Quiz: what happens at The Theatre Centre every year around mid-December?

Absolutely right – ’tis the City of Craft, the arts and crafts show that is the awesomest and craftiest of them all! This year City of Craft happens on Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11 both inside our space and at Thrush Holmes Empire next door.

Here are some of the things not to miss this year:

• Cool installations and interactive programs, including writing letters to the dear city of ours at the Knit Cafe.
• A myriad of amazing vendors offering unique handcrafted pieces for your viewing and buying pleasure – be done with all your holiday shopping this weekend!
• Workshops where you can learn some craftiness yourselves! C’mon, you’ve been dying to learn how to make your own pom poms!

Posted: December 8th, 2011 under Dec 2011 Newsletter, Theatre Centre Blog.
Comments: none

On November 28, the City Manager presented the 2012 Operating Budget to the City’s Budget Committee. The proposed budget recommends a 10% cut to arts grants. If passed, Toronto Arts Council’s grants budget will be reduced by just over $1 million.

This reduction will be very difficult for Toronto’s arts community. Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation, along with many arts organizations and associations are working hard to prevent this recommendation from passing.

As one of the Toronto Arts Council funded organizations we would like to reach out to our volunteers, donors, audiences and supporters to ask you to join the voices opposing cuts to Toronto’s arts funding.

Here is what you can do: call, email or write your City Councillors to ask them to protect arts funding (City Council contact information here). Any little bit will help attract attention to the matter.

For more information and updates check out Toronto Arts Foundation’s Arts Advocacy page.

Posted: December 1st, 2011 under Franco's Blog, Stop the Cuts, Theatre Centre Blog.
Comments: none

Hello everyone! Just wanted to pass on a quick message to invite all of you Equity members in good standing to an exceedingly important regional meeting on this Sunday, November 20th, 7 p.m. – at Theatre Direct, Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street.

On the night’s agenda will be three issues that will impact you directly as an Equity Member: Insurance Survey Report, Independent Theatre Review Report, and Dues Referendum discussion (plus additional yelling and screaming). There has never been a more important meeting to attend with regard to all three of these issues. I really need your support on the night. Feel free to forward this to any Equity members in good standing that you know. (And don’t forget to bring your Equity card!)

All my love and thanks,

Franco

Posted: November 17th, 2011 under Franco's Blog, Theatre Centre Blog.
Comments: none

Aside from battling with the flu last week, I was honored to take part in an amazing conference that brought together scientists, cultural producers and some genius thinkers to imagine collaborative art projects that bring awareness to global warming – Cape Farewell. Heard some inspiring talks including: Alanna Mitchell, a freelance journalist and authour of Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis; Tom Rand, an author, speaker and entrepreneur working at MaRS here in Toronto and former Toronto Mayor David Miller.

David Miller gave a great talk about the role that he and other Mayors across Canada played in introducing climate change projects and programs. In particular, he spoke about Transit City, a plan that was going to add 120km of new light rail to Toronto’s transit system. Most of the new rail was going to serve dense and economically challenged neighbourhoods in the city. The current Toronto City Council of course canceled Transit City; it was one of the very first things to be cut.

I’m not moved to tears very often, but David Miller told a great story about a woman who on average spent 2.5 hours traveling on public transit every day to get to her job, to pick up her daughter from daycare and then to travel to her second job. It was emotional to hear this story because it reminded me of my own. I grew up in areas now known as priority neighbourhoods – up until Grade 3 I lived in the Jane/Finch neighbourhood, and later I moved to Rexdale. As a family we all relied on public transit – I didn’t get a car when I turned ‘16’ – in fact, I still don’t have a driver’s license.

I was happy to participate in the discussion this weekend, and I’m positive that good things will come as a result of my being there. As a cultural producer (I would say facilitator in my case) I was reminded – by an artist in the room (Mel Chin) – that it is our responsibility to ensure that ‘ideas’ are allowed to survive and to prepare our audience for absorption (listen).

Despite the setbacks to the Transit City plan, David Miller was hopeful that it could be saved. Inspirational! My personal responsibility – keep the idea and discussion alive. As part of Free Fall’12, The Theatre Centre’s biannual festival of new work (to be announced soon!), we are hoping to present a piece that will be a part of this discussion.

Posted: November 15th, 2011 under Franco's Blog, November 2011 Newsletter.
Comments: none

As many of you know, The Theatre Centre has quite a few wonderful things planned for the future. We thought we’d give you a quick update on where things are right now.

We are still operating out of the performance space on the lower level of The Great Hall building at 1087 Queen Street West. Just recently we found a bunch of photos taken during the time when this space was made into a performance space in 2004. Check some of them out on our Facebook page. Since then, many artists and collectives presented their work in this space. We will continue working in this space for most of 2012, presenting our own programming and hosting works by other artists, and we are looking forward to welcoming you here again and again!

On the logistics side, for a couple of months now the entrance to our current theatre space has been on Dovercourt Road. We are working on making the entrance more noticeable for everyone and creating a small public lobby space inside the theatre for our patrons and visitors. There are certain challenges with that given the physical environment of the space, and we hope for your patience and understanding.

Now on to the new home of The Theatre Centre. In 2013 we will move into our permanent new home at 1115 Queen Street West to retrofit The Carnegie Library. Here is what Artistic Director Franco Boni says about the project: “We are in the early stages of raising $5M+ from private and public sources to make our 30 year dream a reality. This building is especially important to us, not only because it will provide a permanent space for artistic innovation, but because it’s a beautiful Toronto heritage building that will be re-opened for public use and cultural purpose for our neighbourhood. It will be a community anchor for many Parkdale and Queen West residents. We have made great strides as we begin our campaign efforts, but we would love the support of our fellow neighbours in the months and years ahead.”

Please email us if you have any questions about the campaign for our new home.

Posted: November 8th, 2011 under A New Home for The Theatre Centre, November 2011 Newsletter, Theatre Centre Blog.
Comments: none

Twitter’s obsessive. Difficult to keep up with. Great for having conversations. Great for reading other people’s conversations. A universe with its own etiquette, but no order whatsoever. A great waster of time. A great source of useful and useless pieces of information. A collection of witticisms. A collection of absolutes. Here are some recent finds dug out from our Twitter feed:

Google Books launches in Canada.

PuSh Festival announces its 2012 lineup. (One of the shows presented at PuSh this year will be coming to The Theatre Centre right after – to be announced shortly!)

Canadian Theatre Opening Night Directory run by the Globe’s theatre critic J.Kelly Nestruck.

Ivor Tossel’s column on ‘hanging out with a dead cat in Parkdale’ in The Toronto Standard.

New favourite Twitter inhabitant we follow:

Posted: November 4th, 2011 under By Lilya, Theatre Centre Blog, Weeklies.
Comments: none

It seems that Halloween costume idea No 1 this year is Steve Jobs. Not sure how to react to it. Not sure how to react to Halloween, but here are some bits and bobs I thought I’d share to fit in with the spirit of the festival:

Torontoist’s Ghost Map of the city

Also from Torontoist: appropriately themed round-up of theatre pieces to “shock, titillate and unsettle”. I particularly like the ‘secret location’ trend that seems to be happening.

Trick or treating extravaganza in our own West Queen West on October 29.

And – for your viewing pleasure – a video of paranormal investigation of The Great Hall and The Theatre Centre. And I am definitely not saying that I believe those meters!

On to something different: yesterday I attended an interesting discussion on how the online media influence theatre criticism. The conversation featured 4 different perspectives: a critic from a national daily (J. Kelly Nestruck from The Globe), a critic from a Toronto weekly (Glenn Sumi of NOW Magazine), a representative of an independent theatre company that maintain a strong online voice and experiment with online media in their artistic work (Aislinn Rose of Praxis Theatre), and a creator and editor of an online theatre publication (Megan Mooney of MooneyOnTheatre), with moderator Michelle MacArthur and students from UofT theatre criticism course. Some very interesting and valid points made, great anecdotes shared, but the most exciting part for me was to watch the conversation go beyond the walls of Robert Gill Theatre, via Twitter, and see it continue in various forms a day after, when I am writing this post. Do check it out.

And since I mentioned Praxis Theatre, I thought I’d tell you that they are Occupying Bay Street next Friday, November 4th. In the true spirit of the times, and yes – on Bay Street – there will be a 1930s-themed party to celebrate the premiere of Jesus Chrysler and help support a theatre company with an active voice. I think you should be there. A little music video from 1930s about jelly, depression and unemployment to inspire (disclaimer – I do not like jelly and have never heard of the company the video is a commerical for):

Posted: October 28th, 2011 under By Lilya, October 2011, Theatre Centre Blog, Weeklies.
Comments: none

Thursday, October 20, 7.30 pm

West End Food Coop presents a fundraising and illuminating film screening of Milk War, chronicling dairy farmer, Michael Schmidt’s battle for raw milk.

Special Guests in Attendance for panel discussion following the film:
Michael Schmidt: Organic Dairy Farmer
Kevin O’Keefe: Director
Richard Paradiso: Associate Producer

Milk War is a story about Durham, Ontario organic dairy farmer Michael Schmidt’s battle to legalize the sale of unpasteurized milk. In defiance of the law Schmidt has supplied his neighbours with raw milk for over 20 years. On November 21st, 2006 Schmidt’s farm was raided by armed officers, his equipment was seized, all dairy products were destroyed and Michael was charged with 20 criminal offences for distributing unpasteurized milk. A Canadian David and Goliath story; when asked if he was willing to go to jail Michael said: “Whatever it takes to give people the freedom to choose healthy nutritious food”

Watch Milk War video preview.

Posted: October 6th, 2011 under October 2011 Newsletter, Theatre Centre Blog.
Comments: none

Congratulations to Michael Wheeler (the Artistic Director at Praxis Theatre and the Co-Curator of Free Fall’12 at The Theatre Centre) who, along with Krista Jackson of Winnipeg, have been chosen as 2012 Intern Directors as part of the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival!

Each year, the Shaw Festival hires two promising professional directors near the beginning of their careers to join them as Intern Directors. The Intern Directors work under the mentorship of the Directors of the Academy, which is the Shaw Festival’s professional development and public education wing, assistant directing two or three shows and directing a one-act piece for a double-bill presentation at the end of the season.

Read more about Michael and Krista here.

Posted: October 6th, 2011 under October 2011 Newsletter, Theatre Centre Blog.
Comments: none

The Theatre Centre Residency Company Kitchenband Productions is presenting an earlier work Petrichor at the New Farm Harvest Festival in Creemore, On on Saturday September 17th with The Sunparlour Players.

An evening of original theatre, music and food in the New Farm Barn all raising money for Grow for the Stop.  
Kitchenband Presents – PETRICHOR – a play written by Erin Brandenburg with music by Henry Adam Svec and Andrew Penner.  Featuring Gordon Bolan, Erin Brandenburg, Ryan Hollyman, Andrew Penner, Henry Adam Svec and Jenny Young with instruments by Iner Souster and annimation by Howie Shia.
Dinner served 5:30pm to 7:15pm
PETRICHOR begins at 7:30pm 
Dessert served at 8:45pm
Sunparlour Players at 9:30pm 

The New Farm – 9784 Nottawasaga 6/7 Sideroad, Creemore, ON
Tickets:  Concert/Play Only – $25.00, Full Festival with Dinner – $55.00

For more information click here

Posted: September 7th, 2011 under September 2011 Newsletter.
Comments: none