Morris Panych News

Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum has announced principal casting for the 2019/20 season including Deborah Hay and Mark Uhre in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS, Gavin Crawford, who takes on all 40 roles in the hilarious FULLY COMMITTED, Rebecca Northan in EVERY BRILLIANT THING and THIS LONDON LIFE, and Alexis Gordon starring as Ma in the North American premiere in ROOM, based on the award-winning novel by Emma Donoghue.

Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) announces the short lists for its 2019 Tom Hendry Awards. The short lists for the Carol Bolt Award, the RBC Emerging Playwright Award, the Robert Beardsley Award, the Sharon Enkin Plays For Young People Award, as well as the Stage West Comedy & Musical Awards have been released by their respective juries.

Colm Feore will utter the first words on the Stratford Festival's newest stage, an echo of the inaugural performance in 1953, when Alec Guinness's opening speech in Richard III anticipated the a?oeglorious summera?? that was to come for Stratford. Feore, an internationally acclaimed stage and screen actor, is just one of a diverse company of accomplished actors who will present a repertory season of 15 productions in four remarkable theatres.

Citadel + Compagnie presents the hotly anticipated return of Against Nature, May 22-25 and May 29-June 1, 2019 at the Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance. Choreographed and directed by Citadel + Compagnie's Resident Choreographer James Kudelka, this multi-disciplinary work is a unique dance-opera-theatre hybrid that adapts French-Dutch author Joris-Karl Huysman's 1884 novel of bourgeois excess, À Rebours (Against Nature). This powerful work is replete with rich visuals, fluid choreography that supports and strengthens the story, and a nuanced score that is hauntingly mysterious. All disciplines beautifully combine to explore the nature of time and the challenges of love, beauty, and truth that reflects and refracts life itself.

The Grand Theatre, a leading cultural hub in London, Ontario, announces its 2019-20 season. Featuring 11 productions across two stages, including two world premieres, a North American premiere, and new works by exciting Canadian visionaries, the Grand's incredible 2019-20 lineup continues to bring the world to London, and London to the world.

Two-time Governor General's Award-winning playwright, Morris Panych directs The Shoplifters, a comedy about the effects of consumerism. The play received its 2014 world premiere in Washington, DC, ironically the capital of one of the world's countries most dedicated to free enterprise and the almighty dollar. The script has been reworked by Mr. Panych, with the help of his bilingual cast, to depict a unique Montreal experience for Centaur audiences. Long-time artistic collaborator and life partner, Ken MacDonald, designed the set and costumes, as he has done for Mr. Panych on more than 100 projects.

Pacific Opera Victoria announces its 2019/20 season, comprising six operas, including a Canadian premiere and a world premiere production.

The Old Globe in association with Yonge Street Theatricals will present a by-invitation-only industry reading of the new musical Life After on Thursday, December 6 at 2:00 p.m. and Friday, December 7 at Noon at Ripley Grier Studios in New York City. The reading will help the creative team prepare for the musical's upcoming American premiere this winter at The Old Globe in San Diego, where it will run from March 22 to April 28, 2019. 

Lantern Theater Company kicks off its 2018/19 season with the regional premiere of Hapgood by Tom Stoppard. Longtime Lantern artistic collaborator Peter DeLaurier will direct a cast that includes McKenna Kerrigan as MI5 spymaster Elizabeth Hapgood, with Damon Bonetti, Kirk Wendell Brown, Trevor William Fayle, Christopher Patrick Mullen, Adam Phelan, David Pica, William Zielinski, and young actors Charles LaMonaca and Will Zielinski, who will share the role of Hapgood's son Joe. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to request tickets for opening night on Wednesday, September 12 at 7 p.m. by contacting Anne Shuff at ashuff@lanterntheater.org. Performances run Thursday, September 6 through Sunday, October 14, 2018; a full schedule of performances and related special events is included in the fact sheet below.

Jacoba Knaapen, Toronto Alliance or the Performing Arts (TAPA) Executive Director and Dora Mavor Moore Awards Producer, announced the VIP presenters today for the 39th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, to be held on Monday, June 25 at the Winter Garden Theatre of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre.

At a press conference held May 31 in the lobby of the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 237 nominations for the 39th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which recognize excellence in the performing arts in Toronto.

Centaur Theatre proudly announces an exciting season of hit plays, ancillary initiatives, and special celebratory events to mark its golden anniversary. From its 1968 birth in the heart of the city, Centaur has grown to become a beacon for outstanding professional English-language theatre that speaks to the universal spirit while reflecting the Canadian, and especially the Montreal perspective. This is the first season programmed by Centaur's Artistic and Executive Director, Eda Holmes, and the stellar line-up reaffirms Centaur's standing as THE urban English-language theatre in Quebec.

Gioachino Rossini's laugh-out-loud romantic comedy returns to Opera Santa Barbara for the first time since 2001. The Barber of Seville has been entertaining audiences for more than 200 years with its outrageous stage antics and vocal acrobatics. Featuring some of opera's most recognizable tunes, audiences are sure to leave the theater singing Figaro, Figaro, Fiiiiiii-garo!

Last night, the winners of the Carol Bolt Award, RBC Emerging Playwright Award, Stage West Comedy and Musical Awards, Robert Beardsley Award, and PGC's Lifetime Membership Award were announced at the Tom Hendry Awards ceremony at The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.

Continuing its 2017 2018 Season, Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents Twelfth Night. Directed by internationally acclaimed director Ethan McSweeny and featuring Antoinette Robinson (previously announced) as Viola and Tony Award-nominee Hannah Yelland as Olivia, Shakespeare's comic tale of unrequited love will run at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from November 14 December 20, 2017.

Following an auspicious debut at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2016, Canadian Stage, The Musical Stage Company, and Yonge Street Theatricals will present rising Toronto lyricist and composer Britta's Johnson's extraordinary new musical Life After, on stage at the Berkeley Street Theatre September 23 - October 22. This expanded fall production represents an exciting step for a developing Canadian musical.

Just when you think you've run out of laughter, PICTURE THIS demands more. Written by Morris Panych and Brenda Robins, Soulpepper's PICTURE THIS is a heap of slapstick, comedic gold wrapped in the packaging of Ken MacDonald's gorgeous, intelligent set. Inspired by Melchior Lengyel's 'The Battle of Waterloo', PICTURE THIS captures the virile hunger of the struggling artist and presents it in a way that is enormously funny.

Lantern Theater Company will launch its 24th season with the regional premiere of Red Velvet, Lolita Chakrabarti's stirring play based on the true story of 19th century actor Ira Aldridge, who made history as the first African-American actor to portray Othello in 1833 London.

Following an auspicious debut at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2016, Canadian Stage, The Musical Stage Company, and Yonge Street Theatricals will present rising Toronto lyricist and composer Britta's Johnson's extraordinary new musical Life After, on stage at the Berkeley Street Theatre September 23 - October 22. This expanded fall production represents an exciting step for a developing Canadian musical.

Lantern Theater Company will launch its 24th season with the regional premiere of Red Velvet, Lolita Chakrabarti's stirring play based on the true story of 19th century actor Ira Aldridge, who made history as the first African-American actor to portray Othello in 1833 London. Longtime Lantern artistic collaborator Peter DeLaurier will direct a cast that includes Tony Award nominee Forrest McClendon as Ira Aldridge, with David Bardeen, Damon Bonetti, Liz Filios, Adam Hammet, David Pica, Ebony Pullum, and Lauren Sowa. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to attend opening night on Wednesday, September 13 at 7 p.m. A full schedule is included in the fact sheet below.