Vanessa Sears News

Louise Pitre, Canada's first lady of musical theatre, is headlining LOFT Community Services' Home for the Holidays Benefit Concert. Known for an impressive career that spans theatre, television and concert stages across North America and Europe, Pitre is giving back to a cause that is near and dear to her heart.

The Shaw Festival's 2021 season continues into fall and winter with the American classic Desire Under the Elms, the beloved Irving Berlin musical Holiday Inn and perennial Yuletide favourite A Christmas Carol.

Productions from the Stratford Festival’s 2021 season begin streaming this Thursday, September 2, with a ticketed viewing party of selections from Why We Tell the Story: A Celebration of Black Musical Theatre on Stratfest@Home, the Festival’s streaming platform. It will feature a live chat for all those virtually attending at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.

This exquisite cabaret delves deep into the catalogue of African American Musical Theatre and not only poses the titular question of WHY WE TELL THE STORY but also leaves audiences wondering why theatres haven’t been telling these stories nearly enough.

This update of the sold-out 2019 Meighen Forum concert, takes you on a journey with the voices of legendary Black poets and the music of the African-American musical theatre canon, including hits from Aida, Ain't Misbehavin', Caroline, or Change, The Color Purple, Hamilton, The Lion King, Once On This Island, Showboat and many more.

The Stratford Festival will mark the start of the 2021 season on July 13, the 68th anniversary of the very first performance held under a tent back in 1953, and the official opening of the year's first show, Why We Tell the Story: A Celebration of Black Musical Theatre.

The Ontario government has issued its guidance for attendance at outdoor performing arts events, paving the way for the opening of the Stratford Festival’s 2021 season. According to these guidelines, the Stratford Festival will be able to accommodate 100 people (or 25% capacity) in each of its new outdoor canopies.

The new programming venture will showcase nine conceptual adaptations of multi-character works, in which all roles will be played by a single actor, and in two cases by two actors, using in-person, virtual or hybrid platforms. Works will premiere gradually over the next two seasons, alongside TIFT’s regular scope of programming.

Building on the successful Dinner à la Art project launched earlier this month, TIFT Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak announced today exclusive online readings starring iconic international artists including Eric McCormack, Len Cariou, Chilina Kennedy, Ed Asner, Colin Mochrie, Cynthia Dale, Gavin Crawford, Daren A. Herbert and more.

The Stratford Festival is continuing to expand its online offerings as it marks the first anniversary of its Thursday night viewing parties this week with an encore screening of King Lear, and with a specially curated selection of theatrical content newly added to Stratfest@Home, the Festival’s $10-a-month streaming service.

The Stratford Festival is transforming, for this summer, into an outdoor festival offering a season of six plays and five cabarets reflecting on the theme of Metamorphosis, with performances held under beautiful canopies that will hark back to the Festival’s founding under a tent in 1953.

Today, Talk Is Free Theatre released the title and cast of acclaimed artists for one more reading as part of Dinner à la Art. Riot was written in 1995 by Andrew Moodie and will be streaming for one night only on April 8, 2021. Directing this Chalmers Canadian Play Award winner is actor, playwright, and co-founder of Blue Bird Theatre Collective, Tawiah M'Carthy.

As winter descends and the pandemic continues, the Stratford Festival offers up some heartwarming new content to entertain and inspire as we await the days when we will be able to gather in theatres again.

The Stratford Festival’s popular Thursday night free viewing parties resume this week with an entertaining variety of offerings, including new and legacy films and all new original content safely created during the pandemic – adding to the rich mine of theatrical content available on Stratfest@Home, the Festival’s $10-a-month streaming service.

Academy Award-winner Christopher Plummer is the focus of the Stratford Festival's next two Thursday night viewing parties, with two remarkable performances and two exclusive new pre-show interviews – all being added this month to Stratfest@Home, the Festival's new subscription streaming service.

The Stratford Festival is following up on the success of its recent Shakespeare Film Festival with a $10-a-month digital content subscription, Stratfest@Home, offering more Shakespeare and more films, along with new commissions, music, conversation, cooking and comedy.

Angelwalk Theatre will bring some musical theatre fun to the fall lineup with its brand-new online series Backstage Tea, airing every Tuesday at 5:30 pm (EST) starting October 20th and available until 11:59 pm (EST) the following Monday. The series will run for a total of 9 episodes, with the final episode airing on December 15th.

The annual Dora Awards celebrate excellence in professional theatre, dance and opera in a ceremony that includes 46 Dora Awards, the Silver Ticket Award, and the Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award.

Mirvish has released a new video, Episode 7 in its Check In From Away digital series, on YouTube.

Chilina Kennedy has announced via Instagram that she and Vanessa Sears will sing an original song for the Toronto Fringe Collective, premiering July 1-12.