Brantwood musical wins Audience Choice Award for Outstanding Production by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Sheridan Oakville shines at Dora Awards Officially titled Brantwood 1920-2020, the production put a unique spin on history as audience-members (the "alumni") are invited to the school grounds before it closes for good -- actually, the Oakville school officially closed in 2010. As they return, they encounter the ghosts from a century of teenage life and hear stories of first loves, growing pains, peer pressures and youthful experimentation. As an immersive play, different scenes were performed in different parts of the school building. But Brantwood wasn't the only Sheridan star at the Dora Awards -- music theatre alumni were recognized for their parts in the Mirvish production of Once and Acting Up Stage Company's The Wild Party. In the Music Theatre/Opera Division, Stephanie Graham won for Outstanding Choreography for The Wild Party. A 1995 graduate of Sheridan's Music Theatre Performance diploma program, Graham is also a professor at the College. Emily Lukasik was cast in Once while she was still a Sheridan student. The production led the Musical Theatre Division with three Dora Awards, including Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance Ensemble. Lukasik played Reza, one of the leading roles. She graduated from Sheridan's Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance program in June. Once also featured 2008 Music Theatre graduate Alicia Toner as the Swing/Understudy, while Donna Garner, a former Sheridan faculty member, was part of the cast, playing the role of Baruska. CMTP is a program launched by Sheridan in 2011 that seeks to develop new works by Canadian and international composers, lyricists and authors. For more information about the program, visit https://goo.gl/6BO0Wd. drew Adair. They will sing choral services every day in the historic cathedral and at the consecration of the new bishop on Sunday , July 19. Opening reception for Ljuba Simovic exhibit The Oakville Art Society Gallery is hosting an opening reception at 6 p.m. for artist Ljuba Simovic's latest works Thursday, July 16. Flying High will be on display from July 14-Aug. 11 at the 560 Bronte Rd. gallery from 5-7 p.m., Wednesdays from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon. Upcoming performances for Jules Collarile Oakville's Jules Collarile has a series of upcoming free shows: Saturday (July 11), Skyfest at Oakville's Merriam School of Music, 2359 Bristol Circle; Aug. 7 and 8, Woodbridge Ribfest; and Aug. 8, Oakville Jazz Festival. Visit julesmusic.ca. Artscene 25 | Friday, July 10, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" An experiment -- in the form of the production Brantwood -- paid off and led Sheridan Oakville into sharing the spotlight with other wins by alums at the recent Dora Awards held in Toronto. Produced by Sheridan's Canadian Music Theatre Project (CMTP), Brantwood won the Audience Choice Award for Outstanding Production at the 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which celebrate excellence in Toronto's performing arts, at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Created by Julie Tepperman and Mitchell Cushman, Brantwood was the largest production of immersive, site-specific musical theatre in Canadian history, stated a media release from Sheridan. The production featured 11 era-specific storylines, running concurrently, and was staged at the now-closed Brantwood School in Oakville in the spring. "We are grateful to be recognized by Toronto audiences and the theatre community with this unprecedented honour," said Rubinoff, producer of Brantwood and associate dean of Visual and Performing Arts in the Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design at Sheridan. "Along with our dynamic students, faculty and staff from the Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance and Technical Production for Theatre and Live Events programs, more than 100 individuals had a part in creating this inventive and exciting new musical." Halina Grzyb solo show opening reception Halina Grzyb is holding an opening reception for her solo art show Colours in Motion Saturday (July 11) at Julia's Ristorante, 312 Lakeshore Rd., from 3-4:30 p.m. The art show will be on display until Sept. 28. Visit www.halinagrzyb.com. In the Arts... Visit insidehalton.com/oakville-on for more photos from Brantwood 1920-2020. | photo by Graham Paine Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) At left, celebrating the Audience Choice Award win for Brantwood at the recent Dora Awards ceremony are, from left, Anika Johnson (co-composer); Julie Tepperman (writer and co-creator); Michael Rubinoff (cocreator and producer); and Mitchell Cushman (writer). Above, the first 15 minutes of the play were outdoors before the rest of the show moved inside the now-closed Brantwood school in Oakville. | submitted photo St. Jude's Choir off to England St. Jude's Choir is singing for the new bishop in England, Bishop Paul Slater, who will be the Suffragan Bishop of Richmond in the Diocese of West Yorkshite and the Dales. The local choir will be at the Ripon Cathedral in North Yorkshire, from July 13-19, when 29 volunteer singers will perform under the direction of choirmaster Simon Walker and accompanied by Toronto-based organist An-