Event: Queen West Theatre Artists Band Together To Aid Those Displaced By the Queen West Fire, Factory Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Obidian Theatre, Roseneath Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille

Toronto On, – Factory Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Roseneath Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille will be designating Friday February 29th as a benefit performance for people and businesses displaced by the tragic fire on Queen Street that occurred last Tuesday.

Theatre Passe Muraille, with the support of Roseneath Theatre and Obsidian Theatre will host a benefit performance of the double bill Born Ready and Smokescreen on Friday February 29th at 8pm with all proceeds from the box office going to the fire relief.

As well, Factory Theatre will host a benefit performance produced by Nightwood Theatre of a nanking winter on Friday February 29th at 8pm. Nightwood theatre will be donating $20 of every ticket sold to the fire relief and Factory Theatre will donate all proceeds from the bar and concession that evening to the cause as
well as donate $1 of every ticket sold that evening to the fire relief.

Any further donations to assist residents affected by the fire can be made to the Queen Street Fire Fund at all Scotiabank locations across the city.

Queen West Benefit Performances:
Born Ready and Smokescreen
Date: Friday February 29th
Performance Time: 8:00
Ticket Prices: $15 – $30
Location: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue one block north of Queen and one block east of Bathurst
For tickets call: 416-504-7529 or visit www.passemuraille.on.ca

a nanking winter
Date: Friday February 29th
Performance Time: 8:00pm
Ticket Prices: $30
Location: Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street @ Adelaide
For Tickets call: 416 504-9971 or visit www.factorytheatre.ca

Audition: FREE TO BE…YOU AND ME, Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts

RANDOLPH YOUNG COMPANY
Toronto’s only performance program for kids currently training in the performing arts (or for kids who WANT to be!) proudly presents The Randolph Younger Company in Marlo Thomas & Friends’ FREE TO BE… YOU AND ME
Bathurst Street Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street, Toronto May 9 – 19, 2008

“TRIPLE THREAT” AUDITIONS for KIDS 8-13 BOYS especially encouraged! WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – 6:00pm FOR BOYS ONLY: SUNDAY, MARCH 2 – 10:00am

All auditioners will participate in a GROUP MOVEMENT audition followed by individual appointments for singing & acting

FOR MORE INFO: rycauditions@randolphacademy.com or call 416-924-2243 x400

THERE IS NO FEE TO AUDITION. PARTICIPATION FEES APPLY IF CAST IN THE PRODUCTION.

FULL AND PARTIAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE TO ALL PARTICIPANTS IN NEED.

RYC is a program of the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts

Job Posting: Office Coordinator and Assistant to the Producer, Factory Theatre

Reporting directly to the Managing Director this position has the two-fold responsibility of: office coordination for The Factory Theatre, and personal assistance to the Managing Director (and Artistic Director). The primary area of responsible for this position is to create a professional and welcoming office environment for the staff, vendors and creative team for The Factory Theatre. The successful candidate will work in a fast-paced and artistically driven environment, working equally with administrative and artistic staff and leaders. Candidates must have some familiarity with Canadian theatre and previous administrative experience.

This entry level position is suitable for an emerging professional passionate about theatre and interested in learning more about producing and facilitating live performance.

Specifically, this position has the following responsibilities:

Administrative Assistance

• Responsible for daily mail sorting (including invoices), reception duties, media clippings and office appearance (cleaning)
• Assistance with marketing, fundraising, box office and outreach mailings
• Responsible for coordinating and compiling all outgoing mail and postage allocations,
• General office coordination including ensuring the ordering and the maintenance of stock of office supplies and letterhead.
• Preparation and coordination of all Equity contracts and remittances
• Personal administrative assistance to the Managing Director and Artistic Director, including assistance with monthly Board meetings
• Ensuring that general phone and e-mail enquiries are forwarded or answered appropriately.
• Organizing and leading all weekly staff meetings
• Participation as a full team member of the Factory Theatre staff and the assumption of responsibility for special projects (i.e. special events) and committee work as required.

Office Coordination

• Responsible for trouble-shooting the following systems:
• Telephones, voicemail, greetings and fax machine (as needed)
•  Personal computers, passwords, e-mail, backup  and general networking and Internet as needed – assistance available from EXCEL consultants
• Photocopy machine

Data Entry

• Working with the Marketing and Development Manager to input tax receipt data and other stewardship items
• Preparing, assembling, collating and distributing all weekly payables
• Preparing equity/artist contracts and tracking payment schedules
• Coordinating facility rental inquiries, bookings and tracking revenue

The responsibilities listed above address the key duties of the position. The Managing Director will occasionally request additional responsibilities. They will not however, be unreasonably assigned.

Full-time employment, with benefits
AVAILABLE MARCH 25TH

www.factorytheatre.ca 

Event: Tour the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, The Canadian Opera Company

The COC invites the public to experience behind-the-scenes views into the workings of an opera company by touring the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.  Public tours provide the opportunity for attendees to learn more about the opera house, its history, architecture and innovative acoustic design.  Each hour-long tour is led by trained docents and includes background information and access to the City Room, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre and R. Fraser Elliott Hall.  Public tours are $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and free for children 12 and under.  Public tours take place Saturday mornings at 11:15 a.m. and 12 p.m. (with some exceptions).  Please call for availability and pre-book tours at 416-306-2377, or visit the COC Web site at www.coc.ca.

Tour the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
$7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors
FREE for children 12 and under
Saturday mornings – 11:15 a.m. & 12 p.m.
Please call for availability – 416-306-2392  
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts 145 Queen St. W.

Event: Take Me Out to The Opera!, The Canadian Opera Company

Take Me Out to The Opera!

The Canadian Opera Company’s popular program for families, Take me out to the Opera is a great opportunity for young people aged 7 to 12 and their parents to learn about Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Leading the program is a team of artists and educators. Please note that performance tickets are sold separately through the COC Box Office at 416-363-8231.

Take Me Out to The Opera!
$8 per person
Saturday, May 10, 2008
12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre
227 Front St. E. (at Berkeley Street)

Workshop: Opera JAM!, The Canadian Opera Company

The Canadian Opera Company presents its popular FREE program for young people, Opera JAM!  The eight-week education program, designed to introduce high school students between the ages of 14 and 18 to opera, explores what music can bring to the telling of a story.  Operating out of the Frankland Community Centre, 816 Logan Ave., Opera JAM! takes place every Tuesday from April 1 – May 20, 2008 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Led by a team of professional artists, Opera JAM! provides teenagers with the opportunity to break down the barriers of opera by demonstrating how it can be relevant to them.  The program includes sessions on voice and movement, creative re-setting of libretti, contemporary re-stagings, as well as setting traditional works to new grooves.  Participants look at different musical styles and their influence on storytelling and put opera in context through comparisons to musical theatre and contemporary music.  A final presentation of songs and scenes, featuring the student’s own words and interpretations, concludes the program.  Participants are invited to attend a BMO Financial Group Student Dress Rehearsal.

Opera JAM!
Tuesdays, April 1 – May 20, 2008
Ages 14 to 18
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
FREE eight-week session
Frankland Community Centre
816 Logan Ave., Toronto
Call: 416-306-2377 or e-mail: community@coc.ca

Event: The Opera Exchange, The Canadian Opera Company

The Canadian Opera Company, in collaboration with the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, presents the final instalment of the Opera Exchange series: Letting Your Hair Down with Pelléas et Mélisande.  A panel of experts use a multidisciplinary approach to explore Claude Debussy’s only completed opera Pelléas et Mélisande.  Topics include: the symbolist movement, the text and music of the opera, and the opera’s ending.  The panel includes Arthur Wenk, author of Claude Debussy and the Poets discusses the text and music, Leslie Barcza, University of Toronto, discusses the symbolist movement, and Katherine Bergeron, Brown University, discusses the ending of the opera

Letting Your Hair Down with Pelléas et Mélisande
$5 for students, $10 for U of T Faculty and $15 for general admission
Saturday, May 10, 2008
9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Isabel Bader Theatre – 93 Charles St. W. (at Avenue Road)

Announcement: Free Concert Series, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

May 1 – May 28, 2008
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
145 Queen St. W. (at University Ave.)

The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre includes concerts, performances and presentations by young artists, Canadian and international opera stars and COC staff.  This is an exciting opportunity for Torontonians to experience the artistic excellence and cultural diversity of the city.  All performances are free to the public.

May 1, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Vocal Series  The graduating artists of the current Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio accompanied by Liz Upchurch, perform a special “farewell” concert of their favourite arias and ensembles, titled Les Adieux.

May 6, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.  Urban Music Series    Recording artists and RCM faculty members Dan-e-o and Kamau present the first show of the new Urban Music Series, Hip-Hop 101.  This program explores the history of rap music and hip-hop culture, as well as provides an opportunity for the audience to discover what it is like to perform.

May 7, 2008
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.    Urban Music Series    The Royal Conservatory of Music and the Canadian Opera Company present Opera Meets Hip-Hop. This world premiere presentation for turntables and operatic voices, brings together two musical worlds: hip-hop and opera.  DJ lil Jaz and T.R.A.C.K.S. are joined by baritone Justin Welsh, soprano Teiya Kasahara and pianists Liz Upchurch to perform their new compositions.

May 8, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Chamber Music Series    COC harpist Sanya Eng performs Murray Schafer’s dazzling work for harp and percussion instruments, The Crown of Ariadne, which recounts the classical myth of Theseus and Ariadne, the Minotaur and the Labyrinth.

May 13, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Urban Music Series    DJ lil Jaz and T.R.A.C.K.S.  present  Scratch from Scratch, an entertaining demonstration of modern DJ techniques that explore the range of musical possibilities offered by a pair of DJ turntables.

May 15, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Chamber Music Series    Dynamic ensemble Fluterra, featuring two flutes and piano, present Silver, Black and White. A musical program highlighting the technical brilliance of this young ensemble.

May 20, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Vocal Series    Pianists Andrea Grant, Mia Bach and guests present Opera “a Casa” a unique program which explores opera before the dawn of recorded opera.

May 21, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Piano Virtuoso Series    The Arms and Elbows, Palms and Nails concert showcases pieces that explore extended piano technique including Henry Cowell’s seminal work, Banshee, where the pianist never even touches the keyboard. Also featured is Alexina Louie’s haunting triptych Scenes from a Jade Terrace and Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues.

May 22, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Vocal Series    Music Picnic presents Operatic theatre and chamber music of Njo Kong Kie, a music program featuring selections from the album of Kong Kie’s band Day OFF and excerpts from his chamber operas Knotty Together and Shattered Glass.

May 27, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Chamber Music Series  Dynamic young cellist Soohyun Nam teams up with pianist Bryan Wagorn to present The Russian Soul, a program of passionate and soulful works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

May 28, 2008
12 – 1 p.m.    Chamber Music Series    The low brass section of the Canadian Opera Company and special guests double bassist, Hilda Cowie from the National Arts Centre Orchestra and renowned pianist Peter Longworth, present a program of Solos and Chamber Music from the 14th to the 21st centuries.

For more information about the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre please visit the COC Web site at www.coc.ca.

Call for Submissions: Workshop Perfomance Series, The Lower Ossington Theatre

The Lower Ossington Theatre (The LOT)
Workshop Performance Series.
Following on the success of recent workshop productions by Praxis Theatre, The Toronto Youth Theatre, and Geek Girl Productions in our basic theatre space, The LOT is now accepting submissions for our Workshop Performance Series,
Monday through Thursday evenings many of our studios are booked with a variety of classes that make week-long runs of productions difficult for much of the year. Friday and Saturday nights past 8pm are free. The LOT’s location at the heart of The Queen West Triangle (Ossington between Queen and Dundas), makes us an ideal location for weekend performances.
The Workshop Performance Series works like this:
No rental fee. We split the box office 50/50. Ticket price TBD.
You provide whatever you need. We have a few instruments, but not many. Whatever you set up has to be struck at the end of the night. You also provide you own box office staff and operators for whatever equipment you will be running.
Schedule is as follows:

• Day 1 Thursday. Tech/dress. 6-10pm.  Set up whatever you can in a couple of hours and give it a practice go. Our technical director works with you to integrate your best ideas with the realities of the space
• Day 2 Friday Set up 6-8pm – Performance 8:30pm
• Day 3 Saturday Set up 6-8pm – Performance 8:30pm

Applications to The LOT Workshop Performance Series should include:

• What the piece is and in general terms how you would stage it.
• Short bios of the artists involved.
• Technical requirements (remember, we don’t have much).
• Why you think you can draw an audience.

Send submissions to: space(at)lowerossingtontheatre.com
All submissions will be reviewed with our technical director, before informing artists what we believe is feasible and a good idea.
More info on The LOT at: www.lowerossingtontheatre.com

Job Posting: Manager of Administration and Education, Opera Atelier

Reporting to the General Manager, the successful candidate for this position will have two distinct roles. As the Manager of Administration, you will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of a small, yet busy office, including cash management, office equipment management and liaising with various suppliers. As Education Manager, you will be in charge of managing Opera Atelier’s highly regarded Making of an Opera (MOAO) program and implementing an expansion of this program over the next 12 months. In addition to running the office and the education programs, you will provide on-going assistance to the General Manager and Co-artistic Directors with various correspondence, executing and tracking production contracts and liaising with the contract book-keeper. You take pride in your work and are looking for a position in an exciting, positive, and respectful environment.
Office Administration

• Assisting the General Manager in executing administration related to productions, including contracts, foreign worker permits, travel arrangements and other artist liaison, financial planning and reporting,
• Providing support to the contract bookkeeper, including but not limited to banking, tracking and preparing government remittances, preparing payroll
• Overall responsibility for effective office systems and procedures, including making informed decisions about purchases, implementing new procedures, managing suppliers, liaising with building maintenance/landlord
• Ensuring maintenance and effective performance of office equipment, including computers and software, photocopiers and printers and telephones etc.
• Routine backup of files, maintaining filing system
• Recruitment and management of Opera Atelier’s volunteers

Education Program Management
Managing MOAO program, including, but not limited to:

• Contracting and coordinating artists participating in MOAO
• Booking and managing space and equipment for MOAO
• Creating Production Study Guides for teachers
• Implementing program expansion, including designing on line learning modules and website expansion
• Managing program revenue and expense budgets
• Maintaining contact database
• Soliciting and stewarding participants
• Assisting in grant and sponsorship identification, solicitation and stewardship

Required Skills and Traits

• Responsible, organized, very detail-oriented
• Resourceful, problem-solver, can-do attitude, high degree of initiative
• Basic understanding of cash management and financial systems including payroll, government remittances and basic banking
• Experience facilitating groups
• Excellent writing skills
• Experience conceiving, delivering and evaluating a project
• High level of proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Publisher and a high comfort level with learning and applying new technology.
• Strong sense of integrity, good sense of humour
• Tact and judgement

Desirable

• University degree or college diploma in arts management, education or music
• Knowledge of theatrical production
• Interest in opera or dance

The Manager of Administration and Education is an integral part of the company and is expected to attend all Opera Atelier performances, education events and some special events. Evening work is required in this position.

This is a full-time position with benefits.

Opera Atelier is Canada’s premier baroque theatre company, producing opera, ballet and drama from the 17th and 18th centuries. While drawing upon the aesthetics and ideals of the period, Opera Atelier goes beyond “reconstruction” and infuses each production with an inventive theatricality that resonates with modern audiences. Over the past two decades, under the direction of founders Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Zingg, Opera Atelier has garnered acclaim for its performances at home as well as in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Candidates are asked to mail or hand-deliver a cover letter and resume to:

Jane Hargraft
General Manager
Opera Atelier
157 King Street East, 4th Floor
Toronto, ON M5C 1G9

Application deadline: February 29, 2008

Applications by email or fax will not be accepted. No phone calls please.

Opera Atelier thanks all applicants, but regrets that only those called for an interview will be contacted.  www.operaatelier.com