Bruce Dow to Host 2016 Dora Mavor Moore Awards; Venue, Date Set

The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) today announced the date, creative team, host and venue for the 37th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the awards show and party that celebrates extraordinary Toronto talent in the performing arts. Dora Awards Producer Jacoba Knaapen announced that the much-anticipated event will take place on Monday, June 27 and that it will, for the third time in a row, be held under the stars at Harbourfront Centre. Tickets go on sale May 31.

Knaapen also announced multi-award-winning performer Bruce Dow as host of the event. A much-loved and accomplished artist, Dow has four featured-role credits on Broadway, most recently as "King Herod" in Des McAnuff's 2012 Tony®-nominated Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar and 12 seasons as a leading member of the Acting Company of the Stratford Festival where he last appeared in The Tempest, starring Christopher Plummer. He is also the recipient of a Toronto Theatre Critics Association Award and has won two Dora Awards. The first was for his starring role in the musical Of a Monstrous Child, and the second recognized his leading role in PIG, both presented by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

TAPA also announced a new writer for the star-studded show (and profusely thanked Chris Earle who had done the honours for five previous years): accomplished artist Diane Flacks now takes on this key role for her first time. Flacks is a novelist (Bear With Me), playwright (including Myth Me, Waiting Room, By a Thread, SIBS with Richard Greenblatt and Theory of Relatives), writer for TV (including Global/NBC's Working the Engels, CBC TV's Young Drunk Punk, a MOW version of her play SIBS and Kids in the Hall) and actor. Most recently, she played the lead in the independent film Portrait of A Serial Monogamist. Upcoming, she is writing on the new CBC series Workin' Moms, is appearing in Body Politic at Buddies, and is having her newest play, Unholy, produced by Nightwood Theatre next season.

Flacks joins a veteran creative team: acclaimed theatre director, actor and writer Ed Roy takes the helm as Director for his fourth time, talented composer Waylen Miki is on the roster for his fourth time as Musical Director, and multi-award-winning Lighting and Production Designer Andrea Lundy returns for her fifteenth (!) consecutive year.

The Dora ceremony will take place once again on Harbourfront Centre's open-air Concert Stage. Harbourfront Centre's Brigantine Room is the new venue for the always-fabulous pre-show VIP Reception, held from 5:30pm-7:00pm. Guests for this glamorous cocktail party will be greeted once again on the red carpet by the gifted Elley-Ray Hennessy, a veteran of stage, screen and radio. This year attendees will be additionally entertained at the reception by the sensational Caribbean fusion band MOCA. The fun-filled After-Party will again be held under the stars lakeside. Guests will dance the night away to Storm the Palace, a Toronto-based band that brings to life beloved songs from the 80s and beyond. Get ready to rock!

TAPA announces the nominees for the 2016 Dora Mavor Moore Awards at a press conference at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on the morning of May 30. One of the awards given out at the press conference is the Province of Ontario's Pauline McGibbon Award, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. TAPA will pay tribute to the occasion by hosting an exhibit at the Dora Awards, stationed just outside the Brigantine Room.

Tickets for this celebratory evening go on sale May 31 through the Harbourfront Centre Box Office at 416-973-4000 and online via http://tapa.ca.

The Doras are named for Dora Mavor Moore (1888-1979), a well-loved teacher and director who helped establish Canadian professional theatre in the 1930s and 1940s. Recognizing the outstanding achievements in Toronto's performing arts industry, the Doras honour the creators of over 200 theatre, dance and opera productions annually in the following divisions: General Theatre, Independent Theatre, Musical Theatre, Dance, Opera and Theatre for Young Audiences.

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards are administered by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). In addition to the Doras, other programs and services provided by TAPA include: Toronto's Official Theatre Guide, hipTIX (offering $5 tickets to students between the ages of 14 and 29), citySPECIAL, the Commercial Theatre Development Fund and the Travel Retreat Initiatives Program - TRIP. For more information visit www.tapa.ca.