The winners of the 45th Dora Mavor Moore Awards have been unveiled with the best productions, directors, performers, and more in Toronto’s theatre industry receiving the notable honour.
The Dora Mavor Moore Awards has been celebrating the best in Toronto’s performing arts since 1979, making it the largest and oldest award ceremony in Canadian professional theatre.
On Monday, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) presented its 45th Anniversary Dora Mavor Moore Awards winners during an evening ceremony at Toronto’s Meridian Hall. The celebration was hosted by actor Peter Fernandes, who was also one of this year’s esteemed nominees.
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“For forty-five years, the Dora Awards have celebrated the world-class excellence that our
performing arts sector in Toronto can offer. This has been a banner year for the Awards,
honouring an unstoppable amount of talent in our city across divisions of Theatre, Opera, and
Dance,” Dora Awards Producer Victor Pokinko said in a statement.
This year, the organization received 225 nominations in total for the Dora Awards across its 43 gender-inclusive categories, featuring 81 shows and 59 companies.
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In addition to the list of winners, The Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award goes to “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Chosen by the public, this production has also won the Dora Awards for Outstanding Production and Creative Direction in the Musical Theatre category.
The Silver Ticket Award, which chooses an individual who has made a remarkable contribution to the stage in the Toronto area, was awarded to Beatriz Pizano, an actor, director, playwright and Founding Artistic Director of Aluna Theatre.
Some of this year’s significant highlights include “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time),” “People, Places and Things,” “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now),” “Big Time Miss,” “La Reine-garçon,” and “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White,” which have received multiple awards across different categories.
According to Pokinko, the 45th edition of the Dora Awards also saw 26 new faces as winners this year, with individual artists and companies who have now received their very first Doras.
“I hope these awards and nominations prove as monumental to these artists and companies as they have to the countless artists who have been celebrated since the first awards event in 1980, and that we continue to see their names in lights across our city, our province, and on national and international stages,” he said.
GENERAL THEATRE DIVISION WINNERS
Outstanding Production:
“Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit.”
Outstanding New Play:
“Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit” by Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain.
Outstanding Direction:
Ravi Jain for “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit.”
Outstanding Performance by an Individual:
Miriam Fernandes in “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit.”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble:
Jewell Bowry, Jasmine Case, Asha James, Trinity Lloyd, Shauna Thompson, and Sophia Walker in FLEX.
Outstanding Scenic Projection Design:
Nick Blais (Scenic) and Laura Warren (Projection) for “seven methods of killing kylie jenner.”
Outstanding Costume Design:
Ronnie Burkett for “Wonderful Joe” (TO Live).
Outstanding Lighting Design:
Raha Javanfar for “FLEX.”
Outstanding Sound Design/Composition:
John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran for “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit.”
INDEPENDENT THEATRE DIVISION WINNERS
Outstanding Production:
“People, Places and Things.”
Outstanding New Play:
“The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers” by Makram Ayache.
Outstanding Direction:
Diana Bentley and Alyssa Martin for “People, Places and Things.”
Outstanding Performance by an Individual:
Louise Lambert in “People, Places and Things.”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble:
Oliver Dennis, Nickeshia Garrick, Farhang Ghajar, Matthew Gouveia, Sam Grist, Sarah Murphy-Dyson, Kwaku Okyere, Fiona Reid, and Kaleb Tekeste in “People, Places and Things.”
Outstanding Scenic/Projection Design:
Adam Paolozza and Ken MacKenzie (Scenic), and Roxanne Ignatius (Scenic Marionettes);
Graeme Black Robinson, Clelia Scala, and Puppetmongers Theatre (Additional Puppets) for
“Last Landscape.”
Outstanding Costume Design:
Atsuko Kiyokawa for “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time).”
Outstanding Lighting Design:
Yann Becker for “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time).”
Outstanding Sound Design/Composition:
Cheldon Paterson (SlowPitchSound) for “Last Landscape.”
MUSICAL THEATRE DIVISION WINNERS
Outstanding Production:
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Outstanding New Musical/New Opera:
“Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White” by Sean Mayes (Composer); HAUI
(Librettist).
Outstanding Performance by an Individual:
Malachi McCaskill in “A Strange Loop.”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble:
Sierra Holder, Amaka Umeh, Matt Nethersole, David Andrew Reid, Nathanael Judah, Marcus Nance, Charlie Clark, David Lopez in “A Strange Loop.”
Outstanding Creative Direction:
Jennifer Walls (Director), Nicholas Rocque (Choreographer), and Michael Ippolito (Musical
Director), for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Outstanding Achievement in Design:
Ming Wong (Costume) for “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical.”
OPERA DIVISION WINNERS
Outstanding Production:
“La Reine-garçon.”
Outstanding Performance by an Individual:
Kirsten MacKinnon in “La Reine-garçon.”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble:
Neema Bickersteth, Adrienne Danrich, and SATE in “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White.”
Outstanding Creative Design:
Angela Konrad (Director) and Johannes Debus (Musical Director) for “La Reine-garçon.”
Outstanding Achievement in Design:
Catherine Meyburgh (Projection) for “Wozzeck.”
THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES DIVISION WINNERS
Outstanding Production:
“Alligator Pie.”
Outstanding New Play:
“Patty Picker” by Evan Bawtinheimer.
Outstanding Direction:
Severn Thompson (Director) and James Smith (Music Supervisor) for “Alligator Pie.”
Outstanding Performance by an Individual:
Alexandra Laferrière in “Taking Care of Maman.”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble:
Alicia Barban, Belinda Corpuz, Ben Kopp, Ruaridh MacDonald and Haneul Yi in “Alligator Pie.”
Outstanding Achievement in Design:
Logan Raju Cracknell (Lighting) for “Alligator Pie.”
DANCE DIVISION WINNERS
Outstanding Production:
“everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now).”
Outstanding Original Choreography:
Jessie Garon for “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now).”
Outstanding Performance by an Individual:
Sully Malaeb Proulx in “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now).”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble:
Drew Berry, Brayden Jamil Cairns, Sam Grist, Steph Harkness, Natasha Poon Woo in “Big Time Miss.”
Outstanding Original Composition:
Semiah and Jacob Vanderham for “Big Time Miss.”
Outstanding Achievement in Design:
Noah Feaver (Lighting) for “Big Time Miss.”
Outstanding Touring Production:
“Wilma.”
Outstanding Innovative Experience:
“Game of Life.”
