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A Taste
of Toronto
Conference Offerings
Paul Court
Toronto Promotions Coordinator
Many off-site
professional development workshops (PDWs) and
trips are in store for those attending the Toronto
2005 Conference & Stage Expo.
PDWs
are offered before the start of the Conference & Stage
Expo and require pre-registration, which can
be done on the "Regional Attractions" section
of Conference & Stage Expo Registration
form (PDF).
Tours as part of the regular Conference activities
are also being planned. Sign-up sheets will be
available at the conference because the number
of those participating will be limited.
PDW: Niagara Falls - Shaw Festival Day Trip
A PDW to the Shaw Festival
and Niagara Falls is planned for Tuesday, March
15.
This is a one-day trip that
will tour the theatres at the Shaw Festival, as
well as their newly renovated production facilities.
The host will be Technical Director Jeff Cummings.
With three separate theatres distributed along
the main street of the professionally quaint village
of Niagara-on-the-Lake, this is one of the two
largest repertory theatres in North America
Production
and rehearsals will be in full swing, as the
visit will occur just weeks before the opening
of the 2005 season. Known for its exquisite
production values, the Shaw Festival has mounted
12 full-scale productions running in repertory
in three theatres in its current season. To
keep up-to-date with announcements for the 2005
season, keep an eye on www.shawfest.com.
Following
the Shaw visit, the tour continues a few miles
south down the Niagara Parkway to a site once
dismissed by Oscar Wilde as "the
second great disappointment of married life." Ignore
the old cynic – Niagara Falls is still one
of the great natural spectacles. On a clear day
the permanent spray cloud above this thundering
cataract can be seen for miles.
Niagara Falls is also
home to one of the oldest lighting shows in
the world. With a few exceptions (including two
world wars and the odd power blackout), they have
been illuminated most evenings since 1860. This tour will provide a close look at the current
lighting installation, and a slightly more distant
view of millions of gallons of well-lit water.
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PDW: Props Workshop
A Trip to Paragon
Prop Shop
A trip to a 20,000-square-foot facility dedicated
to props building and custom fabrication will
make up a PDW props workshop on Tuesday, March
15. Paragon has built props – and much more – for
museums, award shows, displays, feature films,
and musicals in Toronto, on Broadway, and elsewhere.
Their work is known for its high quality and the
innovative use of materials.
This workshop will feature an in-depth look
at their work for 10 productions of The Lion
King, on Broadway and around the world. There
will be a chance for some hands-on work with Paragon's
head prop builder. The session will be hosted
by Paragon's founder, noted props builder
Grace Nakatsu. To get an idea of the scope of
their work, see their website at www.paragonprops.com.
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Tour: The Distillery
District
On Friday, March 18, from 4:45 to 7:35 p.m.
participants will walk to and board the King streetcar,
roll through the financial district past a grand
hotel, an assortment of shops and restaurants,
and through several blocks of office design studios,
alight at Parliament Street, and walk a block
south to the Distillery District.
Even older than the streetcar system and its
stables, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery complex
has 44 buildings dating back as far as 1832. They
recently were renovated to house restaurants,
shops, galleries, and the studios of many artists
working in a variety of media. Intriguingly, most
of these spaces feature machinery salvaged from
the original distillery.
The driving focus of this major urban renewal
project has been the arts, with many events and
concerts being held here. This site is also the
home to many performing arts companies and several
performance spaces.
At the time of the visit, two tank houses will
be in the process of being transformed into a
complex with three theatres, five studios, classrooms,
and offices. This an interesting joint project
between a major Toronto repertory company, Soulpepper
Theatre Company, and the theatre program at George
Brown College. Both will have their administrative
offices in the complex, and a hard-hat tour of
the site may be arranged.
There also are plans to visit DanceMakers Centre
for Contemporary Creation and the New Works Studio
shared by Nightwood Theatre and Tapestry New Opera
Works. See www.thedistillerydistrict.com and www.soulpepper.ca/2004/new_home.htm for more details.
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Tour: The Four Seasons Center
For
the Performing Arts
Yes, Toronto is finally getting a real opera
house! A trip to the Four Seasons Center for the
Performing Arts will be held on Friday, March
18.
The shovels went in the ground last year for
the new home of the Canadian Opera Company, and
the fly tower is growing steadily above street
level. Tickets are already on sale for the fall
of 2006, when the 2,000-seat, traditional tiered
hall will open with a new production of Wagner's
complete Ring Cycle. Who said Canadians
aren't ambitious?
There will be a session chaired by Bruce McMullan,
former technical director of the Canadian Opera
Company (and Regional Programming Chair of USITT
2005), who has been closely involved with the
project. Panelists will include Phil Giddings
of Engineering Harmonics (sound, video, and communication
systems), Robert Essert of Sound Space Design
(acousticians), and Josh Dachs of Fisher/Dachs
(theatre systems).
Mr. McMullan is working to arrange hard-hat
tours of the site for a few small groups following
this session. In the meantime, view a rendering
of the new opera house at www.coc.ca/fscentre/fsc.php,
and keep an eye on the progress of the construction
site at www.fourseasonscentre.ca.
These
are a few of the highlights of the Regional Programming
in store for those attending the 2005 Annual Conference & Stage
Expo. More will be featured in upcoming issues
of Sightlines.
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