Stageworthy

Amy Blackmore is the Executive & Artistic Director of MainLine Theatre and the St-Ambroise Montreal FRINGE Festival and the Artistic Director of the Bouge d’ici. An award-winning creator, she has produced, choreographed, performed and assisted the work of many companies, including The Montreal Highlights Festival, Kidd Pivot, Just For Laughs and RUBBERBANDance. Her work has been seen in MainLine Theatre's The Mid-Life Crisis of Dionysus, MTL Shakespeare Theatre Company's Macbeth, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Unseamly by Infinitheatre. Amy sits on the board of Quebec's English Language Arts Network. twitter: @_amyblackmore Mainline Theatre@mainlinetheatrehttp://www.mainlinetheatre.ca/ Montreal Fringehttp://2016.montrealfringe.ca/@fringemtl Stageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Alexandra Simpson is an interdisciplinary theatre artist with a background in dance, music, documentary, play writing, installation and directing. She has created and produced a number of audience-immersive and site-specific shows that focus on the role of the individual within collective society. Alexandra is interested in how artistic practice and activism converge and how degrowth environmentalism can be applied to consumer cultures. She is on the board for Common Boots Theatre (formerly Theatre Columbus and a member of their Devised Theatre Lab. Terra Incognita = unknown or unexplored territory. We live in a world in which economic and personal growth is a prerequisite to being human. The alternative lies in what has yet to be explored. Confined by what we are told and know as the good life, we must choose, will we degrow on our own initiative or will we continue until the biosphere forces us to stop? This is a site specific performance documentary work that involves collective creation and theatre mask t

Christel is an Actor, Comic, Writer, Teacher, and Solo Show creator living in Toronto. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program, Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts and has studied Clown extensively with John Turner & Michael Kennard (Mump and Smoot) as well as Sue Morrison, Philippe Gaulier and Francine Cote. She had the pleasure of performing with Mump and Smoot in “Something” at the Westbury Theatre in Edmonton. She is a member of Faustwork Mask Theatre/Prologue for the Performing Arts and performs the show The Mask Messenger in schools regularly. In 2008 she developed her first solo show “CHAOTICA” which went onto to win numerous awards and garnered rave reviews. She developed 2 other solo shows “ONEymoon” & “Significant Me” and all three solo shows have been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award “Best One Person Show”. Christel continues to tour her work, and has toured across Canada, to the US & the UK. She has been teaching for over 15 years. She has taught Improv at t

Choreographer Alysa Pires has created works for Ballet Jorgen, Citie Ballet (Edmonton, AB), Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Cadence Ballet, Ryerson University, Dancestreams Youth Dance Company, Victoria Academy of Ballet, McMaster Dance Company, Helix Dance Theatre, the Parahumans, Kalos Collective, and her own company Alysa Pires Dance Projects. Her work in theatre includes choreography for ten musicals, a series of world premiere plays by Judith Thompson (CAN), Velina Hasu Houston (USA) and Timberlake Wertenbaker (UK) that toured through Greece (The Women and War Project) and the first workshop of a new commission for the Los Angeles Opera. In July 2014, Alysa represented Canada and performed as part of the Tin Forest Theatre Festival in Glasgow, Scotland in celebration of the Commonwealth Games. Her work ...keeping in mind they may be behind you was reimagined for the 2014 Emerging Artist Intensive in Toronto. Alysa was the sole North American and the only female selected from a pool of international

Daniel Pagett and Jason Maghanoy talk about Jason's play Hangman, opening May 13, 2016 at the Storefront Theatre.An examination of how we are shaped by our circumstances, Hangman follows the story of Alistair, a murderer who survives hanging for his crimes and finds unexpected salvation in a mysterious drifter named Winston. Winston takes what he needs to survive and has the town searching for him, greatly endangering the paralyzed Alistair who has been left for the rats under the gallows. As Alistair begins to realize he can rise above his dire situation and past life, Winston sinks deeper into the violence that is consuming the town, leading to a tragic and explosive ending. Written by Jason Maghanoy and directed by Daniel Pagett. Starring Prince Amponsah, Alexander Thomas, Vanessa Trenton, Jon Blair, and Vince Carlin, with puppeteer Kaitlin Morrow.Danny Pagett Twitter: @spoonydan Instagram: @danquoJason Maghanoy Instagram: @jmaghanoyhttp://jsquaredtheatre.blogspot.ca/Storefront Theatre@storefrontTOhttps://

Tim Turnell is a multiple-award winning artist who has called Saint John home for over ten years. His one-person performance company (and art moniker) Theatre Narcissus Twelve was created to provide unique theatre experiences while using non-traditional theatre spaces. This facilitates artistic exercise and challenges both performer and audience with new works.Tim has contributed to theatre, radio, television, and film across Canada. His acting workshops have been invited into all levels of schools, theatre groups, and even correctional facilities. Nominated as Best Actor at the 2011 Acting Irish International Theatre Festival (Calgary, AB) and the New Brunswick Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for High Achievement in Performing Arts in 2014. Winner of the Best Actor in a Drama Award at the Silverwave Film Festival (Fredericton, NB) and Best Theatre Performance at The Originals Arts Awards in 2014 (Saint John, NB).He is recognized as an actor, producer, short filmmaker, and illustrator. Tim's long-awaited web-seri

Alison MacDonald is a Jessie Award winning performer who has worked across Canada as a singer, actor, teacher, and producer. Recently, she made an album of 1950s/60s tunes and coming up, she will be reprising one of her favourite roles ever - "Patsy Cline" in A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline at Thousand Islands Playhouse. @thisisalimacwww.alisonmacdonald.caStageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Victoria Urquhart is a Toronto-based actor and director from Caledon. She is also a graduate from the University of Windsor’s 2010 B.F.A. Acting Program. This training has helped her to develop a focus on marrying Physical Theatre Practices with Classical Text. This fascination, combined with her leadership and organizational skills developed through working six consecutive summers at a residential camp have led her to a passion for directing, and the creation of The Spur-Of-The-Moment Shakespeare Collective in Toronto. Through the SOTMSC, she has directed, produced, and sometimes performed in several community projects, including the Shakespeare-On-The-Subway Project, several sessions of Shakespeare-In-Hospitals, and JULIUS CAESAR PROJECT, garnering 4 N’s from NOW magazine at the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival. Other theatre credits include: Waiting for Alonzo with Empty Box Theatre (2015), Teach Me with Newborn Theatre, and Macbeth with Hart House Theatre.Film Credits Include: Red Lark with Funro Productions

Suzette McCanny is a theatre actor and a film director specializing in ensemble work. She is currently playing Blaire in We Three by Cue 6 Theatre at The Tarragon Theatre. She has played Josie in The Skriker at the Storefront Theatre by Red One Theatre. The Skriker was included in the Top Ten Indie Productions of 2014 by Toronto's Now Magazine. Other credits include Mistress Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor and Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost for Shakespeare Bash'd and Isabelle in Norman Yeung's Theory directed by Joanne Williams.She played 'Stage Manager' in Play: The Film by Kelly McCormack which won the People's Choice Award at the Canadian Film Festival. Suzette directed her first short film, 99 . 7% (Official Selection of aGliff) in Nov 2013. She directed, edited and starred in a trio of short films that called Triptych Triptych Triptych including The Garfield Appreciation Club, Can't Close a Painted Eye and We Think it Belongs in the Sea; due to hit the 2016 festival circuit. Suzette works to change the

Mark Allan has been performing in theatre across Canada for the past 22 years. In that time he has touched on all aspects of the industry from acting, directing and choreographing, to casting and producing. He was honoured to have been awarded a Calgary Critics Award in 2015 for his portrayal of Brave Sir Robin in Spamalot. He loves theatre and hopes to be fortunate enough to keep doing what he loves for at least another 22 years!It is easy to use, both for back end and front end users; however the app is only as useful as the user makes it. We've used the app twice now for our conferences and have not had the usage/response we were hoping for, although we did get a better response overall the second time.Stageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Michael is a writer and performer with over 30 years experience. He’s acted on stages and behind the microphone from New Brunswick to Alberta and his writing has been performed around the world. His short play Nine Types of Ice was a gala finalist and audience selection at the Short + Sweet Festival in Sydney Australia (2012) and has been re-mounted in Auckland NZ, Melbourne AU, Dubai UAE and Delhi IN and Vals FR. In 2013 Nine Types was made into a film and subsequently selected by the prestigious Montreal World Film Festival. He is currently developing another short film entitled, Mountains which is set to begin production this May. Fire Proof, a procedural series he’s developed about a fire scene investigator / professional poker player has been picked up by Flout Media Productions and is being pitched to 3 networks in March. Other produced works include the short stage plays Lunch With Cassiopeia (The Storefront Theatre) and The Transformational Potential of Laundry (New Theatre, Sydney) and the full lengt

Ruth Lawrence’s work as an artist has taken her to Ireland, France, the US, and across Canada. As Artistic Director of White Rooster Theatre, a company in its 16thyear, she produces the work of women writers, garnering accolades and presentations across Canada.She is co-founder and coordinator of the Women’s Work Festival, now celebrating 10 years of developing new plays by women, the festival has a proven record as a successful springboard to production for women playwrights.As a filmmaker, her short films have screened, won awards and nominations across Canada and the US.Ruth won the Joan Orenstein Best Actress Award for Clipper Gold at the 2011 Atlantic Film Festival and the RBC Michelle Jackson Award for Emerging Filmmaker in 2011 for Two Square Feet starring Jeanne Beker. She was named the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Artist of the Year for 2011 and in was honoured with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2013. Since 2014, she has produced three award-winning short films for Blue Pinion Films and co

TJ Dawe is an award winning writer/performer/director. Current projects: Medicine, PostSecret: Unheard Voices and Never Shoot a Stampede Queen. Various credits include The Slipknot, The Power of Ignorance, Lucky 9, 52 Pick-up and Dishpig. He did a TEDx talk. He co-wrote the play Toothpaste and Cigars, which has been made into the movie The F Word, starring Daniel Radcliffe. Twitter: @tj_dawehttp://www.tjdawe.ca/Stageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Sex T­-Rex, Toronto’s hottest comedic theatre company, teams up with the Storefront Theatre for a double bill of old school cinematic entertainment and adventure. W​atch out WIldkat!​ and Swordplay, ​both award-winning A resident company at Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre, has wowed audiences across the country since their inception nearly a decade ago. Watch out WildKat! premiered at the Montreal Fringe in 2014, receiving five star reviews from the CBC, The Torontoist, and Halifax’s The Coast, as well as taking home the awards for Best Show and Best Comedy at the Atlantic and Montreal Fringes. Swordplay: A Play Of Swords, the second half of this action-packed double feature, is a love letter to classic Swashbucklers and retro fantasy video games that inverts the genre’s stereotypes while offering a sophisticated parody on more modern offerings like Game of Thrones.Watch out Wildkat! and Swordplay, both award-winning comedies by Sex T-­Rex, run March 11th ­- 27th.Twitter: @sextrexwww.sextrexcomedy.comStageworthy:ht

Active in Toronto's vibrant arts scene since the 1980's, early projects included assisting in producing/coordinating major commercial musical theatre works for Warrack Productions, Bradley/Francis Productions, Brian MacDonald Productions and Ron Francis Theatrical Management. She also coordinated 2 tours in North American for Mirvish Productions (including the Tony nominatedMikado) and the joint 1988 Olympic Arts Festival Tour for Esprit and SMCQ Orchestras. Since founding Sky Arts Management in 2004 she has undertaken general management, strategic and logistical planning, marketing and publicity for Continuum Contemporary Music (including their first European tour), multidisciplinary physical theatre company Theatre Gargantua, South Asian theatre company Rasik Arts, the extreme outdoor operas of R Murray Shafer for Patria Music Theatre Projects as well as 3 one-woman cross Canada tours for comedienne Christel Bartelse. In addition to her work as the Executive Director of Associated Designers of Canada, proj

Laura was born to tell stories. Her lifetime of performing began when she was enrolled in dance class at the Canadian Dance Company at the age of 11. She studied psychology at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and after completing her degree, she returned to performance.Laura believes that the purpose of art is to be in love with everything that you do. She has many passions in life, and plans on pursuing each and every one of them. She considers herself to be extraordinarily lucky to have the ability to pursue a life and career in such a fulfilling and infinitely interesting industry. She cannot imagine living happily any other way.Twitter @LaPiccininInstagram: @Lpiccininwebsite: http://cargocollective.com/laurapiccininThe Suicide Key: http://laurapiccinin.ca/Stageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.comTwitter @stageworthyPodFacebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Sarah Winstanley graduated with honours and as Valedictorian from the Academy of Acting College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Selected credits include Mabel in An Ideal Husband, Ilse in Spring Awakening: The Play and Caliban in The Tempest. You can find her around town doing character simulations at Ryerson University, dancing with the Army of Sass, or on stage every week as Princess Catalina at Medieval Times. If you can't find her it's because she's binge watching Brooklyn Nine Nine in her leopard print onesie.Twitter: @sarah_c_wFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.winstanley.10

Richard Beaune has performed in every province and territory across Canada in both official languages over a 30 year career. His work as actor and director has garnered rave reviews and several awards, including a Dora Mavor Moore Award and a Canadian Comedy Award, and has been seen in Canada’s largest theatres, including the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, as well as the smallest indie theatres and found spaces. Stylistically, his work has ranged from Shakespeare (29 professional productions and counting) to new works of physical theatre and all stops in between, but always carries a trademark sensibility that he credits to his clown’s heart. A dedicated theatre educator, he has taught at Ryerson University’s Act II Studio, York University and George Brown College, as well as countless workshops. Richard is perhaps best known as the founding Artistic Director of Keystone Theatre, a company that creates new plays in the style of silent film which has been recognized across Canada for its unique and carefully cr

A Toronto based actor/singer, Merritt graduated from George Brown Theatre School and holds a BA Honours in Psychology and Drama from Queen's University. She has been a member of the award-winning company Shakey-Shake and Friends for the past 5 years, most recently performing in the 2015 Toronto KidsFringe in Hamlet...A Puppet Epic! She is a proud member of Queen's Players Toronto's Board of Directors and has acted in their last two summer shows. She also loves brunch and is really good at MarioKart64.Twitter: @fullofmerritt Instagram: @merrittcStageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Siobhan Richardson and Matt Richardson are actors and fight directors. Siobhan’s theatre credits include Credits include Mo and Jess Kill Susie (Harley Dog Productions), Sofia’s Doll (Film Freak Productions), and Duel of Ages (True Edge Productions). Matt’s theatre credits include (True Edge Productions), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare in the Square), and A Complex Verdict (Do Your Thing Productions). Through Burning Mountain, Matt and Siobhan offer fight direction, consultation and instruction in the art of violence on the stage.Siobhan:www.SiobhanRichardson.comdemo reel: www.tinyurl.com/SRreeltwitter: @fighteractressInstagram: @fighteractressFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiobhanRichardsonActresswww.imdb.me/siobhanrichardsonYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ActorSRMatt:www.MattRichardson.ca/MattRichardsonImdb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0724695/Burning Mountain:www.BurningMountain.catwitter: @burningmtnFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BurningMountainSummitVimeo: https://vimeo.com/theburningmount