Acting Up Stage Company

Overview

Our 9th Season!

Fresh on the heels of a stunningly successful year, we are thrilled to announce our ninth season featuring two Mainstage productions, the Toronto premiere of a West Coast hit, a Canadian commission, a new performance venue, a prize for emerging artists, and 45 new young-artists in-training.

All of our programs in 2012-2013 explore ‘connections’: making connections in an isolating online world; losing and rebuilding connections with those we love most; celebrating connections between long-standing collaborators; fostering connections between young artists.

We look forward to sharing more great stories with you in 2012-2013 and hope that you ‘connect’ with all that we have in store!

Productions

Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata

Having sold-out its extended run at Vancouver’s PuSh Festival in January 2012, this original musical by Veda Hille and Bill Richardson sets actual Craigslist postings to music in a 90 minute song-cycle. Both hilarious and surprisingly poignant, Do You Want What I Have Got? explores contemporary humanity through the lens of Craigslist – an online classified site with over 50 million ads posted each month.

“One of the most unique and entertaining theatrical concoctions seen in many a year.” – The Province
“Simply terrific” – The Georgia Straight

By Veda Hille and Bill Richardson
Directed by Amiel Gladstone

January 30-March 3, 2013
Factory Studio Theatre
Co-produced with Factory Theatre

Falsettos

Consisting of two one-act plays, written nearly 10 years apart, Falsettos tells the story of Marvin, a married father who – in 1979 – leaves his wife and son for another man and hopes that they can all live as a ‘tight-knit’ family. Act 1 (March of the Falsettos) explores the destruction of his dreams for a nuclear family while Act 2 (Falsettoland) depicts this unusual family unit coming together in light of the emergence of AIDS. A Tony and Drama Desk award-winning musical, Falsettos looks at a community during a time of significant change, and, filtered through a contemporary perspective, offers a platform to discuss how far society has or has not progressed in redefining the traditional family.

Falsettos marks a new chapter for Acting Up Stage Company as we become one of the inaugural presenters at the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. Opening in Fall 2012, the Centre is poised to become the artistic, cultural and social core of the new Regent Park neighbourhood. Boasting a 6,000 square foot, fully-flexible performance space, the Centre provides Acting Up Stage with the perfect venue to create innovative musical productions.

“Exhilarating and heartbreaking.” – New York Times
“Visionary musical theatre” – Variety

Music and lyrics by William Finn
Book by William Finn and James Lapine
Directed by Robert McQueen
Music Direction by Reza Jacobs
Choreographed by Tim French

April 23-May 12, 2013
Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre
Produced in association with Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company

Concerts

Tapestries: The Music of Carole King and James Taylor

After our sold-out, smash hit concerts Both Sides Now and The Long and Winding Road, Acting Up Stage Company blurs the lines of folk, cabaret and musical theatre with an astonishing evening paying tribute to the music of Carole King and James Taylor. Hit songs such as “I Feel The Earth Move”, “Fire And Rain”, “It’s Too Late”, “Sweet Baby James”, and “You’ve Got A Friend” will be re-imagined by some of Canada’s greatest musical theatre performers with stunning original orchestrations.

Music Direction, Vocal Arrangements and Orchestrations by Reza Jacobs
Directed and Dramaturged by Elenna Mosoff

November 26, 2012
TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, Koerner Hall

Education & Outreach

The Syd & Shirley Banks Prize for Emerging Musical Theatre Artists

Acting Up Stage is proud to announce the Syd & Shirley Banks Prize for Emerging Musical Theatre Artists. This inaugural program is open to professional musical artists under 30 who are under-exposed in Toronto and its surrounding area. Through an open audition process, two artists will be selected and will receive a cash prize, mentorship throughout the season, a showcase performance on one of our “dark nights” during the run of Do You Want What I Have Got? and a role in the Tapestries concert. The Syd and Shirley Banks Prize for Emerging Musical Theatre Artists generously provides two musical theatre artists the opportunity to advance their careers through financial assistance, mentorship and increased exposure.

One Song Glory

Continuing for its seventh year, Acting Up Stage presents One Song Glory, a training program for 45 emerging artists aged 13-19; the only local program of its kind, One Song Glory is free of charge for all. Under the mentorship of a team of professional artists, participants engage in masterclasses, workshops, panel discussions and performances, allowing Acting Up Stage to nurture the musical artists and audiences of tomorrow. Participation is open to anyone in Ontario aged 13-19. Auditions will take place in October 2012. One Song Glory runs November 10 through to December 2, 2012.

Musical Development

Alexandria

After launching the NoteWorthy program in May 2011, our 2012-2013 season will see the development of our first musical commission. Alexandria – with book and lyrics by Andrew Kushnir (The Middle Place, Foto) and music by Reza Jacobs (composer of Shakuntala, Plastic!) – tells the story of two casualties of the Information Age – a librarian who is being forced into early retirement due to her school’s new emphasis on “digital literacy”, and a young man who has become consumed by a disquieting and potentially fatal online forum. Using the rhythms of the Dewey Decimal System as inspiration for its musical voice, and an innovative theatricality to represent its real and virtual worlds, Alexandria will receive a reading in Summer 2012 and a workshop in Fall 2012.

Book and lyrics by Andrew Kushnir
Music by Reza Jacobs
Co-Commissioned by Acting Up Stage Company and The Belfry Theatre

NoteWorthy Phase 1

A new round of NoteWorthy begins in 2012-2013! In June 2013, we will pair six established composers and playwrights in different combinations to cultivate new collaborations within the musical genre. A call for submissions will be released in late 2012.