The Darktown Strutter's Ball

Written by Leslie McCurdy with Cassel Miles (based on an original script by Leslie McCurdy)

A Theatre Orangeville Mainstage Production

The song The Darktown Strutters’ Ball was the earliest jazz recording ever made, and it was written by Shelton Brooks, an Afro-Canadian who was the music industry’s first superstar.

This World Premiere will take you on a musical journey through time, humbling us with the stories of how many black artists have paved the way for actors like Leslie & Cassel to stand on their shoulders, enabling them to tell this story today.

The Darktown Strutters’ Ball pays tribute to musical greats such as Bert Williams & Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, Billie Holiday & Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte, many of the Motown greats, James Brown, Bob Marley, even taking us up to some of the popular rap artists of today! Join us in celebrating these stories and songs of artists who have helped shape the music industry as we know it today.

This Strutters’ Ball is for people just like you, people who like to strut their stuff… and it’ll be a party as ever a party could be!

 Creative Partners on Stage Festival 2024

A Theatre Orangeville Academy Production

Join us for the first time ever for the Creative Partners on Stage Festival! In partnership with Community Living Dufferin, we are proud to celebrate 20 years of collaboration and theatrical programming by commemorating this occasion with an entire weekend of CPOS shows!, featuring 2 brand new works of theatre.

Since fall of 2003, Theatre Orangeville has stood proudly beside our partners at Community Living Dufferin to provide unique theatrical programming that celebrates the ability of participants. Creative Partners on Stage (C.P.O.S.) actors work with our directors and choreographers to develop two original scripts each year, fully supported by our professional production team and the accredited support workers of Community Living Dufferin. There is nothing quite like C.P.O.S. anywhere in Canada and it happens here at your theatre!

This festival will feature two shows, Break Free and That's The Ticket. Join us for a day of theatre and art, begin by seeing your first show. After the final applause head out to the lobby and down to the atrium to enjoy an extended intermission with full concession and a promenade of artisan booths. While experiencing the wide talents of CPOS actors and other neurodiverse folks in our community you'll head back into the quickly transformed Opera House to view the 2nd show.

Break Free
What happens when a group of misfits learn the power of positivity and love? What doesn't! Join us for the powerful show, Break Free, and watch these characters sing, dance, and discover their way to loving themselves!

Director and Playwright: Chandra Pepper
Movement Director and Choreographer: Jenee Gowing
Stage Manager: Alyssa Campbell

That's The Ticket
A troupe of actors is all ready for the big show, but things don't go according to plan. It all comes down to a battle of talents, and who can get the audience on their side. That's the Ticket is the witty and wonderful story of the secret potion that makes magic happen on stage and off. The show, after all, must go on!

 Director and Co-Playwright: Elizabeth Glenday
Choreographer and Co-Playwright: Kristen Gamache
Stage Manager: Kaylea Angus 

Opry Gold: Hits of the Kings & Queens of Country

Starring Leisa Way & The Wayward Wind Band

A Theatre Orangeville Presentation

Leisa Way - Show Creator, Producer and Performer

Opry Gold is a toe-tappin’, roof-raisin’ salute to the greatest music in the history of Country Music!

To share the Opry’s history is to share the story of Country Music. Canadian songbird Leisa Way and her all-star Canadian cast of award-winning musicians are guaranteed to give audiences a show to remember. Under the musical direction of Bruce Ley, composer of the Academy Award nominated film, The Painted Door), Opry Gold raises the roof, celebrating revered country legends and the contemporary artists who have topped the charts and followed in their footsteps. 

Way and her band have brought Canada many great concerts, including last years world premiere of Early Morning Rain (The Legend of Gordon Lightfoot) and audience favourite, Across the Pond (The British Invasion). Way’s Canada 150 concert toured to 44 cities across the country, and Sweet Dreams (Patsy Cline), and Rhinestone Cowgirl (Dolly Parton), are critically acclaimed and well-loved by audiences everywhere. And now, Way celebrates the legendary stars of the Grand Ole Opry by raising the roof with the hottest country songs from the last few decades.