2009 Les Prix Rideau Awards Results!

Being a publicist has it's perks. You've read it here first! Third Annual Prix Rideau Awards Winners Announced!

Winners have been announced for Ottawa's 3rd annual Prix Rideau Awards, which celebrate achievement in English and French professional theatre in Ottawa-Gatineau. The awards were presented during a celebration at L’École secondaire De La Salle on Sunday, April 18, 2010.

The winners for English-language productions are:

Outstanding Performance – Female Patricia Fagan, The Syringa Tree, Great Canadian Theatre Company Outstanding Performance – Male Paul Rainville, The Drawer Boy, Great Canadian Theatre Company

Outstanding Lighting Design Jock Munro, The Syringa Tree, Great Canadian Theatre Company

Outstanding Set Design Ivo Valentik, A Midwinter's Dream Tale, A Company of Fools/Gladstone Productions

Outstanding Costume Design Louise Hayden, A Midwinter's Dream Tale, A Company of Fools/Gladstone Productions Outstanding Stage Management / Technical Award Donna Bourgeault, A View from the Bridge, Ottawa Chamber Theatre

Outstanding Fringe Production Countries Shaped Like Stars, Mi Casa

Outstanding Director Lise Ann Johnson, The Syringa Tree, Great Canadian Theatre Company

Emerging Artist Award Emily Pearlman, Creator/Actor/Writer of Countries Shaped Like Stars, Mi Casa

Outstanding Adaptation A Midwinter's Dream Tale, A Company of Fools/Gladstone Productions

Outstanding New Creation Countries Shaped Like Stars, Mi Casa

Outstanding Production The Syringa Tree, Great Canadian Theatre Company

The winners for French-language productions are:

Interprétation féminine de l'année Geneviève Couture, L'honnête homme/un one woman show, Poésie électrique Interprétation masculine de l'année Pierre Antoine Lafon Simard, L'Illusion comique, Théâtre la Catapulte

Conception de l'année Guillaume Houët-Brisebois, Éclairages, L'honnête homme/un one woman show, Poésie électrique

Artiste en émergence Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez , Interprétation, Le bout du monde, Le Théâtre du Trillium

Prix technique / de la regie Lindsay Tremblay, Le Projet Rideau, Théâtre la Catapulte

Mise en scène de l'année Marc Lemyre, L'honnête homme/un one woman show, Poésie électrique

Adaptation de l'année Cyrano Tag, Compagnie Vox Théâtre

Nouvelle création de l'année L'honnête homme/un one woman show, Poésie électrique

Production de l'année L'honnête homme/un one woman show, Poésie électrique

Les Prix Rideau Awards celebrate achievement in professional theatre in the region of Ottawa-Gatineau. The peer-juried awards program was initiated in 2006 as a result of discussion at an open meeting of the regional Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. This year for the first time, Les Prix Rideau Awards goes fully bilingual, with a full slate of awards being presented for both English and French-language productions.

For the calendar year 2009, 40 English and 11 French professional theatre productions were juried by two teams of local arts professionals (14 English and 8 French). Nominations were submitted by secret ballot and tallied by local accountants, Chong Pelot and Marcil-Lavallée. Complete details on award definitions, terms and criteria are available at www.rideauawards.ca

Rideau Awards Nominations

From the Official Press Release: NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR THE THIRD ANNUAL RIDEAU AWARDS Peer-assessed awards celebrate Ottawa-Gatineauʼs professional theatre in both official languages

The votes have been tallied and it's time to announce the nominees for the third annual Rideau Awards, which celebrate achievement in professional theatre in the region of Ottawa-Gatineau. This year for the first time, Les Prix Rideau Awards will be fully bilingual, with a full slate of awards to be presented for both English and French-language productions. The awards will be handed out during a celebration to take place on Sunday, April 18, 2010, at De La Salle High School. Tickets go on sale March 15 at La Nouvelle Scène.

The nominees for English-language productions are: Outstanding Performance – Female Mary Ellis, Doubt Patricia Fagan, The Syringa Tree Teri Rata Loretto, Shirley Valentine Margo MacDonald, A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale Emily Pearlman, Countries Shaped Like Stars

Outstanding Performance – Male Pierre Brault, Portrait of an Unidentified Man David Fox, The Net Kris Joseph, Doubt Andy Massingham, Peer Gynt Paul Rainville, The Drawer Boy

Outstanding Lighting Design Martin Conboy, Portrait of an Unidentified Man Martin Conboy, The Drawer Boy Rebecca Miller, Henry V David Mcgladry, A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale Jock Munro, The Children's Republic Jock Munro, The Syringa Tree

Outstanding Set Design Robin Fisher, The Drawer Boy Robin Fisher, The Syringa Tree Ivo Valentik, A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale Ivo Valentik, The Final Twist Sarah Waghorn, Old Times

Outstanding Costume Design Louise Hayden, A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale Louise Hayden, The Girl Who Was Eaten by the Dark Jennifer Triemstra & Karen Rodd, A Guy Named Joe Sarah Waghorn, Henry V Sarah Waghorn, Old Times

Outstanding Stage Management / Technical Award Donna Bourgeault, A View from the Bridge Sean Green & Tina Goralski, Noises Off Louisa Hache, The Children's Republic Samira Rose, The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Outstanding Fringe Production Countries Shaped Like Stars, Mi Casa The Girl Who Was Eaten by the Dark, Ottawa Stilt Union Inclement Weather, Mi Casa Squatter Heart, ReduxDelux We Never Clothed, People with Principles

Outstanding Director AL Connors, A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale Todd Duckworth, The Drawer Boy Janet Irwin, The Children's Republic Lise Ann Johnson, The Syringa Tree Brian Quirt, Portrait of an Unidentified Man

Emerging Artist Award Simon Bradshaw, Actor, The Rideau Project Nicolas Di Gaetano, Creator/Actor, Countries Shaped Like Stars Patrick Gauthier, Director, Countries Shaped Like Stars Brad Long, Actor, The Pillowman Emily Pearlman, Creator/Actor/Writer, Countries Shaped Like Stars

Outstanding Adaptation A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale, A Company of Fools Much Ado About Nothing, A Company of Fools The Net, Great Canadian Theatre Company Pirate Jennyʼs Circus, Counterpoint Players The Radio Show, Gladstone Productions Outstanding New Creation The Children's Republic, Great Canadian Theatre Company/Ottawa School of Speech and Drama Countries Shaped Like Stars, Mi Casa The Girl Who Was Eaten by the Dark, Ottawa Stilt Union Inclement Weather, Mi Casa The Rideau Project, Théâtre la Catapulte

Outstanding Production Countries Shaped Like Stars, Mi Casa The Drawer Boy, Great Canadian Theatre Company A Midwinterʼs Dream Tale, A Company of Fools Portrait of an Unidentified Man, Sleeping Dog Theatre The Syringa Tree, Great Canadian Theatre Company

The nominees for French-language productions are:

Interprétation féminine de l'année Nathaly Charrette, (RAGE) Larissa Corriveau, (L'Illusion comique) Geneviève Couture, (L'honnête homme/ une one woman show) Magali Lemèle, (Le Bout du monde) Emmanuelle Lussier, Martinez (Le Bout du monde) Interprétation masculine de l'année Benjamin Gaillard, (Projet Rideau) Richard Léger, (Et si on tuait l'ennui?) Gilles Provost, (Mardis avec Morrie) Pierre Antoine, Lafon Simard (L'Illusion comique) Victor Trelles, (RAGE)

Conception de l'année Marcel Aymar, (Le Bout du monde), env. sonore Josée Bergeron-Proulx, (Le Bout du monde), décor Diane Bouchard, (L'effet réel des polluants sur les animaux imaginaries), marionnettes Julie Giroux, (Les sept jours de Simon Labrosse), décor Guillaume Houët- Brisebois, (L'honnête homme/ une one woman show), éclairage

Artiste en émergence Josée Bergeron-Proulx, (Le Bout du monde) Emmanuelle Lussier Martinez , interprète, (Le Bout du monde) Pierre Antoine Lafon Simard, interprète, (L'Illusion comique)

Prix technique / de la regie Tina Goralski, (L'Illusion comique) Guillaume Houët- Brisebois, (L'honnête homme/ une one woman show) Benoît Roy, (Le Bout du monde) Lindsay Tremblay, (Le Projet Rideau)

Mise en scène de l'année Joël Beddows (RAGE) Dominique Lafon (L'Illusion comique) Marc Lemyre (L'honnête homme/ une one woman show) Pier Rodier (Cyrano Tag) Anne-Marie White (Le Bout du monde)

Adaptation de l'année Le Bout du monde, Le Théâtre du Trillium Cyrano Tag, Vox Théâtre

Nouvelle création de l'année Cyrano Tag, Vox Théâtre L'effet réel des polluants sur les animaux imaginaires, GESTES théâtre Et si on tuait l'ennui?, Théâtre Dérives Urbaines L'honnête homme/ une one woman show, poésie électrique Le Projet Rideau, Théâtre la Catapulte

Production de l'année Le Bout du monde, Théâtre du Trillium Et si on tuait l'ennui?, Théâtre Dérives Urbaines L'honnête homme/ une one woman show, poésie électrique Le Projet Rideau, Théâtre la Catapulte RAGE, Théâtre la Catapulte

40 English and 11 French professional theatre productions were juried by two teams of local arts professionals (14 English and 10 French) during the 2009 calendar year. Nominations were submitted by secret ballot and tallied by local accountants, Chong Pelot and Marcil-Lavallée. Complete details on award definitions, terms and criteria are available at www.rideauawards.ca

Les Prix Rideau Awards initiative was undertaken in late 2006 as a result of discussion at an open meeting of the regional Canadian Actorsʼ Equity Association. The program aims to raise the profile of locally-produced professional theatre by celebrating its successes.

Stats, Stats, Stats

I've been inspired by Mr. Sterling Lynch's recent post on his blog's traffic numbers (and absolutely fascinated as well!). He was right: I do find it useful to compare his traffic numbers to mine. After some investigation, I've realized that I'm doing pretty well. Therefore, in the spirit of sharing, I've also decided to publish my blog stats to all of you in the hopes that it might be useful to someone else. I currently don't have any other statistic program running on my site and so my statistics all come directly from Wordpress.

Since 29/08/08 I have had 11, 769 visits to this site. Now, this number is relatively small compared to Sterling's, but that's because I wasn't really all that active on my blog until about March 2008, which is when I started pushing it more by linking the notes to my Facebook account and updates. My individual site visits hit over the 1000 mark in June. In fact my busiest months have been June 2009 - 1,880 and July 2009 - 2,152. This makes sense for a few reasons. First of all, it was around this time that I started using Twitter to promote my blog. It was also during the Ottawa and Winnipeg Fringe Festivals, where I was writing practically everyday and was getting tons of pingback links through their sites. My busiest day was 22/06/09 with 206 visits - right smack in the middle of the Ottawa Fringe Festival.

Not counting this one, I have 117 posts and 235 comments. I don't respond to every comment like Sterling does, so this number is actually pretty close to reality. That said, because he replies to the comments on his site, Sterling encourages discussion, which then brings in more comments and more page views. I can learn from that.

Search engine terms to find my blog usually have to do with some variation of my name or the blog title. Though I was interested to see that a lot of people found me by searching for "Countries Shaped Like Stars" (which sends you to my review of the show) and "Gladstone Theatre Ottawa" (which puzzled me because I went through 5 Google search pages and found nothing about this blog). What terms a person used to find my site is a great source of enjoyment for me. You can find some real gems there including: "hairpulling catfight", "so", "la in me love you long time 9" (not making that one up), "vehicle registration plates in manitoba", and "im struggling upcoming artist?"

Visitors have been referred to my site mostly through Facebook, Twitter and a link from my old blog incarnation. The rest come from something called Alpha Inventions (which I haven't fully figured out) and my friend's blogs. In order of popularity, I get most of my friendly traffic from the Adorkable Thespian, The Many Faces of Wayne, The Ottawa Arts Newsletter, Reverberations, and finally Movement (Welcome to the party, Sterling. Nadine, I owe you a drink.)

Finally, my top 5 most popular posts and pages are as follows:

Nancy's Must See List at the Winnipeg Fringe - 428 Upcoming Appearances - 396 About Nancy - 386 Nancy's Must See List at the Ottawa Fringe - 373 In Loving Memory of my Friend - 161

I'm not surprised by these numbers and they do corroborate Sterling's theory that "When people like a blog post, they often want to know more about the person writing the blog post." I encourage you to read the rest of his theory on the effectiveness of social media tools with regards to personal interactions with the writer. I pretty much completely agree with him on that point.

All in all, this has been a very interesting exercise. Based on the information collected, I'm quite certain that I have approximately 35 to 40 regular readers who check my site everyday for new stuff. When I write a new post, that number easily doubles or even triples.

I'd like to think that this readership also translates into my business world (attendance at shows, networking opportunities, ect.) but I have no way of verifying that information.

So, thank you dear readers, I definitely would not be here on the interwebs without you.

Faith in Evolution

As you may know, I am one of the founders of a local theatre company called Evolution Theatre. We are now at the end of our fourth year in existence and I am just blown away by how far we've come in such a short time. We've put on a total of 9 productions, we've received a number of award nominations and acknowledgments (CBC Radio's Alvina Ruprecht once called us an important contribution to the professional theatre scene in Ottawa), and we've become a registered charity with a season sponsor and a variety of donors. We've made it a personal mission to bridge the gap between the French and English theatre communities in Ottawa. Many of our shows have been translations of Québécois work (to the point where next year you will see our first fully commissioned translation of a piece) and every production involves Francophone actors, designers and crew. We've gone from a small independent company conceived in order to create meaningful work opportunities for ourselves into a small independent company that creates meaningful work opportunities for all local theatre artists. In addition, we've gained a reputation in this town for presenting work that is quite experimental, unconventional and takes risks that I fully believe are paying off. All in all, we make good art and I couldn't be more proud or more pleased.

We have a show that opens this week at Cube Gallery in Ottawa called Arabian Night and I want you to come see it. Here's why (in no particular order):

1 - The cast: This play involves some of the greatest actors in this community. People whose names you will recognize and whose work I absolutely admire. Richard Gélinas, Bradley Cunningham Long, Emily Pearlman, Stewart Matthews and Kate Smith. I'm not going to post their resumes here, but I am quite certain that if you have a seen a show in Ottawa over the last year and enjoyed it, chances are one of these people was involved with the production. I don't like to use the word "all-star" but I think you all know what I am getting at.

2 - The director: This is the first time Evolution Theatre has contracted a director from outside the company. I believe this is just another aspect in our growth and it has allowed us founders the opportunity to solidify our administrative skills and bond more deeply as a team. That said, we didn't want just anybody to direct one of our shows and so we sought out an individual whose work we truly admire. Natalie Joy Quesnel was actually one of the very few names that we could all agree on. Having seen bits and pieces of the show throughout rehearsals and during the media call, I can tell you that Natalie brings a solid vision to this piece; one that is very stylized and dance-like, but meshes incredibly well with the dream-like nature of the show. You ain't seen nothing like this, Ottawa!

3 - The award nominations: The cast and crew of Arabian Night have over 15 award nominations and wins among them. These include the Rideau Awards, the Capital Critics Circle, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ottawa Fringe Festival, the Golden Cherry Awards, and the Ottawa Xpress. This production actually reunites the multi-award nominated team that brought you Third Wall's Betrayal a few years ago, among other things.

4 - The show: This is the Ottawa English-language premiere of Arabian Night by Roland Schimmelpfennig, translated by David Tushingham. At Evolution Theatre, we like being able to provide Ottawa audiences with something they have never seen before and this play is no different. We're calling it an erotic urban thriller. On the hottest night of the year, five characters spin an intricate tale that blurs the boundaries between the real and the imaginary while the heat gives rise to their deepest desires and subconscious fears. The show is a critical darling in Germany (hence why His Excellency Dr. Georg Witschel Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany will be in attendance on opening night) and has played to much acclaim all over the world.

5 - The company: People who've missed an Evolution Theatre show always seem to say "Oh I heard such good things about that! I'm sorry I missed it." Well, don't be sorry this time around and see what all the fuss is about! I will be absolutely honest with you. Of the 9 shows that we have produced, there is only one that I did not enjoy. I don't know about you, but those are some odds that I am willing to go to the bank with.

6 - The venue: This is the first time that we are putting on a show in a non-theatrical space. Cube Gallery has been an incredibly generous production partner and I believe that being immersed in the current exhibition, The Three Tooners, adds a certain level to the show that you would not find in a regular space. Plus, the exhibition is just amazing. I recommend people come right when the doors open at 7:30 p.m. in order to enjoy it all.

So, what are you waiting for? Call 613-728-1750 to reserve your tickets as seating is limited. It runs from October 14 to 24 at 8 p.m. (no shows on Monday and Tuesday, though we do have a Sunday performance). Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for students, seniors and starving artists. Our official opening night is on Friday, October 16th and it includes a reception post show with, as I mentioned, the German Ambassador. Tickets for that event are $40 and include food and beverages post-show, as well as an opportunity to mix and mingle with the cast and crew.

There is a lot of great buzz surrounding this production. Our preview show on the 14 is already sold out and half the tickets are already gone for both opening and closing night. We're also holding a special Facebook Friends event on October 15. If you are our friend on Facebook, you will get a $5 discount on the Thursday night show if you click on the event link and tell us you will be attending the performance. Your name will be on a list at the door to receive your discount.

Though it may seem biased, I sincerely believe in this production and in the people involved. If you see this show, trust me, you will not regret it.

On Your Mark, Get Set, TAPE!

Yesterday morning things were off to a bit of a rougher start.  Both Natasha and I slept poorly in our new surroundings.  I woke up feeling disoriented and lost.  Where am I again? Oh yeah, Winnipeg.  Natasha shook the sluggishness off faster than I did and even had breakfast with our billet while I debated such intellectually stimulating life choices as:  Should I take a shower in the morning? Is today a shorts kind of day? Maybe I should just go back to bed? Do I really want yogurt for breakfast? You are all fascinated with the complexities of my life, I'm sure.  I also realized that my face wash had somewhat exploded in my toiletries kit.  This didn't bother me yesterday as it was easy enough to clean up... or so I thought.  Apparently, some of that soapy goodness seeped into my contact lenses' case and I ended up spending half the day looking like I had been crying because Natasha says mean things to me in the middle of the night... which she totally doesn't! Nope, not like her at all... ;) Having put the pull-out couch away, going back to bed was not an option.  So after a blog post, a shower, a skort, some coffee, and some breakfast, we were basking in the Manitoba sun on our way to the bus stop, ready for a busy day of postering.  We were delighted to know that Winnipeg Transit offers weekly passes which now make it a breeze for us to get around.

When we were nearing the festival area, Natasha turned to me and said something that sent chills down my spine: "Did you bring the posters?"

Shit!

We checked our bus schedule and realized we had about 40 minutes before we could go back, so we went to sign in to the performer services area instead.  Posters were already covering the vast majority of surfaces as we approached the Manitoba Theatre Centre and I ran into one of the first people I recognized: Jonny P from GRIMMER THAN GRIMM.  He also introduced us to the people we would be having beers with later that night: Rob Gee (Fruitcake - Natasha, the Graphic Designer, adores his poster so it's definitely one not to miss!) and Chris Bange (More Bange For Your Buck!)

Being in a rush, we excused ourselves and hurried in to sign in with a very friendly volunteer. We got our beautiful program, our performer and company cards and then ran to catch the bus, waving madly at Dave Dawson (Jayson McDonald's Trashcan Duet which I didn't see in Ottawa last year, but will probably see now) on the way.

Finally, we had our posters and were on our way back downtown to check out our venue: Ragpickers Theatre.  This is also where we were to meet our new stage manager, the lovely Anne Wyman (Jayson McDonald's The Last Goddamned Performance Piece).

It was here that I ran into an old acquaintance from London, ON, Jeff Culbert.  He's involved with two shows:  archy and mehitabel, directed by Jayson McDonald and Fall Fair in which he directed Jayson McDonald. For a guy who isn't even in town yet, Mr McDonald is proving to be very pervasive...

After a great lunchbreak/tech meeting at The Fyxx with Ms. Wyman, where we had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy Baumaung (Homeless - which Anne tells me is the greatest piece of theatre she's ever seen, ever!) and Ryan Paulson (Ryan Paulson: I'm Uncomfotable), we headed off, finally, to poster.

This is also where we ran into another Ottawa local: Ms. Amy Lester (Little White Lies).

Since we were tired from such a busy day of posters and password collecting (check out Emily Pearlman's Ottawa Fringe Festival blog post for the meaning of the password system), we headed over to the King's Head Pub where we ran into, well, pretty much everyone else we saw today, including some newcomers - the ladies from Inviting Desire, the gentlemen from Advanced DnD, and the producer of The Seven Lives of Louis Riel.  This is also where we met Francis, the most awesome barkeep evah!

Wow, what a day, and the festival hasn't even started yet!

I Believe in Spectacular and Magnificient Magic

I fell in love last night, got my heart broken, gave a standing ovation and ate a cookie to make it all better (not necessarily in that order). I very rarely give standing ovations. It's something I reserve for very special shows. Countries Shaped Like Stars is such a show. It's been a long time since I've seen a show that is so moving, so honest, and so beautiful. It made me believe in magic. It made me believe that years and years ago countries really were shaped like stars and anticipation did grow on trees... All love stories should come with tin can telephones.

It also reminded me of why I wanted to be an artist in the first place. I was so blown away by this show that I needed a moment to compose myself before doing a preview pitch for No Exit Upstage at the beer tent. I hadn't left and perhaps didn't want to leave their little peninsula, just yet.

Emily Pearlman and Nick Di Gaetano are a powerhouse of talent and creativity. Ottawa is lucky to have them.

Be sure to also checkout Nick's one man show, Inclement Weather, from the same crack production company, !MI CASA! It's a great piece and perfectly suitable for the entire family.

I leave you with Countries Shaped Like Stars.

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