Canons and Classics on the Canadian Stage: An Interview with Thom Allison

March 2 | 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

FAB 2-43

Join Mükonzi Mũsyoki and Thom Allison for a conversation on the ways Canadian theatre landscape relies on various established works in establishing its repertoire. This interview will also feature discussions on various ways to ponder the significance of doing intercultural work and the means of pondering the diversification of genre and practice.

 

About our Guest

Thom Allison is a Canadian Screen Award winner for the role of “Pree” in KILLJOYS. Thom has appeared on Broadway in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and in the original Canadian companies of Miss Saigon, The Who’s Tommy and Rent. He was also a judge on CBC's Over the Rainbow, searching for Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new production of The Wizard of Oz. At The Stratford Festival, Thom has appeared in Romeo and Juliet, Pericles, My Fair Lady, Threepenny Opera, The King and I, King Henry VIII, and Into the Woods. At the Shaw Festival,he received critical acclaim as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime, as well as performing in Wonderful Town, A Little Night Music and Follies: In Concert. Some other credits include Tinman in The Wizard of Oz at Young People's Theatre (Toronto), Emcee in Cabaret at Theatre Calgary, Daddy Warbucks in Annie at the Grand Theatre (London), Che in Evita at Theatre Calgary and Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg) and Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone at The Vancouver Playhouse, The Citadel (Edmonton), National Arts Centre (Ottawa) and Manitoba Theatre Centre. Directing: Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Calgary), RENT, La Cage Aux Folles (Stratford Festival), Seussical; Mary Poppins (Young People’s Theatre) . TV/Film: Coroner, Canada’s Drag Race, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Hudson & Rex, Murdoch Mysteries, Kim’s Convenience, CBC’s Over The Rainbow. His CD, “A Whole Lotta Sunlight” can be purchased on iTunes. www.thomallison.com

About our Host

John Mũkonzi Mũsyoki (The preferred name is Mükonzi) is a theatre scholar, writer, director, and dramaturg based in Alberta, Canada. Numerous theatre and performance ventures have taken Mükonzi to different performance venues across Canada, Kenya, and Uganda. Mũkonzi's creative, critical, and exploratory work touches on Black Performance Theory (BPT), Bantu Orature and Performance, Postcolonial Theatre in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Afrocentric Dramaturgies in the African Canadian Diaspora. Mükonzi recently successfully completed a PhD in Performance Studies at the University of Alberta, where he specialized in Afrocentric Dramaturgies in the Anglophone Canadian theatre scene.