Soulpepper Theatre Company

Last week, we held our annual fundraising gala, Signature Soulpepper, to raise money for Soulpepper's free education programs.   This year's theme was The Bootleggers Ball, and we transformed our building into a speakeasy where our attendees got to come in through a secret passage and explore our building like never before. The night was filled with laughter, great conversation, and a special performnce by some Soulpepper artists.   And the best part?   We raised more than $390,000 for Soulpepper's education programs, which provide training to artists of all ages in all stages of their career.   Thank you to everyone who came out. We can't wait to see you again next year!   A special thank you to our sponsors:   PRESENTING SPONSOR CIBC   ARTIST SPONSORS IGM Financial Inc. Morgan Meighen & Associates   RECEPTION SPONSORS BMO Capital Markets Broadridge Canada Life CIBC Mellon EY E-L Financial National Bank PwC RBC Capital Markets

Our co-production of The Master Plan with Crow's Theatre is on stage at Soulpepper next month! Playwright Michael Healey recently spoke with Smart Cities Dive about this show and what inspired it. The Master Plan is a biting satire about the stunning failure to build a smart city in Toronto. Adapted from award-winning writer and The Globe and Mail journalist Josh O’Kane’s best-selling book Sideways: The City Google Couldn’t Buy, the play takes us behind closed doors and reveals the corporate drama, epic personalities, and iconic Canadian figures involved in the messy affair between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto.   In 2017, when the public agency Waterfront Toronto decided to put up a parcel of land for development (just on the other side of Lakeshore Blvd from where Soulpepper sits), Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google’s Alphabet Inc., swept in with a proposal to create the city of the future. But the project quickly started to fall apart from uneasy partnerships, rigid local politics, and an overwhelmingly negative public response.  The Master Plan exposes the hubris of big tech, the feebleness of government, and the dangers of public consultation with sharp wit and insightful commentary. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/gTsyfvH9

How well do you know the Canadian Constitution? We stopped by rehearsals to put the cast of What the Constitution Means to Me to the test to see if they could guess which of these Canadian Constitution facts were true or false. Can you beat them? What the Constitution Means to Me hits the stage on October 31! Tickets are selling fast so get yours today! 🎟️🔗 https://lnkd.in/gMCJbGHA

Exciting News! Due to popular demand, What the Constitution Means to Me has been EXTENDED, with an additional performance on November 10. That means you have one more opportunity to catch the Broadway hit and Pulitzer Prize finalist that everyone's been looking forward to! More relevant than ever in today's political climate, playwright Heidi Schreck has re-imagined the play specifically for Canadian audiences in this exclusive and limited run. But hurry - tickets are selling fast and this is a show you won't want to miss! 🎟️🔗: https://lnkd.in/gMCJbGHA

"Fantastic...Amazing...Full of soul and full of love" These are just some of the incredible words people had to say after watching Billie, Sarah, and Ella: Revolutionary Women in Jazz on stage at Soulpepper. The beloved concert is a perfect blend of music, history, and storytelling and is blowing audiences away. Billie, Sarah, and Ella: Revolutionary Women in Jazz is only on stage until November 3, and tickets are selling fast! Don't miss your chance and get your tickets today.

Today, we are proud to share Soulpepper's 3-year Transformation Plan, Stories for a Stronger City. With this plan, we are throwing open our doors to welcome everyone to access the transformative power of theatre, proposing a new model that will elevate our artistic craftsmanship and deepen our social impact. The stories we tell bind us together as a community, but Torontonians don't feel connected to each other, with almost 40% of them reporting that they feel lonely (Source: Toronto Foundation's Vital Signs Report 2023). Our mission is clear: to meet the loneliness epidemic head-on, and in so doing, build a sustainable future for Soulpepper. We will do so by helping artists thrive, by producing work that resonates across divides, by facilitating deep learning and exchange, and by creating accessible entry points to the arts. Stories for a Stronger City will unfold in two key phases: Phase 1: Artistic Ambition In collaboration with some of Toronto's most exciting theatre companies, and through deeper investment in our artistic partners, we are expanding our output and discovering new ways of working. By 2026, we will have nearly doubled our annual performances, while working with our partners to build audiences, share resources, and meet this pivotal moment for our industry. We are also expanding our training and commissioning programs to provide more opportunities for artists. Phase 2: An Antidote To Loneliness Over the next three years, Soulpepper is launching an array of new public programs focused on one goal: fighting loneliness in Toronto. These initiatives include recurring events like Community Movie Nights and our Free School (and much more!), as well as large-scale public events in the Distillery District and beyond. Through these partnerships, programming and events, we are multiplying our community's opportunities to congregate, to think and feel collectively, to feel less alone, and to imagine a brighter future for Toronto. Over the next few weeks, we will be announcing more (and much more!) details of the plan. To learn more about Stories for a Stronger City, visit https://lnkd.in/gPBX-xZt

Billie, Sarah, and Ella: Revolutionary Women in Jazz is finally here! The all-star lineup of Divine Brown, Shakura Dickson, and Renee Rowe is guaranteed to get you moving and grooving to soulful jazz melodies - and teach you something new about three of jazz's most incredible legends. The beloved Soulpepper Concert is on stage until November 3 - tickets are selling fast so get yours today! 🎟️🔗: https://lnkd.in/eRY4QfDt

It's the first day of rehearsals for What the Constitution Means to Me and The Master Plan! These all-star teams are in the building and ready to make theatre magic! What the Constitution Means to Me is on stage starting October 31 followed by The Master Plan which hits the stage November 26. Tickets are selling fast for both of these shows, so get yours today!

Billie, Sarah, and Ella: Revolutionary Women in Jazz is only ONE WEEK AWAY. What better way to celebrate "sweater weather" than by joining us for some cozy jazz - all while learning about the three legendary ladies who infused the genre with a revolutionary new sound and purpose! Don't miss out on this must-see concert and get your tickets today! 🎟️🔗 https://lnkd.in/eRY4QfDt

"Teenage girl debaters out to run the world..." What the Constitution Means to Me is only ONE MONTH AWAY! We sat down with playwright Heidi Schreck to talk about what inspired her to write this play, what audiences can take away from it, and what it's been like adapting the play for a Canadian audience. Don't miss the Canadian premiere of this Pulitzer Prize finalist - get your tickets today! 🎟️🔗 https://lnkd.in/gMCJbGHA