“Elvis’s Toenail is a slice of 1960’s Irish Culture with a charming allure.”

Meet another member of the cast of Elvis’s Toenail! Toronto Irish Players present the Canadian premiere of Fionnuala Kenny’s drama on the Main Stage of Alumnae Theatre, Feb 19 – March 7. Visit http://www.torontoirishplayers.com/ for reservations & info.

Toronto Irish Players

David Elliot Dickie was born in the west end of Toronto. He discovered his passion for acting at a young age and attended the Lorraine Kimsa Theater for Young Actors (now Young People’s Theater).  He recently portrayed Inspector Hopkins in The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca (Scarborough Players). Portraying Christy in Elvis’s Toenail marks his debut performance with the Toronto Irish Players.

What drew you to audition for the role of Christy? 

 Originally I had auditioned for the role of “Mother Francis”, alas I couldn’t quite pull off a matriarchal religious figure head of 1960’s Ireland. Maybe another time.

 Christy is a charismatic flirt with a big ol’ soft heart who brings an upbeat comedic touch to some of the plays serious tones. I have deep Irish roots myself, which are greatly fertilized by being part of this production, and that I’ve always wanted to explore. I just had to.

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Third time to “inhabit the habit” for Elvis’s Toenail actor

Barbara Taylor plays [yet another] nun in Toronto Irish Players’ Elvis’s Toenail.  Opening Feb 19 at Alumnae Theatre. RESERVATIONS / INFO: http://www.torontoirishplayers.com
or 416-440-2888.

Toronto Irish Players

Long-time TIP member, Barbara Taylor, who plays Mother Francis in upcoming show Elvis’s Toenail, shares her Mother Superior secrets.

I believe it is not your first time to play a woman of the cloth?

This is my third time to inhabit the habit.

 Where do you draw inspiration for such characters?

I was a student of the Dominican Convent, Eccles Street, Dublin and no stranger to “The Nuns”.  I had a particularly challenging relationship with a Sister Mary Henry or The Hen as we all called her.  She certainly supplied me with lots of experiences to draw from.  Each of the roles I have played as a nun have been different but being educated in a convent provided me with a wealth of Sisters to help develop my “holy” characters.

Do you relish playing imposing characters?

I enjoy playing a role of any kind but I do feel finding the right level of being imposing is important.  I love…

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“Play focuses on class, gender, and religion, all set to the music of Elvis!”

Interview with Nicole Marie McCafferty on her role in Toronto Irish Players’ production of Elvis’s Toenail.

Opens Feb 19 at Alumnae Theatre.  RESERVATIONS / INFO:  416-440-2888 or http://www.torontoirishplayers.com

Toronto Irish Players

 Nicole Marie McCafferty plays Rose in upcoming show Elvis’s Toenail. Originally from Nova Scotia, she is a graduate of Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. Past roles include: Pride & Prejudice (Lydia), Spring Awakening (Ilse), A Month in the Country (Vera), The Mousetrap (Miss Casewell), Our Town (Mrs Soames), The Hypochondriac (Angelique), Murder on the Nile (Christina), and Brighton Beach Memoirs (Nora) among others, as well as several musicals, numerous independent films and some TV.

1. What drew you to audition for the role of Rose? The play is so well written; all of the female characters are so full, so strong and so real. I would have been delighted to play any of them, but I feel that Rose is interesting because unlike the others who are… defiant in a way, and feel that the church should not be ‘sticking it’s nose in,’ and believe very strongly that they have the right…

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Toronto Irish Players’ “Elvis’s Toenail” opens Feb 19

Toronto Irish Players present the Canadian premiere of Fionnuala Kenny’s Elvis’s Toenail at Alumnae Theatre, Feb 19 – March 7.

The play is set in a Dublin clothing factory in 1961.  It is directed by longtime Toronto Irish Players member Cliona Kenny (the playwright’s sister!), and the cast includes the playwright’s nephew, David Dickie.

Here’s an interview from the Toronto Irish Players blog:  actor Kearsten Johansson plays Imelda, an Elvis-obsessed Irish seamstress and owner of the titular relic.

https://torontoirishplayers.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/when-i-read-elviss-toenail-i-was-brought-to-fits-of-laughter-and-floods-of-tears/

PERFORMANCES: Feb 19 – March 7, 2015.
Thu – Sat @ 8pm; Sunday Matinees @ 2pm (Feb 22 & March 1).

WHERE: Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley St. (at Adelaide, east of Sherbourne), Toronto.

TICKETS: $20 ($18 students & seniors)

Call 416-440-2888 to reserve tickets, or visit TIP’s website to purchase online:  http://torontoirishplayers.com/

“Elvis’s Toenail” – Toronto Irish Players present Canadian premiere at Alumnae Theatre

Toronto Irish Players present the Canadian premiere of “Elvis’s Toenail’ by Fionnuala Kenny. It opens Feb 19 at Alumnae Theatre.

Toronto Irish Players

Read this brilliant Q&A with playwright Fionnuala Kenny, author of  Elvis’s Toenail.

Born in Dublin, Kenny joined the Abbey Theatre in 1968. She graduated UCD and continued working at the Abbey until 1974.

High points of her early career were working with The Dubliners in “Richard’s Cork Leg” and working with Thin Lizzy (and the great Phil Lynott) at the Peacock Theatre, being in the premiere of two Tom Murphy plays, and playing Nora in the RTE production of “ Riders to the Sea” starring Siobhan Mc Kenna.

She moved to London in 1974, married stage designer Voytek, and took up a career teaching literature in Adult Education. Head of Faculty of Arts in West London College until 1997. She relocated with her daughter, Taya, to the United States to take up a position as Artistic Director of STOP-GAP, an interactive Theatre company in Southern California.

Now a full-time writer, she lives in…

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Open Stage workshop, Feb 9: The Ladies of Lear

Every month, the Open Stage Series hosts a theatre skill-based workshop for members of Alumnae Theatre Company. On February 9, the Open Stage topic will be:

The Ladies of Lear

Host Janet Kish will facilitate an evening of scene studies, focusing on scenes taken from Shakespeare’s King Lear as well Elaine Feinstein’s Lear’s Daughters from 1987.
The night will also feature a visit from special guest Sara Farb, who portrayed Cordelia at Stratford.

If you are a company member and wish to participate, please contact Janet Kish. She will provide you with your scene(s) well in advance of the workshop, so you may be comfortable with the texts.  DON’T WORRY – You don’t have to memorize your scenes!

Open Stage: Monday, February 9 @ 7 pm on the Mainstage of Alumnae Theatre.

AND THERE’S MORE!!
A filmed version of  Stratford’s 2014 production of King Lear will be screened on Thursday, March 19 @ 7pm  at Cineplex, Yonge & Dundas in Toronto.
Book your own ticket(s) at Cineplex and join the Open Stage group. Attend with a friend!

Call for Directors for 2015/16 season

Alumnae Theatre Company is inviting directors to submit proposals for the following two plays, which will run on the MainStage in our 2015/2016 season.

Antigone by Jean Anouilh and Lewis Galantiere
September 18 – October 3, 2015

Stepping Out by Richard Harris
January 22 – February 6, 2016

*Deadline: February 7, 2015
Interview Dates: The week of February 9th (dates and location TBA)
Scripts:   Reading copies are available at the Toronto Reference Library, 5th floor, Performing Arts Desk.
Contact:  Chantale Groulx at cng.bonjour@sympatico.ca
*What we need: Please submit an e-letter of interest to Chantale. This should include your résumé and the title of the play for which you’re going to pitch.
At the interview, you will present a proposal to the Directors’ Selection Committee outlining your ideas for a full production. A template detailing what a Director’s proposal includes is available upon request.

 

Alumnae Theatre Company is a non-union company.

Recognizing the People Who Work Backstage Via Webcomic

This is hilarious – enjoy!

Longreads

I don’t think that every strip I’ve written is so backstage elitist that it’s inaccessible for everyone. You don’t have to be an expert in any field to get it. I’m hardly a sound design expert, I’ve stage managed once, and I’ve hardly even touched a light board. But I’ve been around it and I’ve got a sense of the culture that I’m trying to reflect. So much of what I’m poking fun at is situational. I’ve got friends that are not theatre people who have read my strips and tell me that it reads like a bunch of jokes you had to have been there for, which I suppose is why it works for my readers because most of them have been there. Sometimes the situations are funny on their own, and the barrier is very low, and other times the situation is exceedingly specific, so specific that Google…

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Alumnae Theatre Company’s all-Canadian 2014-2015 Season

FROM THE MEDIA RELEASE:
Alumnae Theatre Company proudly announces our completely Canadian 2014-2015 season featuring Escape From Happiness by George F. Walker; the return of last year’s explosively successful FireWorks Festival premiering two original full-length plays; Blood Relations by Sharon Pollock; the 27th annual New Ideas Festival; and the WORLD PREMIERE of Shirley Barrie’s I Am Marguerite.

We launch the season on the Mainstage with Escape From Happiness by George F. Walker, directed by Andrea Wasserman (September 26-October 11, 2014). A bizarre event in a dysfunctional family prompts an incident of brutality in this intensely dark Canadian comedy. Part of Walker’s East End Trilogy, this play explores the most tender moments at the most violent times.

Up in the Studio Theatre, two original full-length plays will be running in repertory as part of the FireWorks Festival (November 12-30, 2014). After last year’s explosive success, FireWorks is back with two plays written by members and developed at Alumnae Theatre: Burying Toni by Catherine Frid and You Have To Earn It by Ramona Baillie and Maria Popoff. A festival of creativity, FireWorks will also feature discussion panels, playwright talkbacks, and we’re delighted to announce that Maja Ardal, renowned Canadian playwright and director, will spearhead the Playwrights’ Intensive Workshop series to run for the duration of the Festival.
Burying Toni explores the complexities within Emma Jung as she grapples with her history, real and imagined, after 50 years of marriage to psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Emma conjures up her husband, Sigmund Freud, and others as she struggles to understand the truth about her past.
You Have To Earn It is a madcap roller-coaster ride that pays homage to the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s. A philandering boss, a scheming new employee and a wacky mail room clerk, to name just a few, all with hidden agendas. Can the unassuming Betty survive the intrigue of the corporate world?

Our “Countdown to 100” Retrospective Choice originally produced in the Alumnae Theatre Company’s 1994/95 season is Blood Relations by Sharon Pollock, directed by Barbara Larose (January 23-February 7, 2015). In this Governor General’s Award–winning play, Sharon Pollock’s original perspective takes us on a psychological journey, bringing the past to life in a search for a possible answer, a motive. The only suspect, the real Lizzie Borden, was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother, but in Blood Relations, the chilling question still repeats.

In its 27th season, New Ideas Festival 2015 (March 11-29, 2015) is a three-week, juried celebration of new writing, works-in-progress and experimental theatre, with a different program of plays each week and staged readings on Saturdays at noon. New Ideas is a crucible for original plays, some of which have gone on to full productions elsewhere. As such, they are must-sees for avant-garde Toronto theatre-goers. Writers from all over Canada and beyond submit original short plays which have never before been produced, so every play in the festival is a world premiere.

We are thrilled to close the season with the world premiere of I Am Marguerite by Shirley Barrie, directed by Molly Thom (April 10-25, 2015). Written by one of our members, the script has “grown up” at the Alumnae through various dramaturgical changes and we’re excited to now present this play based on a true story in Canadian history. For choosing love over duty, Marguerite de Roberval was banished to the Isle of Demons off the north coast of Newfoundland. After two years on the desolate island and driven half mad by loneliness, hardship and memories, she now has a chance of rescue.

MAIN STAGE SHOWTIMES: Wed – Sat at 8:00 pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm. TICKETS: Wed 2-for-1; Thurs-Sat $20; PWYC Sundays.
FIREWORKS SHOWTIMES: Wed – Sat at 8pm; Sat & Sun matinees at 2pm. TICKETS:  $15; Sunday Matinees PWYC; Festival Pass $25.
NEW IDEAS FESTIVAL SHOWTIMES: Wed – Sat at 8pm; Sat & Sun matinees 2:30, Noon PWYC reading on Saturdays. TICKETS: $15; Festival Pass $40.
Advance Tickets and season passes available online at www.alumnaetheatre.com
For more information & media kits, contact Chloe Whitehorn at marketing@alumnaetheatre.com

 

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Auditions in August for “Bookworms” (Toronto Irish Players)

The Toronto Irish Players rent the Mainstage at Alumnae Theatre for two productions per season. Here’s the audition notice for the first of 2014/15:  Bookworms, a comedy by Bernard Farrell. It will be directed by Alan Hunt.

Bookworms
SHOW DATES: October 23 – November 8, 2014
SYNOPSIS: In this post-Celtic Tiger Ireland comedy of manners, the bankrupt middle classes cling to the civility of social rituals like to book clubs. Formerly the last bastion of female exclusivity, husbands are invited to participate in a social experiment which goes disastrously wrong. In this satire the surface veneer of normality is penetrated by resentment, adultery, repression and violence. By the end of the evening civility has been tenuously re-established and relationships somewhat restored, but it is unlikely that the men will ever be invited to another meeting of the Bookworms.

 

AUDITION DATES: Tuesday August 12 (7.30 – 10pm) and Thursday August 14 (7.30 – 10.00pm)
CALLBACKS: Tuesday August 19 (7.30 – 10pm)
ROLES:
ANN (playing age 40)-Homemaker. Attractive, insecure, determined, repressed.
LARRY (playing age 50)-Builder. Gruff, down-to-earth, pleasant.
AISLING (playing age 18) – Student. Spoiled gap-year backpacker. All appearances are via Skype.
DOROTHY (playing age 60)-Widow. Refined, nervous and obsessed by Virginia Woolf.
ROBERT (playing age 45)-Banker. Alpha male, assured, aggressive.
JENNIFER (playing age 30s)-Teacher. Confident, controlling, energetic.
VINCENT (playing age 50s)-Recluse. Timid, but with a terrible inner rage.

 

PREPARATION & INFORMATION:
1. Please contact producer Jim Ivers by email (jwivers@gmail.com) or phone 416-624-3379

to book an audition.
2. Please forward a recent performance resume & headshot.
3. If the director is not familiar with your work, please prepare a monologue (maximum 2 minutes), preferably comic.
4. Please be prepared to present a cold read from the script.
Auditions & Rehearsals will be held at Kimbourne Church, 200 Wolverleigh Boulevard, Toronto (a short walk northeast of the Coxwell subway station at Danforth & Coxwell).

http://torontoirishplayers.com/