Day 5: Street Meat!

Today had a slower morning, as we didn't start till 12. After breakfast we all headed to Buddies in Bad Times we received a tour of their space from Charissa Wilcox (Head of Production) and Adrian Whan (Technical Director). Their movable booth in the studio space blew us away! Charissa and Adrian showed us the amazing community they've built in their space and was one of my favourite tours so far.

Some of us went for lunch while others checked out the local shopping options. Our next tour was the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, a big jump up in price range and scale was evident compared to our previous tour. Dana Johnston (Production Manager) walked us through the Elgin Theatre while they were in their load in. She regaled the detailed history of the famous venue as she pointed out the architectural opulence befitting such a grand Dame of a theatre. There was a tech rehearsal for "A Winter's Tale" going on so the Winter Garden theatre was dark and we couldn't stay long. It was a shame, as the Winter Garden is one of the most beautiful venues in the country.

After the tour, we went for a quick bite to eat, namely a staple of Toronto: street meat. This was a first time for quite a few people! We still had some time before our next tour, so Daniel gave us a walking tour in front of all the Mirvish theatres in the area! We then started our tour of the Canadian Opera Company. This was probably the most exciting tour yet!

Autumn Coppaway (Assistant Technical Director), Jake Gow (Assistant Technical Director) and Michael Freeman (Production Manager) gave us the tour of the breathtaking facility. They had just finished a levels session for "The Magic Flute", which was Jake's show, so we sat down and they walked us through their company and the special features of the building. All of their attempts to lower noise levels were extensive, innovative, and very very effective. As the set for their opera was set up on the stage, we picked the ATD's brain about the specifics and tricks of it. The company, space and people made a lot of us excited to work in a facility like that.

A lot of us went separate ways for the evening performance. Show that were seen were "Alien Creature" at Theatre Passe Muraille, "Kittly-Bender" at The Theatre Centre, "Sequence" at Tarragon Theatre, and "The Death of Mrs. Gandhi and the Beginning of New Physics (A Political Fantasy)" at Factory Theatre. Some were hits, others were misses, but we all enjoyed ourselves!

We finished off the night at Buddies in Bad Times and their Brittany Spears "Fundraising Night"!!

Elgin Theatre

STREET MEAT

Orchestra Pit COC 

COC Booms

COC Theatre

About to see "Alien Creature"