Nominees Announced for the 37th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards

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 MOKA. 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.

For the 2015-2016 season, 113 producing companies registered eligible productions; 48 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Silver Ticket Award and the Audience Choice Award will be given out in a glittering ceremony on Monday, June 27 at Harbourfront Centre's Concert Stage, hosted by the award-winning actor Bruce Dow.

GENERAL THEATRE DIVISION:

Tarragon Theatre leads the General Theatre Division with 12 nominations, with its production of Mustard garnering 7: Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Performance - Male, Outstanding Performance - Female, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Scenic Design. Blind Date receives 2 nods: Outstanding Performance - Female and Outstanding Sound Design/Composition. The Summoned earns a tap for Outstanding New Play, You Will Remember Me (a co-production with Studio 180 Theatre) sees a nod for Outstanding Performance - Male and Within the Glass gets one for Outstanding Scenic Design.

Factory Theatre is the runner-up in this division with 11 nominations, including 4 each for Bombay Black and Salt-Water Moon, both of which earn taps for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Performance - Female and Outstanding Lighting Design. Outstanding Performance - Male nods go to A Line in the Sand and The Crackwalker, while an Outstanding Performance - Ensemble nom goes to Banana Boys.

In addition to the Tarragon nods for Outstanding New Play above, other taps in this category go to Theatre Passe Muraille for Elle; Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Independent Aunties Productions for Gertrude and Alice (up for a total of 3 taps including Outstanding Performance - Ensemble, with Buddies' total tally at 4 including Outstanding Performance - Male for The 20th of November); and Canadian Stage for Botticelli in the Fire & Sunday in Sodom (A Canadian Stage Production in collaboration with the Department of Theatre in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design at York University) which is also up for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Performance - Female, bringing that production's total to 7. (In total, Canadian Stage earns 11 nods - 9 taps in General, 1 in the Dance Division and 1 in the Touring category.)

Additional Outstanding Performance - Ensemble nods go to Soulpepper's Happy Place (Soulpepper's total take is 7: 2 in the General Division and 5 in Musical Theatre), VideoCabaret's The Great War (whose total is 5 taps including Outstanding Production) and The Theatre Centre's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 (whose total in this division is 3 including Outstanding Direction, plus a further 3 in a co-production with Modern Times Stage Company in the Independent Theatre Division for a grand total of 6).

INDEPENDENT THEATRE DIVISION:

In the Independent Theatre Division, Why Not Theatre takes the lead with 9 nominations: 8 for Butcher - including taps for Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Performance - Male, and a full sweep of the design award nominations: Outstanding Costume Design, Lighting Design, Scenic Design and Sound Design/Composition - and a sole nomination for Iceland for Outstanding Performance - Female.

Three companies tie for the runner-up position with 5 nods apiece: Groundling Theatre Company for The Winter's Tale, Videofag for Crawlspace and Native Earth Performing Arts with 4 for Huff and 1 for Stitch (with Culture Storm).

Along with Why Not's Butcher noted above, The Winter's Tale, Crawlspace and Huff are up for Outstanding Production. Crawlspace and The Winter's Tale join Butcher for Outstanding Direction, Huff and The Winter's Tale along with Butcher are up for Outstanding Performance - Male while The Winter's Tale is also up for Outstanding Performance - Female.

Additionally Huff and Crawlspace join the race along with Butcher for Outstanding New Play, as does Circle Circle's A Man Walks Into a Bar and Watah Theatre's She Mami Wata & The Pussy Witchhunt (which also garners a nod for Outstanding Performance - Female, and a total of 3 for the company).

Coal Mine Theatre is up for 3 noms in total, all for Killer Joe, including Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Performance - Male. Modern Times Stage Company and The Theatre Centre's The Death of the King garners 3 nods as well including Outstanding Performance - Ensemble. It Comes In Waves, produced by Necessary Angel with bluemouth inc. garners 2 nods including Outstanding Direction. (In total, Necessary Angel earns 3 nods: 2 taps as above and 1 in General for Outstanding Scenic Design for Hedda Gabler.) Red One Theatre Collective's La Chasse Galerie is up for Outstanding Production as well as Outstanding Performance - Ensemble for its total of 2.

MUSICAL THEATRE DIVISION:

In the Musical Theatre Division, Mirvish Productions leads the pack with 13 nods, 10 of which are for Kinky Boots (produced by Daryl Roth & Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just For Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Yasuhiro Kawana, Jane Bergere, Allan S.Gordon & Adam S.Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy & Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein & Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael Desantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom & Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp and Jujamcyn Theatres by arrangement with David Mirvish) and 3 of which are for Titanic: The Musical (produced by David Mirvish in association with Michael Harrison and Paul Elliott).

Kinky Boots' nominations are Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Performance - Ensemble, Outstanding Performance - Female, Outstanding Performance - Male (x2), Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Scenic Design. Titanic: The Musical nods are Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Performance - Ensemble and Outstanding Costume Design.

Acting Up Stage Company is the runner-up in this division with 8 nods: 7 for Grey Gardens - including Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Performance - Female (x2) and Outstanding Performance - Male - and an Outstanding New Musical/Opera tap for Reframed (co-produced by Acting Up Stage Company and Art Gallery of Ontario in association with Yonge Street Theatricals).

Other Outstanding New Musical/Opera nods go to M'dea Undone (A Tapestry Opera Production in collaboration with Scottish Opera), Heart of Steel (Aim for the Tangent Theatre), Golden Ages Productions' One Night Only: The Greatest Musical Never Written (which earns a total of 4 hits with Outstanding Production, Outstanding Musical Direction and Outstanding Performance - Male) and Young People's Theatre's Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (which also nabs an Outstanding Performance - Ensemble nod).

Young People's Theatre weighs in with 6 taps in this division: the previous 2 for Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang and 4 for The Wizard of Oz, including Outstanding Production, Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Performance - Ensemble.

Soulpepper Theatre Company's Marat/Sade tallies in with 5 knocks, including Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Performance - Ensemble, Outstanding Performance - Male and Outstanding Costume Design, bringing its season total to 7 as previously noted.

Volcano Theatre's Century Song gets on board with 4 nods: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Performance - Female.

OPERA DIVISION:

In the Opera Division, Canadian Opera Company (COC) productions lead overall with a total of 14 nominations as well as another 10 in categories shared with the Musical Theatre Division, making for a total of 24 nods. The COC's Siegfried and La Traviata (a co-production with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera) each earn 8 taps with both including vying for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Performance - Male, Outstanding Performance - Female, Outstanding Scenic Design and Outstanding Lighting Design; while La Traviata also earns a tap for Outstanding Performance - Ensemble. Additionally, Maometto II garners 4 (including Outstanding Production), The Marriage of Figaro nabs 3 (including Outstanding Production) and Carmen, 1 (Outstanding Performance Male).

Opera Atelier wades in with 2 taps for Lucio Silla: Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance - Female. Luminato Festival's Apocalypsis gets 1 nod for Outstanding Performance - Ensemble as does Against the Grain's AtG's Messiah.

DANCE DIVISION:

In the Dance Division, DanceWorks hits the top spot with 8 nominations: 5 for Woven (DanceWorks/Tribal Crackling Wind) and 3 for Re:Pairing (DanceWorks & Emily Gualtieri of Parts+Labour_Danse), both up for Outstanding Choreography. The runner-up spot is taken by princess productions with 6 taps for two presentations at its dance: made in canada / fait au canada festival (Various Concert - Morrison Series and Waiting for a Sleepless Night - Robinson Series), both also up for Outstanding Choreography. Cinetic Creations jumps in next with 5 hits: 4 for The Mystery of Mr. Leftovers (Jillian Peever Dance Creations & Cinetic Creations) and 1 for The Thirst for Love and Water. Peggy Baker Dance Projects and Toronto Dance Theatre follow with 4 each, the former all for Phase Space and the latter for four different productions.

Up for Outstanding Production are Betroffenheit (A Kidd Pivot, Electric Company Theatre Production, presented by Canadian Stage), Against Nature / À Rebours (from Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, who also earn 2 more nods for Les Paradis Perdus / Remix for a total of 3), Woven (DanceWorks/Tribal Crackling Wind for 5 hits as noted above), The Mystery of Mr. Leftovers (Jillian Peever Dance Creations & Cinetic Creations with 4 as noted above) and Phase Space (Peggy Baker Dance Projects with 4 as noted above).

THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES DIVISION:

The Theatre for Young Audiences Division sees Young People's Theatre (YPT) take the lead with 13 nods: 5 for Scarberia including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Performance -Individual (x2); 4 for One Thing Leads to Another including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Performance - Ensemble; 2 for Hana's Suitcase including Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Performance - Ensemble and 2 more taps for Outstanding Production: Mistatim (Young People's Theatre presents Red Sky Performance) and Goodnight Moon (Young People's Theatre presents Seattle Children's Theatre). (YPT also earns 6 taps in the Musical Theatre Division as noted above for a total haul of 19.)

Le Théâtre français de Toronto follows with 4 knocks for Les Zinspirés puissance Quatre, including Outstanding Production and Outstanding New Play. Solar Stage Children's Theatre is up for Outstanding Performance - Ensemble for 3 different shows. Roseneath Theatre is up for 2 nods for The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh (including Outstanding Direction) as is Ten Foot Pole Theatre for First Day Back (including Outstanding New Play).

TOURING PRODUCTION:

Harbourfront Centre's World Stage leads in the Outstanding Touring Production award race with 2 nominations: Germinal and Looking for Paul: Inez van Dam vs. the Buttplug Gnome. Cold Blood (presented by Canadian Stage), Le long voyage de Pierre-Guy B. (presented by le Théâtre français de Toronto) and Nirbhaya (presented by Nightwood Theatre) round out the competition.

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Of note, designer Patrick Lavender is up for 4 awards, making him the most nominated individual in the 2015-16 season.

His nominations are Outstanding Lighting Design and Outstanding Scenic Design for Videofag's Crawlspace. He competes against himself in these same two categories with Coal Mine Theatre's Killer Joe for Outstanding Scenic Design and for Outstanding Lighting Design for It Comes In Waves, produced by Necessary Angel with bluemouth inc.

SPECIAL PRIZES:

As well, it was announced that the Bluma Appel Community Trust will continue its special gift: a $5,000 prize to be awarded at the Dora Awards ceremony on June 27 to the winning playwright of Outstanding New Play in the General Theatre Division for the tenth year in a row, in addition to the continuation of Bluma's Indies comprised of a cash prize of $1,000 per winning category in the Independent Theatre Division.

For the second year in a row, the Pat and Tony Adams Freedom Fund for the Arts will provide a cash prize of $1,000 each to the recipients of Outstanding Performance - Female and Outstanding Performance - Male in the General Theatre Division.

ANCILLARY AWARDS:

In addition, the recipients of the Pauline McGibbon Award, Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award and Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award were announced.

Stratford Festival cutter and tailor Jennifer Wonnacott is the recipient of the 2016 Pauline McGibbon Award. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the award, created in honour of former Lieutenant Governor Pauline McGibbon. It includes a $7,000 prize and a medal designed by Dora de Pédery-Hunt and is presented to a member of Ontario's professional theatre community in the early stages of his or her career who has displayed a unique talent and a potential for excellence. The award is given each year by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism and is administered by the Ontario Arts Council. Jennifer specializes in men's tailoring, particularly Elizabethan-era design, interpreting designers by translating their sketches into actual garments. She is an impressive cutter and a creative problem solver, passionate about sharing her knowledge of costume-making, both in her capacity at Stratford and as an instructor at Fanshawe College.

The winner of this year's Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award is visionary and arts pioneer George Curtiss Randolph, whose immeasurable contributions span more than 30 years in the arts and arts education. The award was established in 1996 to recognize Barbara Hamilton's illustrious theatrical career. It is presented to a Canadian artist who demonstrates excellence in the performing arts and is dedicated to advocating and being an ambassador for the arts in Canada. Devoted to nurturing the careers of budding artists, George Randolph founded the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in 1992. Alumni can be found on Broadway, in London's West End and on Shaw, Stratford and Mirvish stages. He twice travelled to China (2014, 2015) with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to explore and develop arts education curriculums in Shanghai. George Randolph's immeasurable contributions have been recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Ontario Black History Society and Harbourfront Centre.

The recipient of the 2016 Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award (LMJH Award) is arts manager and theatre champion Nancy J. Webster. The award recognizes the important work of theatre, dance and opera administrators. Recipients of the LMJH Award have at least 10 years of demonstrated commitment to the performing arts, in addition to having made an impact on the industry in Toronto. Ms Webster is currently the Executive Director at Young People's Theatre, first serving there as Managing Director from 2004-2009, and returning as Executive Director in 2013 after four years as Managing Director, English Theatre at the National Arts Centre. Other key roles in Toronto's theatre community she has held include Producer of the Toronto Fringe Festival and Managing Director of Factory Theatre. During the ten years she spent as President and Past President of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), Nancy Webster made a significant, volunteer contribution to the Canadian theatre community. She currently has roles with the Metcalf Foundation's Creative Strategic Incubator program and the Ontario Minister of Culture's Advisory Panel devising Ontario's new culture plan. She is a dearly loved and exceptional mentor whose generosity of spirit is widely acknowledged.

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD:

TAPA's Audience Choice Award is co-sponsored once again this year by NOW Magazine and Yonge-Dundas Square. The public is invited to choose a winner and vote for their favourite show from the list of nominees for Outstanding Production - or they can choose their own! Theatre and opera fans can cast their votes online at www.nowtoronto.com/doras from June 2-22. ...The winner is announced at the Dora Awards show ceremony and receives a special plaque from NOW Magazine.

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.

Harbourfront Centre is a Canadian charity operating the 10 prime acres of Toronto's central waterfront as a free and open public site. It celebrates the multiplicities of cultures that comprise Canada and enlivens the city through the creative imaginations of artists from across the country and around the globe.

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