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With Halloween approaching, maybe it's fitting that we're looking for a costumer for an upcoming show.
The News from KWLT:
- Ali & Ali: The Deportation Hearings update
- Casting update for Clara
- In memoriam: Kari Kokko
- Call for Volunteers: Theatre cleanup on October 23
- Black Box Backdrop: The September board meeting
- Around & About
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Ali & Ali: The Deportation Hearings update
 Rehearsals for our season-opening production of Ali & Ali: The Deportation Hearings are now in full swing! The technical side of the production is likewise coming along — without further ado let's meet the production team!
- Diana Lobb, director
- Paige Gugeler, stage manager
- Aila Muzio and Katherine Newell, ASMs
- Min Ling and Katherine Schill, producers
- Kevin Fong, technical director
- Salma Baheyeldin, set build lead
- Matthew Canning, puppet master
- Burak Ilhan, props master
- Utkarsh Manish Joshi, lighting designer
- Michelle Sterba, costume designer
Unfortunately, the costume designer has had to withdraw from the production, and so the team is now looking for a costumer. This is an implementation role: the design choices have been made, we need someone to take on finding and procuring the costume pieces. If you're willing and able to step in, or if you'd like to know more about the role, please contact the production team.
Finally, we're excited to announce that ticket sales for Ali & Ali: The Deportation Hearings at KWLT will begin next week! Keep your eye on our social media feeds for that announcement. Show dates are November 10–12, 17–19, and 24–26; the 11th, 19th, and 24th will have reduced capacity and masking requirements in light of the ongoing pandemic.
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Casting update for Clara
On behalf of director Todd Vercoe and his team, we'd like to thank everyone who came out to audition last month for our staged reading Clara. This staged reading will be presented on November 12th as part of the KW Symphony Volunteer Committee's annual Love of Music Marathon event. This day of music in drama will run from 10am to 3pm at First United Church, Waterloo, with all proceeds to support the KW Symphony Orchestra.
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In memoriam: Kari Kokko
We're sad to report the death of Kari Kokko on September 17th. Kari was an active volunteer with KWLT during the early 2000s and participated in several shows; she designed the theatre's standard lighting plot when the building reopened in 2009. She also worked with Lost & Found and MT Space on multiple productions. She went on to found the Community Music School of Waterloo Region, later turning to social work and counselling. She was always generous with her time and in sharing her knowledge, be it lighting, music, or ceilidh calling.
More information is available here, including a link to the recording of her memorial service. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the CMHA - Crisis and Suicide Prevention or Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council would be appreciated.
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Call for Volunteers: Theatre cleanup, October 23
KWLT's Building committee is running a fall cleaning session for the theatre Sunday October 23rd, 10:00am to 5:00pm, and we'd love to have you join us! With Ali & Ali: the Deportation Hearings taking over the space at the end of the month, we want to make sure that the building and grounds are in great shape for them.
We have a number of cleaning tasks both inside and outside, as well as some minor repairs and repainting of the black box interior. Bring your painting clothes and your gardening gloves, if you got 'em! Come for any portion of the day, we'll make sure there are fun tasks for you and your skills!
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Black Box Backdrop: The September board meeting
Black Box Backdrop is the official blog of KWLT's president Carolyn Galvin.
We’re 3 months into the new board year and our new committees are starting to get into the swing of things! We have restructured our board meeting agendas to be focused on the committees and their needs, and the first meeting with this new structure was a success. Here are some of the key decisions we made at our September board meeting:
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We will be assembling and sending out a survey to the community to learn more about how people want to engage with us, so keep your eyes peeled for that in the coming months!
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The first Friday, second Saturday, and third Thursday performances (November 11, November 19, and November 24 respectively) of Ali & Ali will have extra COVID restrictions, for our patrons who are more comfortable with enforced masking and reduced capacity
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We had a discussion about whether to continue to enforce masking for our volunteers and patrons (currently required for both at all times in our spaces), and decided that we would continue to enforce this requirement (and also provide masks for anyone who forgets one)
Our committees have been busy, and are looking for more members to join them! Here are some of the projects they are working on which you may be interested in:
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The Volunteer Development and Support committee is working on creating the survey to send to the community to collect information, and will be creating a repository of volunteers and their interests
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The Artistic Steering committee is working on putting together the 2023/2024 season, and will also be determining the artistic direction of the theatre in a post-pandemic world
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The Communications committee is working on sharing tasks around posting to social media, updating the website, sending this newsletter, and addressing emails as they come in
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The Show Support committee is working directly with our productions to answer their questions and provide support as needed, and is also putting together a “master list” of all the tasks that have to be done (from the organization level) to support our events
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The Social committee is working on deciding and planning social events
If you are interested in joining any of the committees, let us know! You can join the Slack directly by clicking on this link, or you can email Carolyn for more information.
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News from around and about
- Marshall Veroni and Nic Nolet will be in concert on the KWLT stage tonight, with singer-songwriter Rachel Hickey kicking things off. Doors are at 7:30 with the show starting at 8:15.
- Next Friday, October 14th is McVittie's album release concert for Lone Killer, a Halloween-themed instrumental electronic album. The show features special guests Season of the Senses and Unkind Skies. Doors are at 8pm.
- Then on Saturday October 15th, NUMUS presents the first show in their mini-festival of like-instrument soloists. The focus here is on the acoustic guitar, with Nilan Perera and Wendy Eisenberg sharing the stage.
- And one more concert! Folk-pop artist Drea Lake and Newfoundland-based alt-country singer Sherry Ryan will be in concert at KWLT on Thursday, October 20th.
- Antoni Cimolino, the artistic director of the Stratford Festival, will be delivering "Holding the Mirror up to Nature", the 2022 UW Hagey Lecture on Wednesday, October 19th. The lecture will explore the "joyful mystery" of theatre: why we take part in it and what purposes it serves in our society. Registration is free.
- The next meeting of KWLT's Board of Directors is Monday, October 24th. Members of KWLT are always welcome; if you'd like to attend or have an item you'd like brought to the board, contact Fred for more information.
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