Production History

Opera to Go 2008

(World Premiere 2008)
Director: Tom Diamond
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Design: Julia Tribe
Lighting Design: Elizabeth Asselstine
Cast: Carla Huhtanen, Keith Klassen, Jessica Lloyd, Calvin Powell

7 new works commissioned in 2006/07, including a Bravo!FACT film
Presented in Association with Harbourfront Centre's World Stage

Nigredo Hotel

by Nic Gotham & Ann-Marie MacDonald
(Remount, 2006)
Director: Banuta Rubess
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set Design: Jerrard Smith
Costume Design: Diana Smith
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen
Cast: Alexander Dobson & Patricia O’Callaghan

Algoma Fall Festival, Sault Ste. Marie, Nov 2, 2006

Elijah’s Kite

by James Rolfe & Camyar Chai
(Canadian Première & Tour, Oct/Nov 2006)
Director: Michael Clipperton
Music Director: Alexander Cann
Set & Costume Design: Julia Tribe
Cast: Jessica Lloyd, Neema Bickersteth; Jennifer Rasor; James McLennan; Giles Tomkins

Canadian Premiere at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Oct 30, 2006

Five week tour to schools & theatres in Ontario

Elijah’s Kite

by James Rolfe & Camyar Chai
(World Première, April 2006)
Director: Gordon Ostrowski
Music Director: Wayne Strongman

Developed in partnership with the Manhattan School of Music (NYC) and performed by students of the MSM Opera Studio

Toured to schools in Spanish Harlem, NYC

Opera to Go 2006

(World Première, 2006)
Director: Tom Diamond
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Design: Julia Tribe
Lighting Design: Elizabeth Asselstine
Cast: Carla Huhtanen, Keith Klassen, Jessica Lloyd & Calvin Powell

Six new works commissioned in 2005/2006 and premiered at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, March 1-17, 2006

Nigredo Hotel

by Nic Gotham & Ann-Marie MacDonald
(Remount, 2005)
Director: Banuta Rubess
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set Design: Jerrard Smith
Costume Design: Diana Smith
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen
Cast: Alexander Dobson & Patricia O’Callaghan

25th Anniversary Season – in the Fermenting Cellar, Distillery Historic District, May 5-15, 2005

Opera to Go 2004

(World Première, 2004)
Director: Banuta Rubess
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set Design: Teresa Przysbylski
Costume Design: Angela Thomas
Lighting Design: Steve Ross
Cast: Ian Funk, Martin Houtman, Tamara Hummel, Lynne McMurtry & Xin Wang

Five new works commissioned in 2003 and premiered on four stages in the Fermenting Cellar, Distillery Historic District, April 1-7, 2004

Facing South

by Linda Catlin Smith & Don Hannah
(World Première, 2003)
Director: Joanna McIntyre
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Designer: Dany Lyne
Lighting Designer: Pierre Lavoie
Movement Design: Claudia Moore
Cast: Jean Stilwell, Sung Taek Chung, Gregory Dahl & James Martin

Staged as an “environmental” piece at a converted factory, Cherry Beach Sound

Nominated for Best Production of an Opera – 2003 Dora Mavor Moore Awards

Opera To Go 2002

4 Bite-Sized Operas
(World Première 2002)
Director: Banuta Rubess
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Design: Ieva Jurjane
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen
Cast: Peter Blanchet, Rebecca Hass, Steven Pitkanen & Laura Whalen

Four new works commissioned in 2001 and premiered at the Isabel Bader Theatre, Toronto, in April, 2002

Iron Road

by Mark Brownell & Chan Ka Nin
(World Première 2001)
Director: Tom Diamond
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Design: Dany Lyne
Lighting Design: Bonnie Beecher
Choreographer: Xing Bang Fu
Principal Cast: Grace Chan, Stuart Howe, Zhuge Zeng & Zheng Zhou

Total audience of 8,110 in 9 performances in Toronto, April 2001

Nominated for 9 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, winner of Outstanding New Musical

Cast of 40 singers and dancers, orchestra of 40 players including traditional Chinese instruments

Elsewhereless

by Atom Egoyan & Rodney Sharman
(World Première 1998)
Director: Atom Egoyan
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Design: Philip Barker
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen
Cast: Benoit Boutet, Willy Grenzberg, Fides Krucker, Marcus Nance & Curtis Sullivan

Total audience across three cities: 9,202

Nominated for 6 Dora Mavor Moore Awards

Passion

by Stephen Sondheim
(Canadian Première 1997)
Director: Jordan Merkur
Set & Costume Design: Astrid Jansen
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen

Produced in partnership with the Canadian Stage Company to an audience of 22,000 people over the course of a 4 week run at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts

Nominated for one Dora Mavor Moore Award

Still The Night

by Theresa Tova (World Première 1996)
Director: Tom Diamond
Music Director: Alan Moon
Set & Costume Design: Mary Kerr
Lighting Design: Elizabeth Asselstine

Seen by over 35,000 people in six cities nationally

The play was nominated for a 1999 Governor General’s Award for Literature

Played to 6,000 people in a held-over Toronto run

Canadian tour for 1998/99 included Calgary, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Toronto, Ottawa & Montreal

Winner of 4 Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Best Production & Best New Musical

No No Miya

by Rudolph Komorous
(Toronto Première 1995)
Director: Billie Bridgman
Music Director: Wayne Strongman
Set & Costume Design: Julia Tribe
Lighting Design: Steve Ross
Cast: Judith Forst, John Fanning

Toronto Premiere featured at Today’s Japan Festival at Harbourfront

 

Nigredo Hotel

by Nic Gotham & Ann-Marie MacDonald
(World Première 1992)
Director: Banuta Rubess
Set & Costume Design: Jerrard Smith & Diana Smith
Lighting Design: Paul Mathiesen

Two popularly received and critically acclaimed Toronto runs & performances in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

Broadcast nationally on CBC Radio

Performed at the Brighten and Glasgow Festivals in Britain

Winner of 2 Dora Mavor Moore Awards

Nominated for Chalmers Best Play of the Year Award