Teens Tackle A Chorus Line

There’s likely to be some nervous young people in the wings of the Lower Ossington Theatre tonight as they prepare to dance and sing their hearts out in the opening of Toronto Youth Theatre’s production of A Chorus Line. With a large cast and minimal set requirements, the musical is a perfect vehicle for a low-budget, big-ambition company like TYT.

Founded by Maurice Galpern in 2005, Toronto Youth Theatre is one of only a handful of Toronto organizations focused on theatre for and by young people. The company divides into two groups, a junior level for ages 7 – 13 and a senior level for ages 14 – 20 (A Chorus Line includes a few actors slightly older than that). TYT is based at the Lower Ossington Theatre, a 125-seat venue tucked into a large rehearsal facility on Ossington Avenue north of Queen Street. The for-profit business rents space to everyone from TYT and Classical Theatre Project to Mirvish and Dancap. READ MORE

Auditions: Grace Under Pressure

Last week I had the privilege of sitting in on an audition for CORPUS, a theatrical dance company with a studio in Toronto’s Dovercourt House. I wanted to see for myself whether the reality of a dance audition bears any relation to what we see on TV and in movies.

There was a lot riding on the try out – the chance to join the company for a tour of Western Europe, Japan and Korea this summer. More than 130 dancers/actors threw their hats into the ring, all vying for just two spots, one male and one female. Obviously, the odds were not in anyone’s favour and yet there wasn’t the slightest hint of resignation or fatalism about the group of 25 performers I watched go through their paces. READ MORE

Billy Boys

Casting for the Toronto engagement of Billy Elliot The Musical was no small task; Mirvish Productions searched near and far for suitable Billies and found them in California (J.P. Viernes, 14, far left), in Iowa (Marcus Pei, 12, second from left), in Burlington, Ontario (Myles Erlick, 12, second from right) and right here in Toronto (Cesar Corrales, 14, far right): the young actors will share the role. Billy Elliot The Musical opens at the Canon Theatre January 29.

Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann

Cutting Corners at Camp Shakespeare

The summer of 2010 has been kind to Canadian Stage’s TD Dream in High Park; the hot, dry weather has ensured fewer lost performances — there were 14 cancelled shows last year and 16 blow-outs in 2008 — which means that the current production of Romeo and Juliet is on track to re-coupe its costs.

“CanStage is the country’s largest not-for-profit theatre company,” says Director of Production, Alistair Hepburn, “so for us success is breaking even. Sure it would be glorious if we could end up with a record-breaking profit but success means making sure everyone gets paid and we don’t end up costing anyone else money.”

Now in its 28th year, the Dream in the Park is one of the city’s longest running theatrical traditions. The elaborate, multi-tiered set may not look like shoe-string theatre but it definitely is says Hepburn, whose job it is to make sure that the show’s small budget stretches as far as humanly possible.

“We take the everyday and the mundane and turn it into stuff that people don’t recognize,” he explains. “The background of the entire set is scrimmed with tack cloth, the material used to cover the undersides of box spring mattresses. We shop at Value Village and use other people’s cast offs, rehemmed or reinvented to turn them into something new.” READ MORE

BMR Makes Theatre More Affordable

The basement shown left did not exist when Young People’s Theatre (now Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People) moved into a City-owned heritage building on Front Street East in 1977. Built in the 1870s, the property originally housed horses that pulled Toronto’s earliest streetcars; when electric power put the animals out to pasture the building was converted into a generating station. By the time YPT was invited to take over the space, the derelict building had stood empty for 30 years.

The basement was dug out and paid for by YPT, which, like several other local theatre companies, benefits from a long-standing City policy that provides below market rent (BMR) to qualifying not for profit arts groups. The City foregoes rent (in most cases the spaces are let for $2 per year) but the theatre company is responsible for upgrades and regular maintenance. It’s a win/win that in the case of Lorraine Kimsa Theatre provides theatrical and educational opportunities for as many as 80,000 youngsters each year, in addition to about 1,200 participants in year-round drama school.

“We were one of the first below market rent beneficiaries,” says LKTYP Artistic Director Allen MacInnis. “In fact, the City wouldn’t let us install permanent seats initially because they weren’t sure it was going to work. They wanted the space to be flexible in case they had to turn it into a community centre if the theatre didn’t fly. But within five years it was clear this was going to work and the city allowed us to pour concrete and install permanent seating.” READ MORE