THEATRE NEWS: Siminovitch jury set;
Ghost Stories set to fade;
Whoopi! show to open in T.O.
10 MAY/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

TORONTO - The National Theatre School’s Maureen Labonte will chair the jury that will choose the winner of the 11th annual Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, a jury that will also include Yvette Nolan, Carole Fréchette, Craig Holzschuh, Scott Burke and Vanessa Porteus.

The Siminovitch Prize, which is awarded in a three-year cycle honouring direction, playwrighting and design, will this year honour a professional playwright who has made a significant contribution to Canadian theatre in recent years. In addition to a cash purse of $75,000 the winning playwright will also name a protégé who will receive a purse of $25,000. This year’s winner will be announced at a ceremony in Toronto on Nov. 7. Deadline for nominations is June 10 and a shortlist will be announced in September.

The Siminovitch Prize honours distinguished scientist Lou Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore, a playwright. For further info, visit www.siminovitchprize.com 

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The Toronto production of Ghost Stories, which opened at the Panasonic Theatre in mid-April, is about to fall victim to a commercial exorcism, but not before Toronto has a chance to bid it a proper goodbye.

Representatives of the Mirvish organization announced Tuesday that Ghost Stories will run for three more weeks, with a special performance on Friday the 13th, before closing on May 29.

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Seems now that Whoopi Goldberg has got her Sister Act together, she's taking it on the road. And that road begins in Toronto.

In fact, Goldberg and co-producer Stage Entertainment announced Wednesday they will launch the North American touring production of their five-time Tony nominated musical from Toronto's  Canon Theatre in the fall of 2012. Based on the Touchstone film of the same name by Joseph Howard, Sister Act features a score by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater and a book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner. The production is directed by Jerry Zaks and features choreography by Anthony Van Laast. Casting, dates and additional cities will be announced at a later date.