#43 Rachel Forbes / October 24, 2017 by Michael Kruse

I caught up with Rachel Forbes just before the opening of 1837: The Farmer's Revolt at The Shaw Festival in May of 2017. We discuss choice of going into theatre and the beginnings of what promises to be a long a fruitful career in theatre.

Links

Ryerson School of Performance (Nee theatre school)

Videocaberet

Hooray for Johnny Canuck

Obsidian Theatre Company

Michael Gianfrancesco

1837: The Farmers Revolt by Rick Salutin at the Shaw Festival

Philip Akin

Migrant Workers in NOTL and The Shaw Festival

Diversity on Canadian Stages

D'bi Young

Obeah Opera

How Black Mothers Say I Love You, Factory Theatre Dir: Trey Anthony, LD: Steve Lucas, Actor: Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah

How Black Mothers Say I Love You by Trey Anthony

Beyond the Great White North at the Factory Theatre

The Dream Catchers at Confederation Centre PEI

Gwyneth Stark, head scenic artist at Shaw, on how to distress wood on PBS

Equity in Theatre

#42 Peter Hartwell / July 10, 2017 by Michael Kruse

Peter is a set and costume designer based in Niagara-On-the-Lake, Ontario. I had the pleasure to speak with him at his home in May of 2017. Peter spent the first 1/2 of his career in the UK, working with the likes of Max Stafford Clark at the Royal Court, and since 1991 has distinguished himself in Canada as one of its leading designers.

Links

Queen's University Drama Program

Fred Euringer

Gavin Semple

Margaret "Percy" Harris, from the Motley Theatre Design School

English National Opera at the Sadler's Wells

Saved by Edward Bond

National Theatre School

The Royal Court Theatre, London and from The Telegraph

George Devine and Tony Richardson

Sophie Harris, of The Motley's

Jocelyn Herbert

The Bristol Old Vic School

Elizabeth Montgomery

Galileo by Berthold Brecht

Michael Gambin

William Gaskel (The Royal Court)

Tony Page

John Dextor

Lindsay Anderson

The Half-Moon Theatre

Hayden Griffon

The Farm at the Royal Court

Camperdown House

Half-Moon Passage, London

Pam Brighten

Guy Sprung talking about the start of the Half-Moon Theatre

York Mystery Cycles

Come Together at the Royal Court

Timeon Alsacker

Phaedra Britanica at the National Theatre, designed by Tanya Moiseivitch

The Cut in Waterloo at the Old Vic

Weapons of Happiness by Howard Brenton Directed by David Hare at the Littleton Theatre

The Berliner Ensemble

T34 Russian Tank

Portable Theatre with Snoo Wilson and Howard Brenton

Joint Stock Theatre Company

The Speakers by Heathcote Williams

Il Campiello by Goldoni at the National Theatre

The Olivier Stage at the National Theatre

Bill Bryden

Tamburlaine and Prince Philip

Simon Relph

The Madras House

A Mad World, My Masters by Barrie Keeffe produced by Joint Stock

Max Stafford Clark

Simon Callow and Gillian Barge

Epsom Downs by Howard Brenton

The Roundhouse Theatre in London

The Riverside Studios and Peter Gill

Paul Thompson

Ralph Koltai

The Glad Hand by Snoo Wilson

Tony Sher and Julie Walters

Roots by Arnold Wesker at the Young Vic

Tim Caroll

Stuart Birge at the Royal Court

Cloud 9 by Joint Stock and Royal Court

Top Girls, Serious Money, by Carol Churchill and Our Country's Good

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists with Harriet Walter

The Iran Hostage Crises

Roman Litchinsky from Canadian diplomatic core

Scenes From an Execution by Howard Barker

Glenda Jackson

Phil Young

Hamstead Theatre Club

MacBeth at (Royal) Winnipeg Theatre Centre

1949 by David French

Jeffery Dallas

Of The Fields Lately By David French with Randy Hughson directed by Bill Glassco

The Ten-Minute Alibi at the Shaw Festival

Murray Morrison

The Old Woman, by Daniil Kharms

Doug Lemcke

Glynis Lehshan

The Devil's Disciple at The Shaw Festival

Waste directed by Neil Munro at the Shaw Festival

Rat and the Skull directed by Max Stafford Clark

Serious Money directed by Max Stafford Clark

Anita Rochon at the Belfry Theatre Alice Monroe Short Stories

Seana McKenna

Jenny Taramani (designer UK)

Jane Dagg (development at Shaw Festival)

Rod Hilliard

#40 Martha Mann / May 11, 2017 by Michael Kruse

Martha Mann is one of the original Canadian theatre designers. I had the pleasure of speaking with Martha in her home in August of 2016. We speak about her personal origins when there were no theatre training programs in Canada, about the birth of modern Canadian drama from the amateur Dominion Drama Festival, and her work on countless productions of theatre and film, including her work at Glimmerlass Opera and on the Anne of Green Gables films. More quotes from Martha can be found here.

Links

New York University Drama Dept.

Yale School of Drama Graduate Degree

Ontario College of Art, now OCAD University

University Alumni Dramatic Club, now the Alumni Theatre

James Raney's The Killdeer

The Dominion Drama Festival

The London Little Theatre, now The Grand Theatre

The Royal Alexander Theatre

The National Theatre School

Mark Knagen, designer

Wilf Pegg, designer

Young People's Theatre

Jupitor Theatre - The Museum Theatre at the Royal Ontario Musem

The Crest Theatre

Hilary Corbett

Murray and Donald Davis and their Sister Barbara Chilcott

The Straw Hat Players

Soulpepper

Central Library Building Toronto turned into the Robert Gill Theatre

Robert Gill

The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles by George Bernard Shaw

The Drama Centre at University of Toronto

Francois Barbeau

The Arts and Letters Club, Toronto - 0:41

The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson, shot at Black Creek Pioneer Village

Krieghoff film by Kevin Sullivan

Anne of Green Gables film with an Interview with Martha

Ann Roth costume designer

Intermezzo at the Glimmerglass Festival

New York City Opera

Miami Lyric Opera

Radio City Music Hall

Imperial War Museum

Scenography in Canada, Natalie Rewa

Stan Turner, carpenter at The Crest

Malabars Costume House

Anne of Green Gables, the musical at Theatre Calgary

Glenn [Gould] play at Soulpepper

Eames chairs

Ryerson Theatre School

Julius Ceasar at Stratford Festival, 1998

Trapunto quilting

Jerry Franken

Opera News - Dress Up Games

Peter Brook

Associated Designers of Canada

Theatre Safety Guidelines

Charmion King leg injury judgement

Origins of Canadian Actors Equity

Edith Head

The Washington National Opera

#39 Lorenzo Savoini / January 31, 2017 by Michael Kruse

Lorenzo Savoini is the director of design at Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto, one of the most successful theatres to be founded in the last 20 years and one that continues to push the envelope on what theatre can or should be. Lorenzo tells me about his time growing up in Thorn Hill Ontario and his adventures at UBC, Stratford and for the last 10 years, at Soulpepper. For the second half of this marathon interview, we chat about his philosophy of design and how he is working to develop the next generation of designers who face a world that is both uncertain but alive with potential. We recorded the interview in May of 2016 in the Soulpepper library.

Links

Support the show!

Leaving Home by David French

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

University of Guelph Theatre Arts

Alan Watts (see "Sculpted Spaces: Jim Plaxton in conversation with Alan Watts, from Canadian Theatre Review #54)

Canadian Art magazine

Michael Levine

Daryl Cloran

House by Daniel MacIvor

Alan Stitchbury

University of British Columbia MFA in Theatre

Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw

Wagner's The Ring Cycle by Michael Levine

Rauri Murchison

The Sound of Music at The Stratford Festival 2001

Richard Monette

Timon of Athens at The Stratford Festival 2004

Stephen Ouimette

Tanya Moiseivitch

Desmond Healey

Michael Gianfrancesco

Return (The Sarajavo Project)

Umbuntu (The Capetown Project)

Claire Sakaki

László Marton

The Soulpepper Academy

BLiNK by the 2010 SoulpepperAcademy

Of Human Bondage by Sommerset Maughm at Soulpepper Theatre

CAGE at Soulpepper Theatre

Mies van der Rohe

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, Soulpepper Theatre, Director:  Alan Dilworth, Set and Costume Design:  Lorenzo Savoini, Lighting Design:  Kim Purtell, Sound Design:  Debashis Sinha, Actors:  Michelle Monteith, Courtne… — Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, Soulpepper Theatre, Director: Alan Dilworth, Set and Costume Design: Lorenzo Savoini, Lighting Design: Kim Purtell, Sound Design: Debashis Sinha, Actors: Michelle Monteith, Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster, Oyin Oladejo,

Euridice by Sarah Ruhl

Albert Schultz

Alan Dilworth

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Daniel Brooks

Racial diversity in Canadian Theatre

Storefront Theatre

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, Soulpepper TheatreDirector:  Daniel Brooks, Set design: Lorenzo Savoini, Lighting Design: Kevin Lamotte, Sound Design:  Richard Feren, Actors:  Katherine Gauthier, Christopher Morris — A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, Soulpepper Theatre
Director: Daniel Brooks, Set design: Lorenzo Savoini, Lighting Design: Kevin Lamotte, Sound Design: Richard Feren, Actors: Katherine Gauthier, Christopher Morris

Shannon Lee Doyle

Anahita Dehbonehie

Associated Designers of Canada

Prague Quadrennial

Cloud 9 by Carol Churchill

Peter Hartwell

Robin Phillips and the Young Company at Stratford

Soulpepper's ImagiNation

Marie Brassard

Pamela Sinha's Happy Place

Ken MacKenzie

Mike Ross

Sarah Wilson

Incident at Vichy at Soulpepper

Testament of Mary at Soulpepper

Mike Ledermueller

Kevin Lamotte

(Re)Birth: E.E. Cummings poetry project at Soulpepper

#37 Eo Sharp / December 12, 2016 by Michael Kruse

Eo Sharp joined me at the Shaw Festival in May of 2016 to discuss her growing up at the Tarragon Theatre in the 1970's and her time at the National Theatre School and Working in Montreal. We also talk about her process for Alice in Wonderland at the Shaw festival and the mirrored set that brought her an Director Peter Hinton together. Find her complete portfolio here.

Links

Sharp's parents: Collette Peron and Vincent Sharp

Mallory Gilbert at Tarragon Theatre

Michel Tremblay's Hosanna and Forever Your's Mary Lou

Richard Monette

Richard Donat

The Three Schools of Arts in Toronto

Marie Day

SEED school Toronto

U of Toronto History of Art Dept.

Courthauld Institute, London, UK

National Theatre School

Philip Cygan

François Barbeau

Project Runway

Ryerson School of Performance nee Ryerson Theatre School

Michael Eagan

François Vincent

Trompe l'Oeil

Dawson College, Quebec

Union Des Artistes (UDA)

Gilles Maheu

Carbone 14

Robert Lepage

Festival de Théâtre des Amériques

Stacy Christodoulou's The Other Theatre

Joseph Khaiata and SIN 4 Productions

Peter Hinton and The Swanne at the Stratford Festival

Caroline Smith

The Donnely's by James Rainey

Girls! Girls! Girls! at the Festival TransAmériques

Snowman by Greg MacArthur

Human Collision/Atomic Reaction

The Soho Think Tank and the Ohio Theatre

The Lockerbie plane crash

Prague Quadrennial

MECCA Awards

Elissa Horscroft

The Bellows: Why You Should Hire a Production Manager

Stephen Schön - just won "unsung hero of theatre award" at the METAs

Joyce Weiland

Pierre Théberge at the National Gallery of Canada

Anne Pritchard or THIS

Alice in Wonderland at The Shaw Festival

Allen Cole and interviewed HERE by Peter Hinton

William Schmuck

Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson

Denise Clarke, choreographer for Alice

Kevin Lamotte

Pygmalion at the Shaw Festival

Mark Callan

Alupanel

#35 Julie Fox / November 14, 2016 by Michael Kruse

I caught up with designer Julie Fox while visiting the Stratford Festival in May of this year. We speak about her entrance into theatre at the Sydney Opera house up to her work with director Chris Abraham at St. Ratfords. Julie also describes her relationship with the theatre space and the profound effect it has on the way she approaches her work. A recent production history can be found here: http://ttdb.ca/people/julie-fox/ .

Links

Waterdown Village Theatre

Lisbie and Mike Rae

Gord and Janet Raymond

Sydney Opera House

Kabuki Theatre

Philippine Educational Theatre Association PETA

Theatre Espace Libre

Carbone 14's le dortoir

World Stage Festival, Toronto

National Theatre School

Theatre New Brunswick

John Dolan

Michael Shamata

A Christmas Carol, TNB

The Factory Theatre

Theatre Passe Muraille

Daniel Brooks and John Mighton's Possible Worlds

Michael Levine

Daniel Brooks' Insomnia

The Theatre Centre

The Augusta Company

The Eco Show

Endgame at Soulpepper Theatre

Brendan Healy

Banff School of the Arts

Patrick Clark

Chris Abraham

For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again at Stratford Festival

Othello at the Avon Theatre, Stratford

Macbeth at the Festival Theatre, Stratford

Seeds and Watershed

Annabel Soutar and Porte Parole

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Stratford

Thomas Ostermeier, Ememy of the People

The Wooster Group

Holger Schott Syme

#33 Bretta Gerecke / October 24, 2016 by Michael Kruse

I met designer Bretta Gerecke while visiting the Stratford Festival in Stratford Ontario in May of 2016. We spoke about her training and early career in Edmonton and the path that brought her to work with Cirque du Soleil in Milan in 2015 and a return to her roots as an archaeological illustrator. To see Bretta's portfolio, go here: http://www.bretta-gerecke.com/about-1/

Links

University of Alberta Theatre Program

Electra at Catalyst Theatre

The Citadel Theatre

Harry Frehner

Krista Monson

Cirque du Soleil at the Milan World Expo 2015 (entire show on You Tube)

The Stratford Festival

Jillian Keiley

Alice Through the Looking Glass, Stratford

Lisa Hughes

As You Like It

Bob Hallett, from Great Big Sea

Maxmilion's Mistake

Archaeological Illustration

The Prague Quadrennial

Patrick Du Wors

April Viczko

Costume at the Turn of the Century Exhibit

#31 Pat Flood / July 26, 2016 by Michael Kruse

Pat Flood is a a set and costume designer based out of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Born in Alberta originally, Pat traveled to Toronto after her initial training and great success in Calgary to join the crew of the CBC as an art director and worked on the iconic Canadian comedy series The Kids in the Hall. Working across Canada and teaching both at Concordia and U of G, she has influenced many of the young designers working today. We talked in May of 2016 in her office at U of G about her career, the differences between film and theatre, and her talk on the philosophy and design. Show notes at http://ow.ly/XEJK302D7YM

Links

Henry Wise Wood High School Calgary

University of Alberta

Bernie Engle

Gwenn Keatly

David Lovett

Len Feldman

Larry Cadillac

University of Minnesota MFA program

The Tom Patterson Theatre

John Ferguson

Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Micheal Ondodje

Monique Mercure and André Brassard

Tanya Moiseivitch

Theatre Calgary

Toronto Free Theatre

Theatre Passe Muraille

Paul Thompson

LIP grants (see pg. 20)

St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts

Thomas Bodenestsky (spelling and reference unavailable)

Captives of the Faceless Drummer by George Riga

Martin Kinch

Murray Laufer

Walter Lerning from Canada Council of the Arts

Gavin Semple

Tarragon Theatre

Theatre Plus

Alberta Theatre Projects

A Great Noise, A Great Light by John Murrell

Bill Glassco

Johannes and the Talmud

Bjarne Christensen (died in 2005, and the only web-based info is this obit from 2005, you will need to scroll down to his last name)

The Blyth Festival

James Roy

The Tomorrow Box by Anne Chislet

Fraggle Rock: Episode 103 Let the Water Run

The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon by W.O. (Bill) Mitchell

Guy Sprung

Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker

Peter Hartwell

Louise Guinand

Brahm and the Angel by Geordie Productions. Set and Costumes by Pat Flood. — *Brahm and the Angel* by Geordie Productions. Set and Costumes by Pat Flood.

Dear Johnny Deere by Ken Cameron at the Blyth Festival in 2012. Set and Costumes by Pat Flood lighting by Rebecca Pitcherak

Nina Lee Aquino

Dreamchild, a film about Alice Little by Jim Henson's Creature Shop

Robert Edmond Jones, The Dramatic Imagination

University of Guelph Drama Department

Jerrard Smith and Diane Smith and the Patria Cycle

R. Murray Schafer

The Black Theatre of Hermes Trismegistos (aka The Alchemical Wedding of Hermes Trismegistos)

L. W. Connally Archive of Theatre History

Kathryn Harvey, head archivist at the archive

Sean Breaugh

Camillia Coo and Tyler Sainsbury

Susan Benson and Michael Whitfield

Francois Barbeau

John Dinning

Beverly Emmons and the Theatrical Lighting Database at NY Public Library

Debra Hanson

#30 Ron Jenkins / July 11, 2016 by Michael Kruse

Ron Jenkins is an old friend and collaborator with whom I have created designs for several productions. He joined me in January 2016 to talk about his career and his take on design in the theatre. We chat about the unique productions he has mounted in Edmonton, Alberta, his current residence as well as what he as a director needs from a designer.

Links

Todd Charleton Obiturary

Desmond Heeley Obiturary

Liz and Harry Boardmore

John Dunsworth

Platform 9 Theatre

Ken McDougall and Here

Toronto Fringe Festival

Workshop West Theatre

Phoenix Theatre and Theatre Network

The Augusta Company

The Black Rider: Casting of the Magic Bullets, 2004, Theatre Network.  Set and Costumes by Melissa Kochansky, Lighting Design by Michael Kruse. Featuring from LT to RT, Kevin Corey and George Szilagyi. Photo by Michael Kruse. — The Black Rider: Casting of the Magic Bullets, 2004, Theatre Network. Set and Costumes by Melissa Kochansky, Lighting Design by Michael Kruse. Featuring from LT to RT, Kevin Corey and George Szilagyi. Photo by Michael Kruse.

University of Alberta

Grant MacKewan College

The Black Rider: Casting of the Magic Bullets, November Theatre Company.

Chris Craddock and his play Moving Along

Steel Kiss by Robin Fulford

The Horror, the Horror.

Richard Rose

Outside the March

Respectable by Ron Chambers

Kevin Ryan

Playing With Fire: The Theo Fleury Story

EZ Glide

#28 Beth Kates / April 4, 2016 by Michael Kruse

Toronto based designer Beth Kates and her life and design partner Ben Chaisson have been focusing a lot on video and projection design. I met with Beth in Niagara-On-The-Lake in the summer of 2015 when she was working at The Shaw Festival. We spoke about her early career and training and the work on the hit show Bigger Than Jesus where they started with running a show on VHS (!) and WinAmp (!!). Beth then brings us through the process of creating a video and projection design and how to approach this rapidly changing landscape.

Links

Unionville High School

Bigger Than Jesus, by Rick Miller.  Design by Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson. In Photo: Rick Miller — Bigger Than Jesus, by Rick Miller. Design by Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson. In Photo: Rick Miller

Bonny Armstrong

Geometry of Miracles by Robert Lepage

Banff Centre

Ben Chaisson and Playground Studios

Music For a Contortionist by Morwyn Brebner

Eda Holmes

Bigger Than Jesus by Rick Miller and Daniel Brooks

WinAmp

Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw

Peter Hinton

Eo Sharpe

The Adobe Creative Suite

Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart

#25 Steve Lucas / February 15, 2016 by Michael Kruse

Steve Lucas is a designer based in Creemore Ontario. Steve and I have known each other for years as the familiarity will show in this 2 hour interview. Steve and I talk about his early career at Alberta Theatre Projects and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre as well as his development of the "symphony of lights" with Hillar Liitoja at DNA Theatre. We also cover his work on the hit play 2 Pianos, 4 Hands and the work on his newest incarnation of Breath[e] a play made of design.

Just a couple of notes, below you will find a picture of the score from the symphony of lights that Steve used as a tool for DNA Theatre. And I mentioned the random lighting plot for a dance piece that may have been attributed to Tharon Musser. This was in fact Beverly Emmons with her work with the Martha Graham Dance Company and is described in her interview on In One, the podcast. Links are below.

Links

Starlog Magazine

John Singleton

Sam Shaw

Alberta Theatre Projects

Buired Child by Sam Sheppard

Electro Controls Premier Pro

Berkey Colortran's

Sky Gilbert's Postman Always Rings Once

B-Movie, The Play by Tom Wood

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Ken McDougall

Daniel McIver's See Bob Run

Caroline Gillis

Stephan Drogue and Steele Kiss by Platform 9 Theatre

2-2 Tango by Daniel MacIvor and Da Da Kamera

Never Swim Alone

Suzie Goo: Private Secretary

Toronto Workshop Productions, 12 Alexander St., Toronto

Jim Plaxton

Andrea Lundy

Premier Dance Theatre and the Ice House

Peepshow

Sherri Hay

Kelly Thornton

The Great Wall of Vagina

Clinton Walker

Robert LePage's Polygraph

The Poor Alex Theatre

Professional Theatre Training Program at Theatre Ontario

World Stage Theatre Festival

Dragon's Trilogy and Seven Streams of the River Ota

Pierre-Philipe Gauy

Marie Brassard

Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung by Canadian Opera Company

DNA Theatre

Symphony of Lights

In One with Beverly Emmons and Tharon Musser and the choreographer Martha Graham

The Last Supper by DNA Theatre

This Is What Happens in Orangville

Theatre Passe Muraille

Two Pianos Four Hands by Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dyksta

Marquis Entertainment

Coalmine Theatre and The Motherfucker With a Hat

Diana LaBlanc

Sto Union and Nadia Ross

Jan Komarek

Samual Becket's Breath and Oh! Calcutta

Breath[e] by Steve Lucas

Hrant Alianak and Lucky Strike

Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

#23 Bonnie Beecher / January 15, 2016 by Michael Kruse

In 1996 I started my career as an assistant to lighting designer Bonnie Beecher working on Frida K, a vibrant and challenging play staring Allegra Fulton and directed by Peter Hinton. I was struck by Bonnie's use of colour and the way that she embraced expressionism. Since then, Bonnie has become a top tier designer in Canada and started in the past several years working in France and Germany on ballet and opera. With over 250 productions under her belt she has a very interesting story to tell about Canadian theatre and how she works abroad. Bonnie joined me at Soulpepper Theatre in May of 2015 to chat about her life and style.

Links

University of British Columbia

John Lazarus

Banff Centre for the Arts

Adam Stewart

Neptune Theatre (Halifax)

Mirvish Theatre Productions

Frida K

Peter Hinton and Here

The Duchess of Malfi

Cabaret

Joe Ziegler

The Conjuror by David Ben

Dominique Dumais

FIDa festival

Desrosier Dance Theatre

Kevin O'Day

Mannheim National Theatre

Bridget Briner and Ballett im Revier

Stuttgart Ballet

Dortman Ballet

Royal Flanders Ballet

Beleuchtungsmeister

InOne by Cory Pattak

Beverly Emmons (designer for Martha Graham Dance Company who speaks of face lighting in dance)

Sweet Charity

Morris Panych and Ken MacDonald

Versailles Opera House

Bonnie Beecher.  Photo by David Cooper — Bonnie Beecher. Photo by David Cooper

#22 Michael Gianfrancesco / December 24, 2015 by Michael Kruse

Michael Gianfrancesco, Photo by David Cooper

In this long belated episode I speak to designer Michael Gianfrancesco. Michael and I worked on his second production after he was out of Concordia University in 1998 and since then he has become one of the top designers in the country, working on new works, opera, ballet and now appears yearly at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals. Michael and I spoke in the design office at Shaw in May 2015 about his show there this summer.

Links

Concordia University

Pat Flood

Banff Centre for the Arts

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre

Canadian Stage Company

Des McAnuff

The Shaw Festival

The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt by Michel Marc Bouchard

Christine, la reine-garçon

#21 Fina MacDonell / October 17, 2015 by Michael Kruse

Fina Macdonnel.  Photo by Michael Kruse — Fina Macdonnel. Photo by Michael Kruse

Fina MacDonell is a founder of and partner in Toronto props house Rabbit's Choice, but her early career included collaborating with Paul Thompson with the seminal Farm Show in Clinton ON. In this this interview we talk about her early life in Manitoba and southwestern Ontario and the building of one of the most important props houses in Canada. Fina was also honored this summer with the Dora Mavor Moore Silver Ticket award.

Links/Keywords

Manitoba Theatre Centre

Rainbow Stage

FLQ October crisis

Opportunities for Youth Grant Manitoba

The Patchwork Players

Paul Thompson

The Farm Show

Theatre Passe Muraille

Miles Potter

#20 William Schmuck / September 3, 2015 by Michael Kruse

William Schmuck is the head of design at the Shaw Festival. We spoke in May of 2015 before the first opening of the season about his life and the Moss Hart play Light Up The Sky which William designed this year. We dig into what you need to know before you apply to apprentice at a festival like the Shaw and what it was like to transition between artistic directors in his 20 years as head of design.

Links

The Shaw Festival

University of Waterloo

1980 Quebec Referendum

National Theatre School

The Latin Quarter - London Ontario

George Schloegle, National Ballet of Canada

#19 Michael Laird / August 5, 2015 by Michael Kruse

I had the pleasure of interviewing our first sound designer. Michael Laird is a sound systems designer rather than a composition designer and we discuss the difference between these two disciplines in the context of live theatre. Michael is an established designer and operator but he is early in his career so we focus less on his resume and more on developing a base for future discussions with senior designers about sound. Michael also focuses on live musical theatre reinforcement rather than scoring behind acoustic voices in small theatre so there is still a large world of sound design to explore: this episode has really given me a vocabulary to speak to other sound designers and I am sure you will feel the same. We also have a discussion about sound designers as collaborators and the removal of the sound design award from the 2014-15 Tony Awards.

This episode is also the debut of both a new theme, composed by sound designer Verne Good with voice over by lighting designer Gabriel Cropley, and the start of our Patreon campaign. If you like what you hear, go the Patreon Page and find out why it is a good thing to become a patron of the show!

sound design materials

Canstage - Berkeley - MAPP - Section.png

Citadel - Avenue Q - Audio Bible - 23 - 2015 04 25.xlsx.jpg

#18 Sue LePage / July 4, 2015 by Michael Kruse

Episode notes

Sue LePage is a set and costume designer based out of Toronto. She joined me at the Shaw Festival to talk about her early career and Top Girls, her design at the Shaw in 2015. This was a short interview, only 45 mins, so we could not talk much about many of the milestones in her career, but it is an interesting talk none-the-less!

Links

University of Guelph Theatre Dept.

Neptune Theatre

NDWT (Ne'er Do Well Thespians)

Keith Turnbull

Jerry Franken

The Donnallys

James Reaney's "The Donnallys: a Trilogy"

David Ferry talks about the 1973 production of The Donnallys

The Cast of Top Girls at the Shaw Festival 2015. Set and Costumes by Sue LePage and Lighting by Louise Guinand. Photo by David Cooper. — The Cast of *Top Girls* at the Shaw Festival 2015. Set and Costumes by Sue LePage and Lighting by Louise Guinand. Photo by David Cooper.

Which is not the Paul Thomson collective production of "Them Donnallys" in 1973 at Theatre Passe Murailles and "The Outdoor Donnallys" in the 2000's at the Blyth Festival, with Janet Amos

Not to be confused by the reworked play "The Death of the Donnallys" at Blyth in 1982 by Ted Johns

Also not to be confused with Peter Colley's musical play "The Donnallys" commissioned by the Grand Theatre

William "Bill" Schmuck

Neil Munro

You Can't Take It With You

Top Girls - Carol Churchill

The Courthouse Theatre

Vicky Anderson

Devil's Disciple

Christopher Newton

#17 Christina Poddubiuk / June 3, 2015 by Michael Kruse

This week I spoke to set and costume designer Christina Poddubiuk at the Shaw Festival on a whirlwind trip down there. We speak about her early training and career, as normal here, but we also go in depth about her designs for Pygmalion, directed by Peter Hinton and opening on June 5th 2015. As well, be sure to check out Christina's portfolio at punchandjudy.ca . There are a few links below that I could find no information about - if you have any information about the people below, please email at thetitleblock@gmail.com.

Links

National Theatre School

François Barbeau

The Shaw Festival

The Straford Festival

The Chocolate Soldier

The Royal George Theatre at The Shaw Festival

Crown Making (jewelry)

Christina Poddubiuk.  Photo By David Cooper. — Christina Poddubiuk. Photo By David Cooper.

#16 Ronnie Burkett / March 14, 2015 by Michael Kruse

Provenance: Design: Ronnie Burkett, Lighting: Bill Willams, Photo by Trudie Lee

Martin Stevens said "Style is not something you set out to get it is something you get when you set out". These are the words that inspired Ronnie Burkett as a teenager to continue his pursuit of a unique voice with which to tell stories through puppetry. He has spent the last few decades realizing this voice and I had the pleasure to speak with him last February about it. In this 2 hour interview we discuss his early career and development, his approach to story-telling and his fastidious attention to the details of design.

Links

Schnitzell from The Daisy Theatre, Design by: Ronnie Burkett, Photo by Alejandro Santiago — Schnitzell from The Daisy Theatre, Design by: Ronnie Burkett, Photo by Alejandro Santiago

#15 Edward Kotanen / February 7, 2015 by Michael Kruse

Edward Kotanen in his Studio in Hamilton Ontario

This episode, I speak with set and costume designer Edward Kotanen. Ed was around at the start of the rebirth of Canadian theatre in the 1960's and managed to navigate a successful career until his retirement recently. Ed has a great perspective on the relationship between amateur and professional theatre and how groups like the Sunparlour Players and London Little Theatre helped to launch his career in the 1970's. We also talk about the meetings in Frances Dafoe's basement and how they spawned the Associated Designers of Canada.

Ed's painting of his partner scenic artist David Rayfield

Ed also recounts the story of Jack Shapira and his conviction of embezzlement at the Rainbow Stage. I have gone over the press clippings, one which is found in the links below, and all of what we talked about though it may sound just a little bit like gossip occurred as Ed told it, so rest assured, we are not making this stuff up!

A bit more on the apocryphal side is my telling of a controversial set design that I attribute to Michael Levine at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Hard as I try, I could not find reference to it online, so I may indeed have my facts all backwards - if you listen and know the real story let me know and I will post an update!