Friday 21 December 2012

A New Era



I suppose like any other person who has spent 18 years doing the same job, there comes a time when you realize you need a little change. I came to this place a few years ago when I knew I wanted something different as a Director and Producer. I realized I was seeking a way to help my actors reach higher levels of performance skills and an opportunity to reach these levels, thereby enabling my company to continue to set a high standard of excellence and continue to  progress. 
As I sat on the edge of the ocean watching my two daughters play in the waves, I realized that theatre is very much like a wave, something that transfers energy from one point to another. In the same way, a theatrical experience transfers energy to its audiences. In fact live theatre is an excitement of energy moving progressively. I thought of over 2000 singers who have stood on our stages in these past 19 years and reminisced how many of these people had gone on to sing elsewhere, be on a board of directors of a theatre company, taught singing, or directed their own shows and how many lives one performance could move. When I added in the equation of the number of audience members that saw these performances I began to think of how that compares to the large waves in an ocean starting from one tiny drop of water.
I decided to change my company and begin all kinds of new approaches. As of today we are now called Wavestage Theatre Company.
With the changing of our name we are not only rebranding our company, we are launching into a new era. We will continue to have a smorgasbord of terrific musicals for people who love to sing and dance. We plan to make a difference to our actors lives by providing stepping stone opportunities for our performers thereby enabling our actors to have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to their community.
Here at Wavestage, actors are given instruction, guidance and opportunities to explore new stage techniques, find confidence, and let their souls shine.
Musicals are written for groups of people to come together, hear stories and legends, and react to the human experience. At Wavestage, we choose musicals that tell the distinct stories that make connections to our individual lives. Our audiences will continue to delight in high quality affordable entertainment. We believe that live theatre is an important part of daily life. It is through our music and drama we share the stories of the past, challenge our assumptions, expand our understanding and express our hopes for the future. 
Being involved on stage or in the audience allows people to learn from each other. People  who may not have one single shared experience can be drawn together have their souls moved when their hearts are warmed by the same song. Wavestage believes in the necessity for continued live theatre in an era of electronics and gadgets we passionately encourage folks to bring their families out to experience the magic and power of Wavestage.
For our actors, there will be many new changes including new programs and workshops. It is our hope to encourage our performers to understand that by working and preparing for top quality performances and by working hard and believing in themselves they can achieve some magical moments in their lives. Be sure to read about our new programs for youth and education workshops for adults.
Casting in all main stage productions is by audition only. The auditions for the 19th season begin in January 2013. Be sure to sign up for an audition time early in the New Year.
Join us. Ride the wave.
Sarah Kyle
Artistic Director 
Wavestage Theatre Company

Sunday 11 November 2012

Take a Peek Inside Our Annie Rehearsals!

Our 18th Season production of Annie is just around the corner. Take a sneak peek into this past weekend's rehearsals!
Director Sarah Kyle giving notes to the actors.



"It's a Hard Knock Life"


Can you spot one of our Annie's?

Don't miss out on this spectacular musical production. Tickets at www.newtix.ca or by calling the box office at 905-953-5122!


Wednesday 13 June 2012

Showbiz Academy Grad Featured on Perez Hilton!

Recently, APAG's own Luka (@lukalovestosing) was featured on Perez Hilton's website after being tweeted by Nicki Minaj herself! Minaj wrote "ok i am in love" with a link to Luka's cover of her hit song "Starships".


Congrats Luka! You can check out the original video below:

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Volunteers Needed


STAGE MANAGER (One per production)
- Cannot be in the production that they are stage managing.
- This person will set up and run rehearsals and must be able to attend rehearsals
- This person will compile and organize the prompt book
- This person will call the show under my supervision

PROPS AND SET DRESSING MANAGER (One per producion)
- This person can be an actor in the show.
- This person will co-ordintate the team of actors volunteering.
- The team will procur all props, set dressing and furniture for this production

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER (One per production)
- This person cannot be in the show 
- This person will attend rehearsals and organize props and furniture for each scene
- This person will take attendance during show week

COSTUME CO-ORDINATOR (One per production)
- this person can be an actor or partner of actor or parent of actor. 
- Organizing the costume sort (sorting all costumes from costume boxes)
- Organizing the measurement days
- Organizing the fittings and rentals and making sure all costumes from rental are rented and returned
- Writing the mass communication to cast members with costume requirements

SET PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR (One person for all three shows)
- A person who will oversee the unified three show co-ordinating design
- One who oversees the building painting and construction of the sets

PAINTING CO-ORDINATOR (One person for all three shows)
- One who oversees all the painting of the sets

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
- A person who can photocopy, type, file sort in office 

TWO PARENT SAFETY MONITORS FOR THE SHOWBIZ ACADEMY (Must be parents of children in the Showbiz Academy or Stagedoor)
- These parents will sign in and sign out children at Monday 5:30 - 6:25 practise.
- Be hall monitor and make sure our kids are safely picked up at end of program.

TWO PARENT SAFETY MONITORS for STAGE DOOR 7:30- 8:25 (Must be parents of children in Showbiz Academy or Stagedoor)
- Making sure latecomers are let in and that all children are picked up

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these positions, please contact keepsinging@rogers.com

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Sweeney Todd in Pictures

Below are some of our favorite snaps from our production of Sweeney Todd! We had a great time backstage and on stage during this show, and hope you enjoyed watching it! More photos of this production can be found on our Facebook Page

Justine Turl as Mrs. Lovett and Chris Roberts as Sweeney Todd

"God, That's Good!"


Rhiannon Kyle as Tobias, discovering Pirelli's coin purse 


David Sisson as Anthony


Wendy Simone as Adolfo Pirelli; Yuriy Volyanskyy as Beadle Bamford

Monday 21 May 2012

What Audience Members Thought About Sweeney Todd!

We always love hearing feedback from people that have attending our shows! If you saw Sweeney Todd, make sure to leave a comment on this post, on our Facebook page, or Twitter (@APerformingArts) to let us know what you thought!


Here's what some of our audience members thought about our production of Sweeney Todd:

"My daughter and I saw the show yesterday afternoon and enjoyed it immensely. Congratulations! I laughed and got scared at the same time. Sweeney was quirky and scary and very intense. Toby made me hug my daughter. What an incredible singer and actress. Mrs Lovett needs to be locked up but in all seriousness what a strong performance. Anthony and Johanna make the most amazing team of performers, with very strong operatic voices. I wish there was more singing for the Judge he had a beautiful voice too. What a talented roster of performers Aurora Performing Arts has. A clever set and staging as well. Thank you for bringing such quality to this region." - B

"Just wanted to congratulate you and the cast on an Amazing show! The sets, costume, music...all of it, amazing!!! I love it! So much talent!" - E. S. 

"Seriously AMAZING performances in Sweeney Todd. Bravo! Loved every single second of it. Everyone was so in tune with each other that it just flowed fantastically. Also loved the set, the 'chop and drop' chair... was fantastic. Very Very Very well done!" - Brian Edwards (from our FB page)


"The production on Saturday night of Sweeney Todd was sensational. I was expecting an amateur evening and was surprised by the quality of the sets, costumes, direction and of course the talent. I saw the production both in Stratford and on the London stage and this production was funny and yet retained the dark edge. It simply was a good as the professional shows I have seen. Well directed. Your Tobias was intense and had a moving performance . What splendid voices in Johanna and Mrs Lovett. I particularly enjoyed the mood and tone of the work. I shall return to see other productions next season. Bravo!" - M. D. 


"Thank you for a wonderful evenings entertainment! Keep up the great work! I saw the show last weekend and have to say it was truly a wonderful experience. Solid acting, wonderful cast, gut wrenching performances, a beautiful set and masterful directing. I was moved to tears a couple of times, and was so very glad I had a chance to see it. Thank you each and every one of you for making theatre what it should be. A truly memorable experience WELL DONE!" - Marci C. 

"I saw the Sweeney show Friday and I’ve just got to say WOW! What an extraordinary experience! Well done! It’s amazing how your ensemble made an old story feel so fresh and easy to relate to. Your characters all seemed so real, and their motivations and reactions so completely understandable… and it’s fascinating how the play still has great relevance today. Revenge at the expense of humanity. I can honestly say I have never been so moved by a play before. Tobias really scared me because the wounds of life are so deep sometime that finding the truth brings destruction. Her portrayal of these – gut-wrenching moments that really affected me, I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes, and I’ve never experienced that from a play before. A tragic story, but there’s so much inspiration you can draw from it. Our only disappointment was that the theatre wasn’t a sell out because you deserved a bigger audience."- James L.

"Thank you so much for the enjoyable evening last Saturday of Sweeney Todd. A talented group of actors. Mrs Lovett was fireball of energy. She overtook the stage with her playing out to the audience moments and it was great fun to see a new way to present such a dark character. I particularly enjoyed the actors Tobias and the Judge. They had great charisma on stage playing the parts of the human psyche we seldom want to acknowledge in darkness or sadness. Having a woman play the Tobias role was brilliant. I soon forgot she was a she, and saw the story through the eyes of a sad and tormented boy. 'Not While I'm Around' was a still and quiet defining moment in the performance. No need for bravado or playing to the audience. This actress owned the stage. Similarly excellent, was your Judge Turpin. Power came from his deep voice and from never having the need to fan out or over act the moments. It was also interesting that you had a woman playing the role of Pirelli. She was an admirable actress and most believable. In fact, all the supporting actors were terrific. Johanna and Anthony strong, strong singers and Johanna was quite comical. I liked your Sweeney. The story was scary enough and so directing this man to be a reserved and calmer Sweeney really added different colours to the musical. I am quite interested in music theatre and travel around to see all the community theatre in a 50 K radius each season. I shall look forward to all three of your next seasons productions." - Ray L. 

"Last weekend, my wife and I attended your Sweeney Todd performance at Newmarket Theatre. We had a fine evening - the story was well-told, the singing was terrific, the sets great and we had ice cream on the way home. Not a bad evening at all! A few days later - I was struck by this amazing thing about your production company. It isn’t anything fancy, really: its just the way you allow your actors to come out into the lobby and give us, the audience a simple thank you for attending. But it struck me as a positively first-class, smart-as-heck move. By doing this simple practice it invigorates our experience by giving us the opportunity to share and remember a few particularly compelling moments from your production. The Aurora Performing Arts Group actors were gracious and spoke to all the audience members in such engaging ways simply talking about the performance. You are doing whatever you can to bring audience members closer and closer to the art, which is (to my mind) an admirable goal.  An excellent decision. Why don't all theatres make this a standard practice? This isn't a theatre with a huge budget or staff; money can't be an issue.  I think other companies sometimes focus too exclusively on the work they put on stage, rather than on the entire theatre-going experience they're creating for  audiences. I really appreciated you allowing for us to check in with the actors after the performance is over. I said it to many that night. These actors are well directed, well taught. They sing well, act well and they deserve the kudos. But so do you as Director and Producer for making the enlightened performance, for directing the team and the simple added bonus of the meet and greet at the end. Bravo! " - Andy J.


We hope you've enjoyed reading some of the feedback that we have received about our Sweeney Todd production! Thank's to all who came out to support the arts in York Region, our company, and our talented performers.





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Thursday 15 March 2012

Scenes from Parade & Audience Review!

If you DIDN'T get a chance to come out to our February production of Jason Robert Brown's Parade, then you missed out on some great performances. Below is a video of some of our favourite clips from the show. Additionally, we've included a letter from a special audience member that we figured you might be interested in seeing! 





"I attended the PARADE production on the weekend. My family came from Atlanta to see the production. We were visiting people at a local synagogue and you might be interested to know that we are relatives of Lucille Selig. I wanted to let you know that our entire family was so moved by your production. There was a quality of calm and sense of purpose to your cast. Normally when one attends community theatre you don't find such professionalism. Your sets, your lights, your costumes were wonderful. But it was the actors that made this show exciting. Joe Adams portraying Leo Frank really captured the angst of man and the time. He was excellent in his acting and singing. Your Mr Dorsey was exactly the way I the I felt he must have been and gave me the fear that Newt Lee and Leo must have felt. Your Lucille was simply powerful. Although she was much, much prettier than the real Lucille Frank, I soon found myself believing she was Lucille and understanding the deep sense of loyalty my Great Aunt must have felt. Your actress was mature, and sang so beautifully that I literally wept twice in the performance. Even your young actors portraying Iola, Frankie and Mary Phagan were strong and well prepared. I don't know if many people take the time to write but it was an impressive production filled with moments that change the viewers. Thank you for telling the story and for presenting this way up in Canada. My aunt believed in his innocence to her dying days. I am glad we live in a different time now, where for most of the world we don't seek righteous vengence. Some day all the world will have justice and truth will rise." - C. Forwisson


Be sure to come and see our 17th Season production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Newmarket Theatre from May 10-12, 2012. Tickets at www.newtix.ca or by calling the box office at 905-953-5122. Facebook event HERE.

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Wednesday 14 March 2012

18th Season Audition Announcement for York Region Musicals


The Aurora Performing Arts Group is beginning to prepare for the upcoming 2012-2013 season. We will be auditioning individuals for lead and supporting roles in our 18th Season productions. These productions include:



Kiss Me Kate with music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Annie with music by Charles Strouse and Lyrics by Martin Charnin
Anne of Green Gables with music by Norman Campbell and lyrics by Donald Harron and Norm Campbell

To audition for APAG please send your resumé and audition request to keepsinging @ rogers.com
Singers will be asked to sing one piece of music. Accompanist will be provided.


Rehearsals in Newmarket.
Performances at Newmarket Theatre and possible touring locations.
Non-paying roles.


Whether you are an adult, teen, or a child performer we are delighted to have you come and audition. We are interested in seeing performers that are passionate about being on stage and welcome various skill-sets (voice, dance, acting). 

We are also still accepting registrations for our childrens programs for 2012-13 season. Registrations are on first come first serve basis as spaces are competitive.

For more information please visit www.auroraperformingartsgroup.com.







Want to see what APAG is all about? Come and see our 17th Season production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Newmarket Theatre from May 10-12, 2012. Tickets at www.newtix.ca or by calling the box office at 905-953-5122. Facebook event HERE.


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Monday 5 March 2012

NATS Update

Another successful weekend and entertaining road trip for APAG! It appears that travelling 7 hours to Grand Valley, Michigan was worth it as we had multiple singers place in their categories. The winners are as follows:

1st Place
Justine Turl - Advanced Musical Theatre D









2nd Place
Rhiannon Kyle - High School Seniors Musical Theatre
Colin Campbell - High School Juniors Classical
Chris Roberts - Advanced Musical Theatre D
Joe Adams - Mature Singer

Honorable Mention
Kennedy Campbell - High School Seniors Classical

Make sure to follow APAG on twitter for live updates on rehearsals, competitions, performances, ticket info and more! @APerformingArts


Sunday 29 January 2012

The story behind Parade...

Imagine yourself in this scenario: a young girl in your hometown is brutally murdered. 
Everyone liked this kid, she was pretty and friendly and more or less everything you'd like in a girl. 
Of course, you're upset. 
Now, you find out that the police have arrested a rich snob for the girl's murder. 
No one likes this guy. 
He's rude, he's arrogant. 
He's everything you dislike in a person. 
Exactly the kind of man who'd slaughter a young girl. 
He goes to trial, and justice is served: he is found guilty and sentenced to hang. 
But just before his necktie party, a bleeding heart governor commutes the death penalty to life in prison. 
This schmuck just got away with murder. 
Would you stand for it? (If you say "yes," you're  lying) 
So, you make sure that this man pays for his sins and you see to it that he dies one way or another, and feel pretty damn good about yourself. 
Justice has been served. 

End of story.

BUT... What if the man were innocent?

This is the premise for Parade, a new musical about the all-too-real Leo Frank case, which involved an odd eccentric  man wrongfully convicted of murder. As he fights to clear his name, he grows to be a better husband, and to love and respect his wife, but it does him no good. When the governor realises that Leo Frank is innocent, he commutes the sentence only to have a lynch mob grab the convict.
There were many reasons for the unjust conviction and lynching: Leo Frank was living in Atlanta, Georgia at the time (1913), but he was from New York. The Civil War had only been over for forty-eight years, and the scars were still not yet healed. He ran a factory that paid children twelve cents an hour for body-breaking-mind-numbing work. And, to top it off, he was Jewish. He represented everything Southerners at the time hated, and here an ideal of Southern innocence had met her end in his factory. It would be easy to blow the lynchers off as redneck bigots, and perhaps they were... but we must also look at it from their point of view. They were wrong in the long run, but they honestly believed that they were doing the right thing for Justice, and for their own honour.
None of these changes damages the story in any real way - in fact, they make this horror story all the more dramatic - but I wanted to point them out. 

Parade tells the story pretty accurately, even including actual words spoken by the real-life characters. A few changes are made for dramatic effect, most notably (for me, at least) the timing of events. Mary Phagan was murdered on April 26, 1913, Leo Frank was lynched August 17, 1915. Parade has the lynching occur some time before April of 1915, so that the show can end on the second anniversary of the child's death. Leo Frank was not in the courtroom when he was declared guilty; the judge was certain that he would be acquitted, and was afraid of mob violence.
This murder - and many like it - happened in our United States, the "land of the free and the home of the brave". It's not just in Germany, Kosovo, and Rwanda. Our ancestors committed these crimes, and the only way we can attempt at atonement is to accept what they did and make certain it never happens again. Education is the best, and in this case, only defence.


It's worth seeing.

Please come and support the production.



PARADE - FEB 10-12 2012

NEWMARKET THEATRE




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Things Musical Theatre Geeks Say

If you haven't seen it already via our Facebook and Twitter, make sure you check out APAG's spoof of "Sh** Girls Say"!


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