Vancouver Courier’s reviewer Jo Ledingham has singled out many alumni and current students who were part of her most memorable stage moments in 2012.
Professor Stephen Malloy’s Main Street Theatre company was applauded for their production of Endgame in the Tremors Festival. Malloy directed the cast which included BFA Acting alumni Sasa Brown (as Nell) and Ryan Beil (Clove) along with Daryl King (Nagg) and Josh Drebit (Hamm). Ledingham remarked “Known for productions of David Mamet's plays, this small company proved once again its versatility and virtuosity with Beckett's apocalyptic tale.”
Theatre at UBC’s production of The Duchess: aka Wallis Simpson, directed by alumna Sarah Rodgers, was also standout for Ledingham: “It was still summery in October when UBC opened The Duchess: a.k.a. Wallis Simpson. It didn't matter if the facts had been toyed with because the show was so stylish thanks to Michael Bock's art nouveau set and Miriam Thom's period gowns. Not in Linda Griffiths' original script but added by the divinely inspired director Sarah Rodgers was singing, piano-playing Alexander Keurvorst as Noel Coward. The music was such a bonus it's hard to imagine The Duchess without it. Pippa Johnstone was so headstrong and swanky as Mrs. Simpson, the woman who stole Edward VIII's heart, I'm certain Eddie would have fallen for Ms. Johnstone, too.”
More alumni noted in the season review: MA Theatre student Katrina Dunn (Touchstone Theatre artistic director) for her direction of Eternal Hydra with BFA Acting alumni John Murphy and Laara Sadiq. Til Death Do We Part: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, written and directed by MFA directing student Ryan Gladstone. MFA Directing alumnus David Mackay for his direction of Race by Mitch and Murray Productions and BFA Acting alumnus David Adams was applauded for his work as Tevye in Gateway Theatre's production of Fiddler On The Roof.
Read Jo Ledingham’s entire roundup of Vancouver’s most memorable theatre of 2012 here vancourier.com/entertainment/Year+Theater+Plays
Alumni Spotlight Amanda Lockitch
Alumna Amanda Lockitch published in Canadian Theatre Review
MA Theatre alumna Amanda Lockitch has written an article published in the latest issue of Canadian Theatre Review. The new issue of CTR is the first issue to address the development and production of performances in Canada that are rooted in the Jewish experience. Artists and scholars re-imagine traditional representations of Jewish culture, history, and ritual and highlight the diverse forms that Jewish performance has taken in contemporary Canadian contexts: from plays on Jewish themes, to site-specific Jewish theatre, to Yiddish parades, to queer re-stagings of religious practice, to intermedia installations of mythic Jewish spaces.
Amanda's article is entitled “Jewish Theatre in Vancouver Has Chutzpah!” and it illustrates diverse Jewish Canadian theatrical experiences showcased at the Chutzpah! Festival by discussing two cutting edge productions: Kendra Fanconi’s The One That Got Away (2002) and Itai Erdal’s How to Disappear Completely. These productions demonstrate the growth of the Chutzpah! Festival from its 2001 inception to its current place as a leading annual arts festival in Vancouver. There is no distinguishable group that solely presents Jewish theatre in Vancouver, but its vibrant theatre community includes many individuals who create or participate in work that explores Jewish themes and material whether or not they themselves, or their collaborators, are Jewish.
Read it online now at utpjournals.metapress.com
Alumni Spotlight Claire Hesselgrave
Alumna Claire Hesselgrave accepted to to Citadel Theatre & Banff Centre
program
Congratulations to Theatre at UBC BFA Acting alumna Claire Hesselgrave on being selected to the Citadel Theatre/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program!
This season, the program will showcase the talents of an all-female ensemble, as they look to develop and enhance their skills at the Banff Centre and at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton." - Bob Baker, Citadel Theatre Artistic Director
The Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program is a Robbins Academy initiative offering advanced development to enhance the performance skills of established theatre professionals. The curriculum of the Professional Program comprises master classes and workshops in acting, singing, voice, movement, dance, stage combat, text, and script analysis by a Faculty of some of Canada¹s leading theatre artists.
The program starts January 20, 2013 and following the five-week training period, participants will rehearse and perform Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad which runs at the Citadel Theatre March 30 April 21, 2013.
Read more about the program here citadeltheatre.com
Alumni Spotlight Amanda Larder
The UBC Department of Theatre and Film is proud to announce that recent grad Amanda Larder (2012 BFA Design, Technical Theatre) has been appointed Paint and Props Supervisor at Douglas College.
Amanda’s recent credits include Set Design for Fighting Chance Productions’ The Wiz and Sweeney Todd, Delinquent Theatre’s Stationary and united Players’ A Room With A View. We wish our talented and hard working alumna continued success!
Alumni Spotlight Sharon Huizinga
Congratulations to our accomplished MFA Design alumna Sharon Huizinga who
has recently accepted the position of Temporary Assistant Lecturer at the
University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance.
Sharon has been a Lighting Designer and Programmer for over 15 years, working around the world and in many genres, from theatre and live music to corporate events and television.
US credits include: Lighting Design for "Macbeth" "Ghost on Fire" "Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Sweet Love Adieu" for the Oberon Theatre Ensemble in New York. Lighting Programmer for "Shrek, the Musical" (Broadway and national tour), "Nerds, a Musical Software Satire" (Philadelphia), "Ditty Doodle Works Pajama Party Live" (National Tour) and the GM booth at the NY Auto Show. Lighting Director for the Home States Ball at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration (Washington DC).
In Canada (selected): Lighting Designer for the world premier of "Khaos, the Opera", Lighting Director for the Cultural Olympiad of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Lighting Programmer for the 2010 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremonies, multiple lighting designs for The Globe Theatre in Regina, Studio 58, Intermuses Productions, and The Richmond Gateway Theatre, all in Vancouver. She has also designed lighting for "I am My Own Wife" (Belfry Theatre, Victoria), "Cymbeline" (Bard on the Beach, Vancouver", and for "Ali and Ali and the Axes of Evil" (Neworld/Cahoots Theatre, Vancouver/Toronto), the closing production of the 2005 Canada Games in Regina, and co-designed lighting (with Mike Johnston) for MTV Select.
Touring Credits include: Lighting Designer for Diana Krall's "From This Moment On" Tour, Asst. Head of Lighting for Cirque Du Soleil's "Dralion", Lighting Designer for Deva Premal and Miten's "Password" tour, Production Manager and Lighting Designer for Jesse Cook's "Frontiers" Tour, Video Programmer for Diana Krall's Solo shows at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Asst. Production Manager for Diana Krall's "Girl In The Other Room" Tour (Asia, Australia and NZ), Production Manager and Technical Director for "Fire, Where There's Smoke" Canadian Tour (Dance Arts Vancouver), Lighting Director for Norah Jones' Summer 2003 Tour, Lighting Director for Ballet British Columbia's Mexico Tour of "The Faery Queen", and an enlightening turn as a promoter's representative for Pearl Jam's 2005 Canadian Tour.
Sharon is a certified Jivamukti yoga teacher and a recreational mountain climber. For examples of her design work see her company website: www.dutchdameproductions.com
Alumna and Adjunct Prof Rachel Ditor
awarded 2012 Bra D'Or
For her work supporting female playwrights, Vancouver Arts Club literary
manager and dramaturge Rachel Ditor was awarded the 2012 Bra D'Or on Monday
night.
The award was presented by Sally Stubbs, chair of the Playwrights Guild of Canada's Women's Caucus, which sponsors the award
Each year the Bra D'Or recipient is recognized for his or her active promotion of Canadian women playwrights. In nominating Ditor, Vancouver playwright and actor Lucia Frangione called her a "rarely recognized angel," noting she "makes sure commissions are given to women, not just men."
At the Arts Club, Ditor works as a dramaturge on new plays commissioned for the company. She is also an adjunct professor of dramaturgy at the University of B.C. theatre and film department, and has worked to develop new plays for over two decades.
Ditor is also a director, and recent credits include Bard on the Beach's production of The Merchant of Venice, and Calendar Girls at the Arts Club.
Read more:
http://www.playwrightsguild.ca
Two Alumni Make MTC Debut
Congratulations to two BFA Acting alumni who are making their debut in two different shows at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Alumnus Jameson Matthew Parker appears with stage veteran Oliver Becker in Red, the intense two hander by John Logan.
Alumnus Ashley O’Connell makes his MTC debut in A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin with a large and talented cast. These two productions, which are running in repertory, are both garnering rave reviews. Both Parker and O’Connell appeared in the Arts Club Theatre’s Blood Brothers last season. Red (directed by Michael Shamata) is a MTC co-production with Victoria’s Belfry Theatre, andA Few Good Men (directed by James MacDonald) is a MTC co-pro with Edmonton’s Citadel. Watch for Jameson when he returns to Vancouver on tour as part of the cast of Ride the Cyclone: A Musical, January 17 to February 16, 2013. Aside from it’s run at the Arts Club as part of Vancouver’s PuSh Festival, Ride the Cyclone will be taking Jameson back to MTC and making stops at Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo, The Citadel Theatre, Persephone Theatre and Theatre One.
Alumnus Shortlisted for Siminovitch Prize in Theatre
Alumnus one of Five Outstanding Canadian Designers Short-Listed for 2012 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre
Designers from Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal in the running for $100,000 prize - the largest in Canadian theatre
Congratulations to BFA Theatre Studies (1989) alumnus Alan Brodie who is one of five Canadian designers shortlisted for the prestigious Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. The five finalists were selected from a list of 26 nominees, recognized for their work in professional lighting, costume, set, sound and mixed media design and for their inspiration to younger theatre designers. The recipient of the award, the largest in Canadian theatre, will receive a $100,000 prize, which will be announced at a ceremony in Toronto on November 5, 2012.
Since 1989, lighting designer Alan Brodie has worked for Canadian regional theatre, opera and dance companies from Victoria to Halifax, as well as the countless small and independent producers, and has also seen his work on the international stage. His lighting has come to be characterized by its sophisticated use of color, sensitivity to the inherent rhythms of work, a passion for collaboration and mentorship and an uncompromising pursuit of excellence. Mr. Brodie has received 8 Jessie Richardson awards, a Betty Mitchell award and a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. A past board member of the Associated Designers of Canada, Brodie holds a BFA in theatre studies from the University of British Columbia. He has served on faculty at UBC, the Banff Centre and the National Theatre School of Canada. Brodie lives in Vancouver with his wife Michele.
About the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre
The Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre honours professional directors, playwrights and designers by acknowledging excellence and encouraging further exploration in Canadian theatre. The Siminovitch Prize was created in 2001 and is dedicated to distinguished scientist Lou Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore, a playwright. For further information about the prize, please visit www.siminovitchprize.com <http://www.siminovitchprize.com> .More at http://www.siminovitchprize.com
ALUMNA MINA SHUM PROFILED IN TREK MAGAZINE"
(Mina Shum is) one of the best comedic filmmakers in contemporary, independent Canadian cinema.”
- Canadian Film Encyclopedia
The latest online issue of Trek Magazine has a wonderful profile of UBC Theatre and Film alumna Mina Shum. In the article she explains how her experience in theatre was foundational to her career as a writer and director. She points to the late Dr. Peter Loeffler’s Theatre 120 course at UBC as an early inspiration that has since informed much of her work.
Shum has written and directed three feature films, numerous shorts and created two site specific video installations. Her features, Double Happiness and Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity both premiered in the US at the Sundance Film Festival. Double Happiness earned the Wolfgang Staudte Prize for Best First Feature at the Berlin Fim Festival and the Audience Award at Torino.
Currently, Shum is in the final stages of scripting Two of Me, a film she describes as an “irreverent romantic comedy” that asks what happens when you suppress parts of yourself. Two of Me is about the new identity a mother must negotiate when she has a child.
Read Mina Shum’s profile in Trek Magazine here:
http://trekmagazine.alumni.ubc.ca/2012/septemberoctober-2012/features/proud-to-be-punk/
MFA UBC Grad Lorenzo Savoini in Elle Canada!
Fashion design process: A look at costume design and fashion designer collaborations in history
Given the intimate relationship between fashion and theatre over the years, Elle Canada takes look at theatre costume design, from early sketches to opening night.
Read the entire about MFA UBC Grad Lorenzo Savoini and his work as resident designer for Soulpepper Theatre at: http://www.ellecanada.com
Vote for Alumni at Canadian Comedy Awards!
Congratulations to BFA Acting alumni Ryan Beil and Gavin Crawford who have been nominated for Canadian Comedy Awards!
Jessie Richardson Award winning actor and funnyman Ryan Beil has been nominated as Best Male Improviser at this Year's Canadian Comedy Awards and his improv troupe "The Sunday Service" has been nominated for both Best Improv Troupe as well as Best Podcast.
Beil is Co-Artistic Director (along with Theatre at UBC Professor Stephen Malloy) of Vancouver’s acclaimed Main Street Theatre and he is often recognized for his comedic turn as the quirky young employee on a series of A&W Commercials. Beil most recently starred in the Arts Club Theatre’s acclaimed production of The Importance of Being Ernest.
Alumnus Gavin Crawford, a former Canadian Comedy Award recipient and Gemini Award winning actor, is best known as a regular over the past ten years on CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes and as the star and creator of The Gavin Crawford Show.
This year Crawford has received a Canadian Comedy Award nomination for Best Performance by a Male in the Film category for his performance in “French Immersion”.
Anyone with membership in the following unions: CAEA, UBCP, ACTRA, UDA, WGC, DGC, CMG, CFTPA can register and vote. So if you’re eligible, and have had your funny bone tickled by these alumni, please cast your ballot (until July 29 2012) at: http://www.canadiancomedy.ca/register.php?reg=industry
Alumni Spotlight on Eric Peterson
Alumnus Eric Peterson receives a special citation at 2011/12 Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards
In addition to the usual roster of awards, the jury decided to give a special citation to Theatre at UBC alumnus Eric Peterson, who lit up the stage in The Company Theatre's The Test, Soulpepper's You Can't Take It With You and the Crow's Theatre/Porte Parole docudrama Seeds this season.
Even now as an eminent senior actor, beloved for his past roles on the homegrown TV series Corner Gas and Street Legal, he continues to lend his considerable talents to smaller companies and edgier fare," wrote The Grid critic and Globe and Mail contributor Martin Morrow.
Eric Peterson was educated at the University of Saskatchewan and at the University of British Columbia. A member of a UBC generation of future theatre luminaries which also included alumni John Gray and the late Larry Lillo, he co-founded Vancouver's Tamahnous Theatre (1971), a collective theatre company. In 1974, Peterson moved to Toronto where he joined Theatre Passe Muraille, at that time the leading collective ensemble in Canada and one of the most vigorous and creative theatre organizations in North America. Peterson is recognized as one of the early pioneers of the collective theatre movement in Canada during the 1970s.
His fresh, energetic, natural acting style has made him popular with Canadian audiences, and he continues to be a mainstay of Canadian television. He has received many acting awards, toured internationally with Billy Bishop Goes to War (2011, 2010, 2009 - which he originated and co-wrote with playwright and novelist John Gray) and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2010.
This year, the Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards were decided by critics from The Globe and Mail (J. Kelly Nestruck), The Grid (Martin Morrow), National Post (Robert Cushman), NOW Magazine (Glenn Sumi) and the Toronto Star (Richard Ouzounian).
Alumni Spotlight on Sasa Brown
more at Main Street Theatre
Alumni Spotlight on Amanda Konkin
Congratulations to alumna Amanda Konkin who has just taken the post as Publicist at Headlines Theatre.
Konkin is a great fit in her new role and is passionate about Headline’s work. She completed her MA in Theatre Studies with a thesis on the company entitled "Forum Theatre, Technology and Desire: An investigation of Headline Theatre's online broadcasts."
Headline’s upcoming production is Corporations in Our Heads, which is billed as “Interactive theatre to evict the corporate voices that occupy our collective psyche”. It runs from May 24-27th at 7:30pm in the W2 Media Cafe (111 West Hastings St). Admission by donation, RSVP recommended:rsvp@headlinestheatre.com
The next project Konkin undertakes with Headlines will be maladjusted, which premieres in the spring of 2013. maladjusted will delve into the mental health system in BC. Like all of Headlines presentations it utilises a methodology called Theatre For Living which offers the opportunity for audience/community involvement and dialogue. In this case the dialogue will centre around unlocking the barriers to patient-centered care. maladjusted will be created and performed by people struggling with issues of mental health and stigmatization within the mental health system.
Founded in 1981, Vancouver's Headlines Theatre, directed by David Diamond, uses Theatre For Living to help living communities tell their stories. Theatre For Living has evolved from Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed". Headlines approaches community-based cultural work from a systems-based perspective; understanding that a community is a complexly integrated, living organism. Find out more at www.headlinestheatre.com
Alumni Spotlight on Deb Pickman
Kudos to Theatre at UBC alumna and staff member Deb Pickman who has been named by The Ubyssey newspaper as one of "the people on the campus who have shaped the issues UBC talked about" this year."
Pickman, who is Marketing and Communications manager for Theatre at UBC, along with Wilson Wong from UBC Athletics, joined five other staff, alumni, students and faculty who were highlighted. Pickman and Wong were singled out in this, the Ubyssey's final issue of the year, as "The Unsung Communicator's."
There are plenty of games screenings and performances happening on campus nearly every weekend of the school year. But aside from periodic write-ups from this paper, most of the students competing and performing would go unnoticed if not for the yeoman's work of Deb Pickman and Wilson Wong, who handle communications for UBC Theatre (Pickman) and UBC Athletics (Wong). They write up previews of events, tweet anything related to their respective performers and work diligently to raise the profile of some of the most involved students on campus." - The Ubyssey
Earlier this year The Ubyssey profiled Pickman for their Our Campus feature: http://ubyssey.ca/features/our-campus-deb-pickman-a-theatre-evangelist
In tandem with her career in communications, Pickman is also an theatre creator, she is a two time Jessie Richardson Award nominated actress and recipient of the Vancouver Sun's People's Choice Award. She is presently an active ensemble member of the Vancouver company she co-founded in 1992 with BFA Acting alumna Renee Iaci and Costume Designer Lana Krause - shameless hussy productions. The company has a mandate of "telling provocative stories about women, to inspire the hand that rocks the cradle to rock the world." More at http://www.shamelesshussy.com.
Alumni Spotlight on Barbara Kozicki
Alumna Barbara Kozicki nominated for Best Actress
"Coerced" L-R Chris McNally, Goldie Hoffman and Barbara Kozicki in "Coerced". Photo Credit: Leigh Forsythe
Congratulations to BFA Acting alumna Barbara Kozicki who earned "Best Actress" nomination for her performance in the film "Coerced" at The 168 Film Festival, in Los Angeles. The film received two other award nominations; Best International Film and Kozicki's co-star Goldie Hoffman earned Best Supporting Actress. The winners will be announced March 31, 2012.
EVE Entertainment Inc. shot "Coerced" a short film about human trafficking to raise awareness about this ‘modern day slavery’ in Canada. As a part of the 168 Film Project they had just 168hrs to shoot and edit their film.
... the first human trafficking conviction this summer did not involve a foreigner, but rather a 13-year-old in the Greater Toronto Area who was bought and sold by Canadian men on the popular online classified advertisement website Craigslist." - CBC News
Coerced will be available for screening after March 31st, 2012. Find out more about this important film and the journey to abolish human trafficking: http://www.coercedfilm.com
Alumni Spotlight on Bobby Garcia
Coinciding with the opening night of the Expo 2010 Shanghai, the Sacrifice partners (producers Toby Simkin, William Ong and authors KennetH Clarke, Richard Daniels and Mark Troop) are pleased to announce the attachment of internationally renowned stage director, Theatre at UBC MFA Directing Alumnus Bobby Garcia to direct the musical of Sacrifice. In addition to the feature film version, the musical is in development now to open in London's West End after an Asian workshop production.
I have known Bobby for years, and greatly respected his unique ability to re-tell a foreign story to Asian audiences with his Asian productions of ‘The King and I', ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella' and ‘Hairspray'. I have been searching for a Director with an Asian sensibility to tell our love story to western audiences, Bobby was the #1 perfect choice." said Toby Simkin, Lead Producer.
Bobby Garcia was born in Asia and raised in North America.
"I am really excited to helm this unique project as we head to London's West End. The score is a beautiful fusion of ancient Chinese and modern western sound, and the story is one of the greatest love stories of all time." said Bobby Garcia
Sacrifice is the story of Emperor Xuanzong (of the prosperous Tang dynasty 618-907 AD) who brings Yang GuiFei, one of China's most beautiful women, into his court as a concubine. When they adopt China's greatest villain, the barbarian An Lushan, their fateful triumvirate creates China's greatest love story.
Bobby Garcia has worked in film, television, stage and live concert entertainment. Many of his shows have been staged throughout the Asian region including mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. Notable stage productions include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Manila & Singapore), Hairspray, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (Asia tour), Dogeaters, Avenue Q (Manila & Singapore), The King & I (Asia tour), Disney's Beauty & The Beast, Baby, Urinetown, Dreamgirls, The Rocky Horror Show, Proof, Tick,Tick...Boom!, Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Jesus Christ Superstar, How I Learned To Drive, and Rent (Manila & Singapore). Concerts and TV Specials include Lea Salonga: Your Songs, Lea Salonga: The Broadway Concert, Night of the Champions, The Prince of Pop & the Comedy Concert Queen, Lea Salonga: Songs From Home, Erik Santos Solo at the Coliseum and Lea Salonga: Home For Christmas. He was also an Associate Director for Miss Saigon and was Hong Kong Disneyland's first Show Director opening the park in 2005. Upcoming and future projects include the Broadway bound musical Rue McClanahan's My First Five Husbands, the US National Tour of Cinderella, Xanadu and A Little Night Music in Manila & Singapore. He is the winner of two Aliw Awards (Live Entertainment Awards) for Direction.
Bobby Garcia and the authors (KennetH Clarke, Richard Daniels and Mark Troop) have already been hard at work in the past couple of months developing the musical structure and characters in preparation for an Asian workshop production, prior to the London opening. The team is currently preparing a new demo recording which will be made available on the official website in the summer of 2010.
Dates of both the Asian workshop and the London opening will be announced on www.SacrificeWorldwide.com at a future time.
Read more: westend.broadwayworld.com/article/Director_Bobby_Garcia
Alumni Spotlight on Aslam Husain
BFA Acting Alumnus heads for study in the UK
Congratulations to BFA Acting alumnus Aslam Husain who has recently completed a successful run at the Arts Club Theatre in Calendar Girls - and
now has just been accepted into East 15's MFA in Acting program in London. Aslam is looking forward to performing on the Globe stage, studying in
Moscow and working in London.
East 15's MFA in Acting (International) is a unique 20 month programme that has been designed specifically for overseas students and is a development of East 15's successful MA in Acting and MA in Acting for TV, Film and Radio.
MFA students in their second year work within a repertory company to apply and extend their skills in a series of fully-staged productions written and performed in English. Aslam plans to take advantage of the field study option for MFA students based at the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, GTIS, Moscow. More about the school at http://east15.ac.uk
Alumni Spotlight on Katey Wright
Alumna Shines at Eighth Annual Ovation Awards
Leading the way at this year’s Ovation Awards was Patrick Street Productions, which was co-founded by alumna Katey Wright, who also acts as the company’s co-artistic producer.
Patrick Street Productions’ A Light in the Piazza received a total of five Ovation Awards, including Outstanding Professional Production, Direction and Musical Direction. Wright also took honours for Outstanding Lead Performance – Female with Lighting Design going to alumnus Alan Brodie for his work on the show.
The acting ensemble for this critically acclaimed work included Theatre at UBC alumnus David Adams. Bravo to everyone involved!
The Ovation Awards are presented annually to honour the best musical theatre produced in the Lower Mainland. For more, see www.applusemusicals.com.
Patrick Street Productions was founded by Artistic Producers Peter Jorgensen and Katey Wright in 2007 with a mandate to offer great productions of great plays and musicals for Metro Vancouver, with an emphasis on contemporary musicals that have not yet been professionally produced in the region. More information http://www.patrickstreetproductions.com.
A co-founder of two successful theatre companies prior to Patrick Street Productions, BFA Acting alumna Katey Wright has also worked as a publicist and administrator, and she has directed, written, and participated in numerous collective creations. Katey has devoted countless hours to volunteer work in Vancouver’s theatre community, spending 12 years as an elected regional rep and national councillor for Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, and three years as President of the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards Society (having served an additional 6 years on the Jessies’ board). She has been a member of Theatre Cares Vancouver since 2001.
Katey Wright has been a professional performer for over 20 years and has worked with many companies including Bard on the Beach, Manitoba Theatre Centre/Citadel Theatre, Grand Theatre, London / Playhouse Theatre Co., Touchstone Theatre, Belfry Theatre, Victoria / Arts Club Theatre) and Chemainus Theatre. Katey also has has extensive film, TV and Voice-Over credits. We wish her continued success with her own company and in all her endeavours.
Alumni Spotlight on
Marshall McMahen
A great article by the Globe and Mail's Marsha Lederman about the events
which led to our alumnus, emerging designer Marshall McMahen, working on a
concept and design for The Electric Conmpany's All The Way Home. The
production is staged as a type of environmental theatre piece - where both
audience and actors share the stage of the Playhouse Theatre.
"McMahen was tasked with not only creating the set, but also the audience
seating in, around and through it." - Marsha Lederman
Read the Globe and Mail article
Alumni Spotlight on
Edgar Dobie
Alumnus Edgar Dobie named as Executive Producer at Arena Stage
Congratulations to alumnus Edgar Dobie on his recent appointment to the position of Executive Producer at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington DC. Previously he held the position of Managing Director for the company since 2009.
Dobie has enjoyed a career in public theatre as executive director of Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, founding managing director of Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company, and managing director at National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Vancouver’s New Play Centre.
For six years he was president of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company, and for the past three years he was the North American Executive Producer of Riverdream. His Broadway producing credits include: Sunset Boulevard (Tony Award for Best Musical), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Paul Simon’s The Capeman, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Boublil and Schönberg’s The Pirate Queen and the musical 9 to 5.
Founded August 16, 1950 in Washington Arena Stage is a flagship American theatre. Arena was one of the first nonprofit theatres in the U.S. and a pioneer of the regional theatre movement. Today, Arena Stage remains one of the most robust nonprofit theatres in the U.S., serving an annual audience of more than 200,000. Led by Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a leading centre for the production, presentation, development and study of American theatre.
More: http://www.arenastage.org
Alumni Spotlight on
Andrew Cohen
Alumnus featured in UBC’s 2010-2011 Annual Review!
During his graduating year our BFA Acting student Andrew Cohen produced a video sensation that not only made waves across UBC, but also captured the attention of a global audience on YouTube – generating more than 1 million views and raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Fellow students Jaclyn Buck stage managed this ambitious video and Ryan Warden was behind the camera – we couldn’t be more proud of them and everyone who took part.
Andrew is one of a few select UBC students, faculty, staff and alumni who were invited to share their “A-ha” moments in the 2010-2011 Annual Review.
Alumni Spotlight on
Breanne Jackson
BFA Design & Production Alumna Breanne Jackson: Apprentice Stage Manager for the Shaw Festival 2012 Season
Breanne will Apprentice Stage Manage "Ragtime" and "His Girl Friday" in the coming Shaw season. Congratulations Breanne!
Alumni Spotlight on
Sarah Afful
BFA Acting Alumna Sarah Afful makes Stratford debut!
Alumna Cast in Stratford Festival’s 60th season:
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival has begun to confirm casting for its 60th season and is pleased to announce the return of the following actors: Kyle Blair, James Blendick, Ben Carlson, Juan Chioran, Cynthia Dale, Deborah Hay, Tom McCamus, Seana McKenna, Lucy Peacock, Tom Rooney and Mike Shara.
The Festival also welcomes eight new members into it’s Birmingham Conservatory. These new participants include Theatre at UBC BFA Acting alumna Sarah Afful, who is only one of four who are entirely new to the Festival. They join existing participants to form a group of 12 who will study this winter under the guidance of Conservatory Director - and Canadian theatre icon - Martha Henry.
Since graduating from our BFA Acting program in 2008, Sarah Afful’s theatre credits include roles in Much Ado About Nothing and Antony and Cleopatra (Bard on the Beach); Macbeth: Nach Shakespeare (Theatre Conspiracy/Gas Heart); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Pound of Flesh/Pacific Theatre); The Eighth Land (PI Theatre); and Old Goriot (Western Gold/UBC Theatre). Her film and television credits include roles in Smallville, Caprica, Eureka, The Perfect Score and American Dreams. Sarah has also done numerous commercials and some voice work, including Pod Plays for the CBC.
“This is a wonderfully talented and dynamic group of actors,” says Stratford Artistic Director Des McAnuff. “Under the leadership of Martha Henry, one of Canada’s most accomplished actors, directors and teachers, the Conservatory aims to give talented artists the skill set they need to tackle classical roles and verse drama. Participants will be given access to the world’s top voice, movement and text coaches and will have an opportunity to work on one of the world’s most renowned – and most demanding – stages. I wish all the participants a creatively inspired journey throughout the fall and winter months, and I look forward to both of their theatrical presentations.”
“The Festival is thrilled to welcome all the Conservatory members this fall as the program readies itself to begin another season of discovery and exploration,” says General Director Antoni Cimolino. “Over 19 weeks, the 12 actors will participate in vigorous and challenging theatrical training that will groom them to command stages here at Stratford and anywhere in the world. Their two performances are highly anticipated, as are the performances they’ll deliver as part of the Festival’s 60th season in 2012.”
The Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre is the only program in North America that concentrates exclusively on training for the classical actor and that actually takes place within a classical repertory theatre. All members of the Conservatory are offered contracts for the subsequent season. The training takes place from September to February, producing two Conservatory presentations of a classical work (usually, but not always, by Shakespeare) in December and around Valentine’s Day. More: http://www.stratfordfestival.ca
Alumni Spotlight on
Meghan Gardiner
Meghan Gardiner premieres Role Call
Congrats to alumna Meghan Gardiner whose new play Role Call is part of Green Thumb Theatre's new season. The production features two recent BFA Acting grads - Andrew Lynch & Sarah Wilson. Role Call is a play about the pressure to fit in and the strength it takes to be yourself and the play will be touring to elementary schools throughout British Columbia.
Meghan Gardiner's talents have lead Green Thumb Theatre to also commission her play Blindspot, an adaptation of her popular play Dissolve (first developed in class work for her BFA Acting class), which she wrote and preformed to over 100 University and Secondary School students across North America. Dissolve was also subsequently adapted into a documentary film, which led to a screenwriting nomination for Meghan at the 2010 Leo Awards. Meghan’s next ventures as an actor will be in Blood Brothers – which also features recent BFA Acting grad Jameson Parker - at The Arts Club Theatre and in Gunmetal Blues at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Green Thumb Theatre was founded in 1975 to develop original Canadian plays for young audiences. Since that time, Green Thumb has emerged as one of Canada's leading theatre companies for young people, producing excellent material for audiences and artists, and contributing to the growing body of work evolving in this field. Green Thumb demonstrates a new excitement and potential for children's theatre. More at www.greenthumb.bc.ca and www.meghangardiner.com
Alumni Spotlight on
Dennis Garnhum
Theatre at UBC’s talented MFA Directing alumnus Dennis Garnhum was appointed Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary in September of 2005. In the 2005-06 season he directed Trying as his Theatre Calgary debut. Since then, he has directed the world premiere of Beyond Eden, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol, Enchanted April, and his adaptation of Timothy Findley's The Wars. He also recently directed his first opera, La Traviata, for Pacific Opera Victoria. This upcoming season, Dennis will direct Lost – A Memoir and Much Ado About Nothing for Theatre Calgary.
Prior to his appointment at Theatre Calgary, Dennis spent three years living in New York City. While there he directed Rat In The Skull at the Berkshire Theatre Festival and the premiere of the musical Two Orphans by Pulitzer-prize nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck in Boston. Dennis was the Special Projects Producer at the Long Wharf Theatre where he worked on the development of the opera Brundibar (Tony Kushner/Maurice Sendak.)
Prior to his move to New York, Dennis directed plays at almost all the major theatre companies in Canada. For the Stratford Festival of Canada, Dennis directed The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and premieres of two plays by Timothy Findley, Shadows and The Trials of Ezra Pound. Dennis directed at the Shaw Festival for six seasons. His productions there include The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, Still Life, Sorry, Wrong Number and S.S. Tenacity.
In Calgary, he was part of the 2004 playRrites Festival at Alberta Theatre Projects, directing Down The Main Drag. He was dramaturge and director of Maureen Hunter’s new play Vinci. It was produced at the National Arts Centre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, and CanStage in Toronto. At the Tarragon Theatre, he directed Skylight and Slavs. Both productions received Dora nominations for best direction. For the Manitoba Theatre Centre he also directed To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice And Men (Both co-productions with the Citadel Theatre), Closer and Three Tall Women. Blue/Orange premiered at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, B.C. before transferring to the Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg. In addition, Dennis directed Of Mice And Men at Neptune in Halifax, Sleuth at the Saidye Bronfmann in Montreal, and A Christmas Carol at Theatre New Brunswick.
Dennis has also enjoyed working closely with theatre students, directing The Laramie Project at the National Theatre School of Canada, and Arcadia at the University of British Columbia.
Dennis’ concert versions of Beethoven Lives Upstairs and Hallelujah Handel have toured across North America. In 2002 Beethoven Lives Upstairs debuted internationally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Special events which Dennis has conceived include a one night celebration of Stephen Sondheim at Harbourfront’s World Stage in Toronto, with the musical theatre legend in attendance. In Great Barrington, MA, Dennis developed a one night celebration for the 100th anniversary of the newly restored Mahaiwe Theatre.
Dennis spent three summers in the Opera Program at the Banff School of Fine Arts working as Assistant Director to acclaimed opera director Colin Graham. He received a BFA from the University of Victoria, and an MFA in directing from the University of British Columbia.
From: http://www.theatrecalgary.com
Alumna makes Stratford Debut
Our talented alumna, Stephanie Meine, a recent graduate from BFA Design and Production, is spending her summer as the Production Assistant at Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival. She began her work in January and the festival has kept her hopping over the past three months working under the Production Stage Manager on all of the shows. She's credited in the Production Teams for Camelot, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night and The Misanthrope. Stephanie enthuses “It's been a thrilling few months.” Stephanie’s recent credits here in Vancouver include main Street Theatre’s award winning production A Lie of The Mind directed by Professor Stephen Malloy.
Established in 1953 the Stratford Shakespeare Festival is the largest classical repertory theatre in North America. Ever since its first season Festival has set benchmarks for the production not only of Shakespeare, Molière, the ancient Greeks and other great dramatists of the past but also of such 20th-century masters as Samuel Beckett, Bertolt Brecht, Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams. In addition to acclaimed productions of the best in operetta and musical theatre, it has also showcased – and in many cases premièred – works by outstanding Canadian and other contemporary playwrights.
The Festival’s artists have included the finest actors, directors and designers in Canada, as well as many from abroad. With an annual operating budget of just under $60 million, the Festival now employs more than 1,000 people. A typical season runs from April to November and includes a wide variety of ancillary events and activities, including tours, concerts, lectures, discussion sessions and appearances by celebrated authors. More at www.stratfordshakespearefestival.com
September 26, 2011:
This just in! Our sources tell us that congratulations are in order for Steph again. She’s distinguished herself as the recipient of this year’s Jean A. Chalmers Apprenticeship Achievement Award which will be given out during the Guthrie Awards at Stratford this year. The Tyrone Guthrie Awards, named for the first artistic director of the Stratford Festival, is an umbrella term for a number of annual prizes awarded since 1954 to members of the festival company and staff.
Created to provide financial assistance for training, professional development and special projects as well as to recognize outstanding accomplishment, the Guthrie Awards are funded each year by income from endowed awards and proceeds from 2 designated performances in the festival's season.
