BOB BAKER
Artistic Director
Bob Baker graduated from the University of Alberta, Department of Drama, in 1974 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) Honors degree. In 1972 he co-founded and was co-director of Edmonton’s Alberta Barter Theatre. From 1974 to 1979 he was in the Acting Company of The Stratford Festival in Ontario. In 1979 he became a faculty member of Vancouver Community College and taught Professional Acting Classes in Vancouver and Edmonton. In 1982 he was appointed Artistic Director of Edmonton’s cutting-edge Phoenix Theatre where he directed such plays as Cloud Nine; Key Exchange;Torch Song Trilogy; Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Actor’s Nightmare; The Zen of an Intelligent Machine; As Is; B-Movie, The Play; The Curse of the Werewolf and North Shore Live, which he co-wrote, along with Tom Wood and Nicola Cavendish.
The years 1987-1989 saw Mr. Baker directing around the world in places such as The Shaw Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Canadian Stage Company, and Harbourfront Theatre in Toronto, The Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, The National Arts Centre, The Cleveland Playhouse, The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, and The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. In 1989 he became a member of the faculty at Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto.
In 1990 he was appointed Artistic Director of The Canadian Stage Company in Toronto where he directed such plays as Breaking the Code; The Dreamland; Henry VI; Richard III; La Bête; Once On This Island; Into the Woods; The Glorious 12th; Angels in America Parts I and II andClaptrap.
This 20010-2011 Season marks Mr. Baker’s 12th year as Artistic Director at the Citadel Theatre. Past directing credits include Into the Woods;Popcorn; Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Little Shop of Horrors; the World Premiere of A Christmas Carol (10 years); Cabaret; “Art”; Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Actor’s Nightmare; the World Premiere of Servant of Two Masters; Who Has Seen the Wind; Present Laughter; The Shape of Things; Grease; Measure for Measure; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; West Side Story; the World Premiere of Vanya; Blithe Spirit; the World Premiere of Peter Pan; The Pillowman; The Constant Wife; Oliver!; Noises Off; Disney’s Beauty and the Beast; Pride and Prejudice; The Wizard of Oz and Sweeney Todd.
Mr. Baker has received four Dora Award (Toronto) nominations for Outstanding Direction (Breaking the Code; Into the Woods; Angels in America Part I and Angels in America Part II) and received the award for directing B-Movie, The Play. Mr. Baker was recently honoured with a University of Alberta Distinguished Alumni Award, is a member of Edmonton’s Cultural Hall of Fame and is a recipient of a PACE award from Alberta Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes. Locally, he has three Sterling Awards (Edmonton) for Best Director (Popcorn, Cabaret and The Pillowman) and three nominations for Best Director for “Art”; Measure for Measure and West Side Story.
JAMES MacDONALD
Program Director/Text
At the Citadel, Mr. MacDonald most recently directed Billy Bishop Goes to War, As You Like It, Julius Caesar and The Blonde, The Brunette and The Vengeful Redhead. Other Citadel credits include directing Equus; I Am My Own Wife; Stones in his Pockets; and acting in Blackbird; Measure for Measure; Amadeus; Einstein’s Gift (Sterling Award); Wit; To Kill a Mockingbird; The Importance of Being Earnest; Othello; Of Mice and Men (Sterling Award); Noises Off and Pride and Prejudice.
Elsewhere, Mr. MacDonald’s directing credits include Julius Caesar for the Stratford Festival; The Old Ladies for the Shaw Festival; Much Ado about Nothing and As You Like It at CanStage; The Myth of Summer at Alberta Theatre Projects and The Winter’s Tale, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merry Wives of Windsor, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth at the River City Shakespeare Festival, where he was artistic director for five years. As an actor he has worked in most of Canada’s major theatres, including most recently in the title role of Macbeth for the Freewill Shakespeare Festival.
James is a regular guest instructor/director at the University of Alberta, where he has taught acting to all three levels of the BFA (Acting) program. He is currently the Program Director of the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program.
Born in Montreal and raised in Edmonton, James is a graduate of the University of Alberta BFA (Acting) program.
BRENDA BAZINET
Scene Study
Brenda is a working actor, director, producer, teacher and private acting coach. She has over 80 film and television credits to her name including the critically-acclaimed TV movie Sins of the Father starring Tom Sizemore and Richard Jenkins, Haven, This is Wonderland, Doc, Redemption, The Associates and The Secret Path. In 1992 she received a Gemini Award for her performance in the TVO drama A Grief Shared.
She is well-known in theatre, receiving 4 Dora nominations. She has performed on stages across the country including Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, TWP, Theatre Plus, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Centaur Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Persephone Theatre and the Globe Theatre. Recently Brenda played Linda in Death of a Salesman at Neptune Theatre, Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat at the Citadel and Lily in The End of Civilization at Factory Theatre. In 1985 she and two friends began the theatre company 5 & Dime Productions which produced 3 plays over a 5-year period. In 1999 she became a member of the artist-run theatre group, Actors Repertory Company and directed several staged readings of great works such as Mary Stuart, Under Milkwood, Ivanov and Memoir. In 2002 Brenda directed Edward Bond’s The Sea which received 3 Dora nominations, winning in the category of Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Ms. Bazinet has taught for George Brown Theatre School, Humber College (Acting for Television and Film Program), Ryerson University (Act II), Equity Showcase, the Actors Workshop, Actraworks and has conducted Acting for the Camera classes in Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Kingston, St. John’s and Kitchener.
TOM WOOD
Preparation Techniques
A University of Alberta graduate, Tom Wood is an accomplished playwright, actor, director and teacher. Tom has worked with every major theatre in Canada and a number in the United States. Mr. Wood has taught acting at the University of Alberta, Ryerson College @ Toronto and Langara College @Vancouver.
He has spent seven years as an actor with the Stratford Festival and five with the Shaw Festival. In recent years his favourite roles have been: John inShining City (Sterling Award), Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, (Sterling Award), Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Serge in ART. Tom has most recently directed The Glass Menagerie starring Fiona Reid, Doubt starring Lally Cadeau, Metamorphosis, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night’s Dream.
For the theatre he has written: North Shore Live (with Bob Baker and Nicola Cavendish) Jessie Award for Best New Play; B-Movie, The Play, five Dora Mavor awards and the Chalmers Award for Best New Play; Clap Trap, a Farce, produced at Canadian Stage in Toronto and the National Arts Center in Ottawa.
He has also adapted: A Christmas Carol (in its eleventh season at the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton); a new version of Servant of Two Masters (set in the Klondike); a new version of Uncle Vanya (set on the prairies in 1928) produced at the Citadel Theatre, National Arts Centre and Artist’s Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon with William Hurt as Astrov; a new version of Peter Pan (set in the prairies during the depression) produced by the Citadel Theatre; and a new version of Pride and Prejudice produced by the Citadel Theatre and the Banff Centre.
Tom is currently working on a new comedy about movie making in Hollywood circa 1938 entitled Make Mine Love. He has also just finished an adaptation of The Three Musketeers for the Citadel/Banff Professional theatre Program.
PHILLIP NERO
Movement/Dance/Choreographer
Phillip trained at Sheridan College in the Musical Theatre program where he played Bazzard in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me Kate. He later went on to perform in the productions at The Huron Country Playhouse and the 1999 season at the Stratford Festival.
Most recently Phillip directed and choreographed a brand new musical called Big Time Operator at Sheridan College. Phillip’s other directing credits include: Cinderella (Randolph Academy); A Chorus Line and Things We Do For Love (Stage West, Mississauga); and various productions of West Side Story for Ganaraska Summer Theatre and Stage West, Mississauga).
Phillip was a part of the world premiere presentation of Lord of the Rings in both Toronto and in London, UK, acting as the dance and fight captain, as well as the assistant choreographer. Phillip was the dance captain for Mamma Mia! as well as the fight captain for The Lion King (Mirvish Productions).
Last season with the Citadel theatre, Phillip choreographed Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz. Other previous choreography credits include:Â Rocky Horror Picture Show (Theatre New Brunswick); More Broadway Treasures (Lake Simcoe Arts Foundation); Chicago (Neptune Theatre); Robin Hood (The Elgin Theatre); West Side Story (St Andrew College); Catch a Rising Star and Dancing After Dark (Theatre Sheridan). He has also worked on commercials as a choreographer, working with directors such as Roman Coppola.
BETTY MOULTON
Vocal Technique/Voice Coach
Betty Moulton has been an actor, taught voice, speech, text and worked as a coach for over 30 years in U.S. and Canada. Teaching in professional actor training programs includes SMU in Dallas. TX; U of Washington in Seattle, WA; and U of Victoria in Victoria, BC. Professor Moulton devised and now heads the new MFA program in Theatre Voice Pedagogy in the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta, training new theatre voice specialists.
Select professional credits: 10 seasons as the company voice, speech and text coach (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); company voice, speech and text coach for the nationally touring Nevermore (Catalyst Theatre, Edmonton); company voice coach for the inaugural Banff/Citadel Professional Acting program; company voice coach Shakespeare in the Red (Winnipeg). She has also conducted master classes and workshops for theatre companies and acting studios that include River City Shakespeare Festival, Catalyst and Network Theatres in Edmonton; and Freehold Studio in Seattle.
SHANNON VICKERS
Vocal Technique
Shannon Vickers teaches Voice, Speech, Text and Dialects at the University of Winnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film. Most recent coaching credits include As You Like It (U of W); Merry Wives of Windsor (SIR); Steel Magnolias (MTC); Top Girls (MTC); Fen (Sarasvati Productions); and Anne Frank (U of W). She recently co-facilitated a multi-language theatre piece, Babel, at the University of Winnipeg.
Shannon is a graduate of the MFA in Theatre Voice Pedagogy program at the University of Alberta and also holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor. Before focusing on Voice, Shannon lived in Toronto and acted professionally. She also coached Voice and Text for The Canadian Stage Company, bcurrent, and the Toronto Fringe.
Shannon is an active member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association and currently serves as the Associate Director of Membership. Shannon is looking forward to returning to Alberta, and to sharing and collaborating with other artists in beautiful Banff.
DON HORSBURGH
Singing and Choral Work/Musical Director (Little Women)
At the Citadel theatre, Don has directed the music for Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street; A Kurt Weil Cabaret; Disney’s Beauty and the Beast; Into the Woods; Cabaret; The Sound of Music; Oliver!; Guys and Dolls.
Don has provided original music for Blithe Spirit; Noises Off; A Constant Wife; As You Like It while also developing programing for the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program and collaborating on the Citadel’s world premiere production of Hunchback with Catalyst Theatre’s Jonathan Christenson.
Over the past 30 years he has visited most Canadian and American centers as a music director and has provided original music for 19 productions during his tenure at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. He music directed Threepenny Opera at Stratford, a highlight of his career.
He is the recipient of five Dora Awards (Toronto) for his contributions to Rigoletto; A Little Night Music; Fire and Lilies and a Sterling Award (Edmonton) for Outstanding Music direction for Cabaret.
RYAN SIGURDSON
Singing and Choral Work
Ryan is an Edmonton-based music director, actor, singer, violinist, voice coach and composer. At the Citadel he recently played the narrator/pianist in Billy Bishop Goes to War and last season he music directed A Christmas Carol and played keyboard for Disney’s Beauty and The Beast.
Other recent music directing credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for the Foote Theatre School Young Musical Company;Everybody Goes to Mitzi’s for Teatro La Quindicina (Sterling Award); Assassins for Studio Theatre; and Ankles Aweigh at the Edmonton Fringe.
A graduate of the Theatre Arts program at Grant MacEwan University, Ryan’s acting credits include Cabaret at the Citadel; Evita at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre; Saturday Night and Floyd Collins for Leave It To Jane Theatre; and The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito for Concrete Theatre.
As a singer, Ryan has also been a member of Pro Coro Canada and the National Youth Choir of Canada (2000). Ryan’s composing credits include The Infinite Shiver; Eros and the Itchy Ant; and Everybody Goes to Mitzi’s (Sterling Award) for Teatro La Quindicina; Water’s Daughter and A Dybbuk for Two People for Northern Light Theatre.
Ryan’s ongoing training has included Canada’s National Voice Intensive, the Goodspeed Opera House Music Directing Intensive and Opera NUOVA’s Vocal Arts Festival as a répétiteur.
PAUL GELINEAU
Stage Combat/Fight Director (The Three Musketeers)
One of only 12 certified Fight Directors in Canada and the Past President of Fight Directors Canada, Paul Gelineau is a renowned Fight Director who has received local, national, and international recognition for his work. He has worked in most major theatres across Canada and currently serves as Artistic Director of Keyano Theatre in Fort McMurray. Fight directing projects include Romeo and Juliet (National Arts Centre, Ottawa); West Side Story(Citadel Theatre/Theatre Calgary); As You Like It (CanStage, Toronto); and Peter Pan (Citadel Theatre). Paul has taught combat through Fight Directors Canada in such prestigious institutions as The National Theatre School, Ryerson University, University of Alberta, University of Nevada Las Vegas and Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.