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NEW IDEAS FESTIVAL 2007 PROGRAM: March 7 - 24, 2007

WEEK TWO: March 14 - 17, 2007

Saturday Experiment: Insane Uncle Leroy by Stephen Kunc


NEW IDEAS 2007: Week Two Biographies


COLE J. ALVIS
Nephew, Insane Uncle Leroy
A Toronto-based actor, Cole's recent theatre creation credits include The Thistle Project's Gorey Story, Rejection Rate at the 2006 Toronto Fringe Festival and Pride Cab at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Previous theatre credits include: Lucy in Not Wanted on the Voyage, Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, Stephen Ryle in Three Birds Alighting on a Field and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre@York). Upcoming credits include Teiresias in The Stone Circle Project's production of Antigone during Taste of the Danforth. Cole is a founding member of Theatre Best/Before and holds a BFA in Acting from York University.

LISA BALLANTYNE
Stage Manager, Conscientia
With a degree in Theatre Management, and over 14 years experience in technical theatre, Lisa is proud to bring her talents and education to the community and amateur theatre industry. This is Lisa's second year with the Festival - she had so much fun the first time she couldnt resist coming back for more! Selected Stage Management credits include: Into the Woods - Theatre Aurora (1996) for which she won a THEA Award, Twelve Angry Men - Medley Entertainment (1998), Love Letters - Lucard Theatrical Ltd (2004), The Vigil Crasher - New Ideas Festival (2006), and Anybody for Murder? - Theatre Etobicoke (2006).

DANIEL BARKLEY
Brain Diagrams, Insane Uncle Leroy
Daniel Barkley earns his living as a scenic painter for the Centaur Theatre in Montreal. However, he is also an award-winning artist and his work is regularly shown at galleries in Toronto and Montreal. Hart House, at U of T, recently exhibited selected works. He holds an MFA in Cinema from Concordia University, and often freelances as a portrait painter for the film industry. His work has appeared in many well-known Canadian films. He enjoyed designing the brain diagrams for Insane Uncle Leroy, and wishes cast and crew a successful performance.

STEVEN BARKLEY
Puppet and Clock Design, Insane Uncle Leroy
Inspired by his admiration for Jim Henson and the Muppets, Steven Barkley started making puppets at age ten. In 1992, he started Diabolo Puppets, a small craft company dedicated to designing and manufacturing quality hand puppets. His puppets are sold at craft shows, including The One of a Kind Show in Toronto, the Salon des Métiers d'art in Montreal, Circle Craft in Vancouver and Art Market in Calgary. His puppets and props have appeared in a number of films and stage productions in the past and he is delighted to be involved with the production of Insane Uncle Leroy.

JACK BERKE
Specialist, Insane Uncle Leroy
This is Jack's first appearance with the New Ideas Festival and he is pleased to be playing the Specialist. A member of Act II Studio since 1994, he has appeared in various productions; has toured with No Big Deal?; been in productions of Ruddigore, H.M.S. Pinafore, Iolanthe, Fiddler on the Roof and Merry Widow (Alexander Singers); Jenufa (C.O.C.); Waiting for Wolfgang (Toronto Symphonietta); Stir Fry (2005 Toronto Fringe Festival); The Tenth Man (Teatron Theatre); and most recently was Mr. Lundie in Brigadoon (Etobicoke Musical Productions). Jack thanks his wonderfully supportive wife and best friend, Madeline, who got him into this crazy business.

TRAVIS BIRCH
Choreographer/Composer, Fish Face
A graduate of the Canada's National Ballet School, Travis Birch created his first works Djinn and Enthusiasmos for the school's Stephen Godfrey Student Choreographic Workshop. In 2000, while a member of the Alberta Ballet, he was commissioned to create Extract for the Calgary Bach Society. He is the founding artistic director of Co>Lab, a collective laboratory of creatively diverse artists. In 2006, he created both the music and choreography for sympathetic nerve on the invitation of Kathleen Rea, artistic director of REAson d'etre productions for VIVID, a run of shows co-produced by REAson d'etre Co>Lab.

DAVID BORWICK
Luke, Death to Dating
After being recruited into the cast of his first musical when overheard singing in church, David's brief theatrical career has now seemingly come full circle. Favourite roles include Daddy Brubeck in Sweet Charity (Music Theatre Etobicoke), and most recently, Victor Prynne in Private Lives (The Village Playhouse). David is delighted to be making his first appearance at the Alumnae Theatre.

RAZIE BROWNSTONE
Aunt Millie, Death to Dating
A long-time member of Alumnae Theatre, Razie has produced, costumed, and propped shows, as well as acted. Professionally, she has performed in videos, movies and commercials, but still prefers her adventures with Alumnae Theatre.

JOHN STUART CAMPBELL
Sound Consultant, Conscientia
John created the sound for last year's New Ideas show The Vigil Crasher and has worked on sound design for Tempest Theatre Group for the past ten years. In film, he has created the soundtracks for Zombie Clerk and Changes, in which he also played Drake Dekkard. Other acting credits include The Big Shuck (Toronto Fringe) for which John also wrote and performed the music. John is a professional musician based in Toronto.

ROB CANDY
Nathan, Conscientia
Rob Candy has performed at the Alchemy Theatre with roles in Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Twelfth Night. Other recent performances include Shakespeare's NHL (Upstart Crow), Overruled, Village Wooing (Village Players) and Slaw Festival (Cabbagetown). Rob recently directed The Unexpected Guest and Who Killed Santa Claus for the Village Players.

MICHELLE D'ALESSANDRO HATT
Playwright, Conscientia
Michelle's writing credits include The Vigil Crasher (New Ideas Festival) and The Big Shuck (Toronto Fringe). Favourite acting credits include: Robert Siddon's Girls in Chains and Gregg Taylor's Black Jack Justice (Toronto Fringe) and Norma Crawford's Really Great Hats (New Ideas Festival). She is currently at work on the development of a new full-length play with Toronto theatre company, Well-Cradle Productions.

JON DESANTIS
Paul, Rope
Jon is currently training at the New School of Drama with teacher Tony Pierce. Previously, Jon attended the Actors Workshop with acting teacher Alan Jordan.

R. J. DOWNES
Playwright, Death to Dating
R. J. has been writing and producing plays for over 15 years. His last work for New Ideas was Modern Ritual in 2003. Recent works include Coffee Black - Slaw Festival (2005), Charade - No Sweetheart Required V (2006) and Without Whom - Two Plays and a Slice of Pie (2006). He is currently developing his latest full length play Last Dance of The Dark Cloaked Avenger for a production in May 2007 at the Alumnae Theatre Main Space.

KATE FENTON
Director, Fish Face
Co-founder of the Quickening Theatre, her theatre credits include: Macbeth, Madness through Mask (Shakespeare in Action), Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream (CTP), Much Ado About Nothing (SLSF), The Seagull, Idiot's Karamazov, Measure for Measure, sketch comedy at Caroline's Comedy Club in NYC, and Yuk Yuk's Toronto and was nominated for the Phil Hartman Comedy Award. Upcoming: The Seagull (Rogue and Peasant theatre/Wordsmyth Theatre), The Fabulous Lives of God's Unloved Children (The Quickening Theatre). Kate is a graduate of the MFA acting program at York University and holds a B.A. in theatre from Laurentian University. Kate is making her directing debut here at the New Ideas Festival and would like to thank everyone involved for such a wonderful opportunity.

KATHERINE FITZGERALD
Director/Sound Designer, Insane Uncle Leroy
This is Katherine's first production with the New Ideas Festival, and she is delighted to be directing Insane Uncle Leroy. Katherine is an award winning sound editor and twenty five year veteran of the Film and TV industry, having worked on productions such as Degrassi TNG, Blue Murder, The Sleep Room, The Stork Derby and Arthur. She has recently started directing and has shot two short films. This is her first play. She is presently teaching at Humber Institute in the Film and Television program and hopes to continue directing theatre.

ERICK FOURNIER
Leroy, Rope
Erick is a graduate of the Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learnings acting program. In 2005, Erick, along side eight of his classmates, co-founded a movement theatre troupe called S.O.S. Theatre (www.sostheatre.com) and in the summer of 2006, the company performed its first show, “i” at the Ottawa Fringe Festival which won the Best in Venue award by popular acclaim. Thank you for supporting the New Ideas Festival, and enjoy all of the shows.

CHRIS GIBBS
Doctor Bob, Insane Uncle Leroy
Chris Gibbs really does come from England, where he started performing as a street-performer in London's Covent Garden in 1991. Many years later he moved to Canada. He spends most of his time writing and performing his one-man shows including the 2006 Toronto Fringe Hit Antoine Feval. 2006 also saw the publication of The Power of Ignorance, a spoof self-help book based on another of his one-man shows.

NICOLE GRAINGER
Doctor Betty, Insane Uncle Leroy
Nicole Grainger originally hails from Alberta where she trained in both musical theatre and film. From Shakespeare to Sondheim, fringe tours to dinner theatre, movies to music videos, she has kept herself busy through the art of diversification. This is her first New Ideas Festival and she is excited and pleased to be a part of such a wonderful theatre community.

JORDAN HALL
Dramaturge, Fish Face
A graduate of McMaster University's Theatre and Multimedia Programmes, and York University's Graduate Film Department, Jordan has been working as a playwright, screenwriter, and dramaturge since 2003, and has trained with such Canadian luminaries as Colleen Wagner and Allan Stratton. She specializes in pieces that feature high/low culture intersections, and is committed to developing a rigorous dramaturgy for multimedia installations in theatrical productions. Dramaturgical credits include: Theatre Channel: Season One, Lifeboat (Fringe 2006), and Forward Theatre's Romeo & Juliet (Living Arts Centre, May 2007).

TRACY HOVEY
Julie, Death to Dating
Tracy is thrilled to be making her first appearance on an Alumnae stage (as well as her Toronto stage debut). Recent behind the scenes credits include serving as Producer for the recent Alumnae production of Perfect Pie, Production Manager for Week One of the 2006 New Ideas Festival and work as a Stage Manager for I Was Thinking of Something during Week Three.

RICHARD JONES
Leroy, Insane Uncle Leroy
Rick is happy to be back on the boards at New Ideas after a much-too-long break. He was previously seen in Country, Fred Is Dead, and participated as writer/composer of The Meeting. He has been working in the film industry on short films like Everyday Regular Things (Canadian Filmmakers Festival, World Comedy Film Festival), and Man on the Moon (Cannes Film Festival Intern Screening), as well as creating musical theatre with the works Millennium Madness Sale (Toronto Fringe) and The Chatroom, a work in progress. He was most recently sound designer for Alumnae's Lady Windermere's Fan.

ESTHER JUN
Director, Between the Tree and the Sweetest Pea
Esther was born and raised in Edmonton. She did theatre for 2 years at UBC before moving to NYC to attend The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. After graduation she worked in NYC for a year before moving to Toronto. Three years ago she moved to London, England to study directing at Drama Centre London. Overseas she directed and produced 2 shows for the Edinburgh Fringe and completed her first short film which appeared in the Calgary Fringe Film Festival and Where is the Love? Festival in Bucharest, Romania. She returned to Toronto in October and continues to act and direct.

STEPHEN KUNC
Playwright, Insane Uncle Leroy
Stephen is a novelist who occasionally masquerades as a playwright. He has had pieces published in several obscure literary magazines that are used mostly as intellectual props in dimly-lit cafs, and was a finalist in multiple LA/NYC film-script contests in 2005/2006. Insane Uncle Leroy was conceived as a theatrical analogue to Balzac's Comedie Humaine, a collection of novels linked through disparate family members. Leroy is intended to be followed by companion pieces, Wicked Cousin Eustace and Furious Sister Sally. This is Stephen's first involvement with the Alumnae Theatre and he looks forward to it immensely.

ANITA LA SELVA
Director, Conscientia
Anita is thrilled to be working on Michelle's latest work having directed her play The Vigil Crasher last year for New Ideas. Other directing credits include MUD for the SummerWorks Festival, Through Comet's Halo for Teatro Della Limonaia in Italy, The Bear, The Proposal and Forfeits. As an actor she has worked professionally for 17 years recently appearing in Carmela's Table and Bye Bye Baby (Centaur Theatre) Storm Warning, The Oresteia, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Private Lives among others, and spent four years on the TV series Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict.

ALAN LEIGHTIZER
Herman, Rope
Alan is pleased to be taking part in Rope. This is his third New Ideas experience, his first was as stage manager for Lying on the Escarpment, and his second was as a technical director. Alan is currently keeping busy with his improve troupe, The Improv Chemists and his sketch troupe, Those Magnificent Bastards. He is the one with the hair.

KATHRYN MALEK
Playright, Death to Dating
Kathryn is an actor, director and writer. She recently performed the role of Miss Pringle in Baby With the Bathwater for The Alumnae Theatre. She is no stranger to The New Ideas Festival as she has participated in New Ideas before as a director for Modern Ritual. Some of her previous playwriting credits include; Embracing the Black Madonna, The Tip, The Auditions, and her latest piece titled Mother May I.

PAT MCCARTHY
Director, Death to Dating
Pat is a veteran of New Ideas, producing the Festival for three years, serving on the Reading Committee for four, and acting and directing for the past five years. Favourite New Ideas roles include, The Gay Parrot and Half Dozen of the Other, Whose Party Is It? and I Was Thinking of Something (Director). Other directing credits include Waiting for Mozart with the Toronto Symphonetta, (ROM) and Without Whom by Rob Downes (Village Playhouse).

HALEY MCGEE
Playwright, Between the Tree and the Sweetest Pea
Haley is currently completing her BFA in Acting at Ryerson University. Most memorable Ryerson credits include: Mariana (Measure for Measure), Laurencia (Fuenteovejuna), Gwendolyn (The Gwendolyn Poems), Mrs. Arbuthnot (A Woman of No Importance) and Peggy (The School Mistress). Last summer Haley was a participant in Nightwood Theatre's program for emerging playwrights: Write From The Hip. Check out more of Haley's writing at Ryerson's New Voices Festival and at the Toronto Fringe this summer. Haley would like to send thanks to her teachers, mentors and peers at RTS, and to her family, for their unshakeable encouragement and support.

ALLISON MILLER
Stage Manager, Death to Dating
Alison has been involved with theatre on and off most of her life, whether it be acting, or being an ASM, a SM, or working sound. She is very excited to be working as a SM for New Ideas for the third time, watching another production bloom before her eyes.

GINETTE MOHR
Playwright/Rosaline, Fish Face
Co-founder of The Quickening Theatre, her credits include: Amadeus (Theatre Aquarius), Gorey Story (Thistle Project), Electra, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream (CTP), The Enchanted Forest (Patria), The Seagull, The Idiot's Karamazov, Cali, PRND21 (Centaur Theatre Award), A Bird's Eye View (Dora Nomination), The Second City National Touring Company, The Edmonton Festival Ballet, Caroline's Stand-Up New York, The Phil Hartman Comedy Awards (Nomination), Monkey Toast (Canadian Comedy Award) and YTV's System Crash. Upcoming: The Fabulous Lives of God's Unloved Children (The Quickening Theatre). She holds a B.F.A. in Acting from Simon Fraser University and an M.F.A. in Acting from York University. She would like to express her love and thanks to Kate, Jordan, Travis, Erika, Andrea, and all the staff and volunteers at Alumnae for this wonderful opportunity.

JESSICA MOSS
Sweet Pea, Between the Tree and the Sweetest Pea
Most recently, Jessica appeared in V-Day's The Vagina Monologues, a Christmas pantomime at the DIESEL playhouse, and Twelfth Night with Alchemy Theatre, wrapped a season of sketch comedy on The Carswell Show and was part of Nightwood Theatre's Emerging Actor Program (where she first met Sweet Pea). Her favorite roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sister Mary in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All to You, and Jayne Fine in The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls. Having played Constance in She Stoops to Conquer here, she is very happy to be back at Alumnae.

NOISE
Sound Designer/Musician, Death to Dating
Multi-instrumentalist Noise composes music for films and multi-media productions for clients such as The Royal Bank, Sony and Price-Waterhouse. The Toronto-born musician also shares singing/songwriting duties for well-dressed power-pop-punk trio The Parkdale Hookers. Past projects include R. J. Downes' Modern Ritual where he performed along side the actors on a percussion synthesizer; playing guitar and acoustic bass in the gin-soaked jazzfolk trio Lost Parade with Mahri Fyfe and Archie Hughes, as well as being a founding member of the wacko jazz-conglomerate Braino, and copyright liberators Surface Noise, the music industry's only modern music franchise.

MARY FRANCES POCRNIC
Playwright, Rope
Mary Frances Pocrnic has an MFA in Creative Writing and Theatre from The University of British Columbia. She's had three short plays staged at The Grand Theatre in London, Ontario as part of the Playwrights' Cabaret. She's currently rewriting a feature length comedy that she recently optioned. Mary Frances loves chocolate, pink flamingos, and crappy romantic comedies.

JULIA RANNALA
Stage Manager, Rope
A graduate of the University of Guelph and Sheridan College, Julia is a professional stage manager based in Toronto. This past year, she has worked on La Traviata (Opera Ontario), Theatre Collingwood's 2006 Summer Season, the Shakespeare and the Queen's Men Project and traveled to the Banff Centre with The Snow Queen (Theaturtle/Banff Centre).

ANNE REYNOLDS
Stage Manager, Insane Uncle Leroy
Anne's professional life started in Toronto on Bay Street, where she worked as a stock broker and trader for ten years. At age thirty, she went back to school to study Sound Recording at Harris Institute for the Arts. She has spent the last sixteen years working in post production at various facilities in Toronto, including Magnetic North and Deluxe. She also spent two years as a freelance post supervisor with Shaftesbury Films and is currently working in distribution for film and television with THINKFilm. This is her first production working as a stage manager, and she is enjoying herself immensely.

KEVIN RISK
Stephen, Conscientia
This is Kevin's second New Ideas Festival, the first being the 2002 reading of Ordinary Times. Selected theatre credits: Modern Ritual (A Beautiful Lie), The Paradise Lust Romance Series, and the role of Shakespeare in the 2006 Fringe production of It Was Kit (Triple Take Productions). He starred in the feature Space Zombies: 13 Months of Brain-Spinning Mayhem! and completed the sound design and basic effects. Kevin was an Editor for Fairy Tale II (OUTtv) and Literature Alive (Bravo!) as well as Sound Editor for five audio books (Caribbean Tales). Kevin has written scripts for stage, radio and film.

NANCY SEWARDS
Sister, Insane Uncle Leroy
Nancy's last New Ideas Festival was in 2005 as Francis in Auntie Francis and her Henchmen. Favourite credits include: Chorus of Disapproval (Markham Theatre), Forty Carats (Bloor West Village), Prisoner of Second Avenue (Scarborough Players) and Octette Bridge Club (Scarborough Guild). Plus more fun in Jitters, Murder Among Friends and The Good Doctor. Nancy would like to say that it has been an absolute joy to work with such a talented cast and crew.

BRENDA SOMERS
Estella, Insane Uncle Leroy
Brenda is delighted to back with New Ideas. She was previously seen with the festival in China 1939, The Letter and Blood Suit. Brenda has participated in a wide range of projects and readings in Toronto including multi-media shows and murder mysteries. She has also toured all over the U.K., appeared in repertory, summer seasons and pantomime as well as fringe and mainstream productions in London and elsewhere. She hopes everyone gets to emulate Leroy and realize his or her dream.

PAUL STAFFORD
Winston, Between the Tree and the Sweetest Pea
Paul Stafford has studied and performed all over Europe and North America. In addition to a degree in ensemble performance from York University, Paul is a graduate of the classical performance program at A.M.D.A in New York and a member of Fight Directors of Canada.

DARRIN SUZUKI
Director, Rope
After leaving the nine to five world to return to school, Darrin attended Ryerson University for film and has been working as a video and film editor ever since. He is eager to get back to a more organic form of directing and is thankful to Alumnae Theatre and the New Ideas Festival for giving him this opportunity. As always, thank you HP.

SARAH SWIFT
Jane, Between the Tree and the Sweetest Pea
Selected Acting Credits: MVP (Screen Door Productions/CBC); Oedipus Rex (Canopy Theatre); Macbeth's Kitchen (Toronto Fringe); The Plays the Thing (K-W Little Theatre); Othello (Hart House Theatre); The Pirates of Penzance, and Alarms & Excursions. Sarah continues her work with Upstart Crow Productions travelling troupe Bardbusters, an interactive and dramatic experience for high school students right in their classrooms. She thanks her parents for all their support, her sister and best friend Brittany for her insight, and her love Trevor for his ability to put up with a drama queen. Sarah currently resides in Toronto and looks forward to what dreams may come.

EVE WYLDEN
Karen, Conscientia
Eve is excited to be back at the New Ideas Festival. Currently in her last year at U of T, she has just finished performing A Dream Play, and looks forward to wearing a funny graduation hat very soon. Previous productions include Doctor Barnardo's Children (4th Line), The Mousetrap (Toronto Truck), Hansel and Gretel (Solar Stage), Beautiful City (Alumnae), and The Emperor's New Clothes (Shrimp Magnet). Eve is also a holistic nutritionist and an ardent pit bull advocate. Hello to Mom and Dad and thanks for the support.

LYNN ZEELENBERG
Lorene, Death to Dating
This is Lynn's second appearance in the New Ideas Festival, her first being in 2003's Modern Ritual. She recently appeared in The Vodka Talking as part of Cabbagetown's 'Slaw Festival and the Toronto Fringe. Favourite roles include Feste in Twelfth Night, Cherie in Bus Stop, Truvy in Steel Magnolias and Collette in Four Dogs and a Bone. Lynn is also a director with such credits as Our Town (Village Playhouse), Flat Busted ('Slaw Festival, Toronto Fringe), Glengarry Glen Ross (Solar Stage) and Fait Accompli (Hopeful Monster Entertainment).

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WEEK THREE: March 21 - 24, 2007

Saturday Experiment: 4 10 2000 by Helen Yung

Go to: Week Three

WEEK ONE: March 7 - 10, 2007

Saturday Experiment: Eulalie and the Great March by Flora Stohr-Danziger

Go to: Week One


TICKETS


Festival Artistic Producers:

Contact Us: new.ideas.festival@gmail.com


ALUMNAE THEATRE COMPANY
70 Berkeley Street
Toronto, Ontario • M5A 2W6
Phone: 416-364-4170
Email: contactus@alumnaetheatre.com


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