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CALL FOR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Click here to view or download the call as a PDF file.

With over twenty years of success developing, producing, and advancing musical theatre in Canada, The Musical Stage Company is excited to enter a new chapter with the vision of its next Artistic Director. The incoming Artistic Director will be responsible for leading the company’s artistic vision and creative work.

The company currently has two seasoned Co-Executive Directors, and the Artistic Director will want to invest in this collaborative leadership model and enjoy their role in co-leading the development of administrative, producing, fundraising, and audience-building strategies and tactics. Fundraising acumen and the ability to cultivate and steward new donors and supporters of The Musical Stage Company’s work, resulting in organizationally impactful and lasting relationships, is imperative.

The Musical Stage Company seeks an AD to bring a clear and compelling vision for the future of musical theatre in Canada and the strategic and entrepreneurial acumen to execute that vision successfully in the current theatre climate. Across the theatrical landscape, locally and internationally, now is a moment of significant change and reimagination. The Musical Stage Company is ideally positioned to lead the way forward in musical theatre in Canada during this renewal. A lack of a permanent venue or subscription model allows the Musical Stage Company to meet the current moment with nimbleness and innovation. Its accumulated surplus and longstanding relationships with its audience and supporters enable trust for risktaking. The Musical Stage Company’s history of being at the forefront of the development of Canadian musical theatre over the last 20 years ensures it has the proven expertise and artistic relationships to boldly succeed in new approaches and models. The Artistic Director’s vision and plans will be both inspirational and pragmatic, galvanizing artists, donors, staff members and other stakeholders into the future. The Musical Stage Company is fiercely proud of its past work and programs. It is simultaneously open to new directions and ideas if they best fulfill the parallel goals of making Canada a leader in musical theatre and cultivating experiences – onstage and off – that transform lives and build empathy and creative community through the intersection of music and storytelling.

This position presents a fantastic opportunity to contribute to a unique and rapidly growing performing arts organization with the potential to redefine the role of musical theatre and the trajectory of Canadian musical artists locally and around the world.

Production photo of Jully Black performing in CAROLINE OR CHANGE. Jully is wearing a maid's uniform, standing in front of a fence, and a platform with two stairs amd a railing. A projection of a moon is on the backdrop behind her.
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Photo by Dahlia Katz

About the Company

The Musical Stage Company is Canada’s largest and leading charitable musical theatre company. Established in 2004 as Acting Up Stage Company, the company strives to make Canada a leader in musical theatre. Our mission is to drive the evolution of musical theatre.

Where music and storytelling collide.
The Musical Stage Company is inspired by music’s unique ability to viscerally affect people and is committed to cultivating experiences – onstage and off – that transform lives, build empathy, and create community through musical theatre.

The Musical Stage Company incubates new Canadian musicals from development to production, investing in Canadian musical theatre writers and building national and international partnerships. Its musical productions – including award-winning contemporary musicals, world premieres, and concerts – are seen live by 30,000 people over the 80+ nights that the company is onstage annually in venues both traditional and surprising. To date, the Company’s work has been recognized with 135 Dora Award nominations, 28 Dora Awards, and 23 Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards.

The Musical Stage Company’s robust education programs develop the artists and audiences of tomorrow, offering musical theatre training that boosts self-confidence and self-expression for over 200 young people each year without cost to the participants. The Company also curates innovative musical programs in partnership with diverse organizations, maximizing the resonance of their work across disciplines and communities.

Community

Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the capital city of the province of Ontario. The Greater
Toronto Area has a 2021 population of 6.7 million people and is the fourth-most populous city in North
America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9.8 million people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario.

Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts and culture, and sports and is home to many of Canada’s leading performing arts organizations. It is a multicultural melting pot that new Canadians from countries all over the world call home. It is vibrant and alive with a constantly changing landscape, and exciting opportunities abound.

Artistic Director Roles and Responsibilities

Reporting to The Musical Stage Company’s Board of Directors, the Artistic Director will be the
organization’s guiding artistic visionary and will co-lead the organization alongside the Co-Executive Directors.

The Artistic Director will be specifically responsible to:

Artistic Vision & Programming

Organizational Leadership (in collaboration with Co-Executive Directors)

Fundraising, Audience Building & Advocacy

Financial Management

KELLY V KELLY Photo by Dahlia Katz

Traits and Characteristics

Visionary, dynamic, independent, self-motivated, detail- and people-oriented, the Artistic Director will have exceptional artistic, social, and verbal communication skills and value frequent interaction and collaboration with others. The Artistic Director will be committed to making space for others at the table.

The Artistic Director will be an experienced and entrepreneurial professional with the vision to actively pursue The Musical Stage Company’s mission and goals with bold creativity and determination and will have a high degree of personal accountability – with a commitment to exceeding expectations.

The Artistic Director will balance tasks and projects with a sense of urgency and possess superlative interpersonal and communication skills that articulate compelling verbal and written messages for support. A self-sufficient and self-managed professional with a highly organized approach, the Artistic Director will be able to achieve organizational objectives with artists, staff, board members, volunteers, donors, and prospective supporters. This individual will bring their experience and passion for musical theatre and a vision to positively impact the organization’s long-term success.

Other Key Traits and Characteristics:

Qualifications and Experience

The successful candidate will have proven leadership experience in a theatre company or other theatre organization with a fierce passion for musical storytelling and a compelling vision for its future. The next Artistic Director must have a compelling and thoughtful vision alongside pragmatic plans to achieve it and the experience of achieving a track record of excellent programming that attracts large audiences while pursuing artistic excellence balanced with responsible financial management. The ideal candidate will have earned the respect of the best musical theatre professionals from around the world and possess a robust understanding of industry trends, present and future-focused, both domestic and international.

The Artistic Director must have a generous spirit, putting the success of others and the industry as a whole above their own, have achieved success in building strong and inspirational relationships with donors and funders, and value the personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and sound judgment. To be successful, the Artistic Director must have the ability to think outside the box, work with ambiguity, see multiple perspectives, and possess the skills and ability to manage a wide variety of personality types.

Relationship-building skills are key, with the ability to build rapport quickly, listen attentively, and grasp artist needs. The Artistic Director must have a dedication to the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility and the ability to thrive working both independently and as a strong team player with a “can do” attitude and willingness to be flexible and pitch in where needed. The ideal candidate will have a generosity of spirit while taking work seriously and be someone who likes to have fun.

Candidates must have at least 5+ years of progressive and proven experience in strategic artistic leadership, ideally in a well-recognized theatre company or other theatre organization. Experience as a director, producer, or dramaturge is required, and experience in setting programming and selecting creative teams is preferred. Superior written/verbal communication skills and experience collaborating with different constituents are required. Formal education is an asset but is not required. Candidates must possess the expertise and willingness to mentor and develop team members to create a high-performing team and demonstrate the ability to translate artistic aims and values into programming, strategies, and plans. The Musical Stage Company is open to candidates who will have a desire to maximize the number of artists engaged by the Company and do not wish to direct, choreograph, or dramaturge at the organization as part of this role. The Musical Stage Company’s preference will be given to candidates who will be devoted fulltime to their work at the Company and are not balancing an artistic practice that requires frequent absences from work to fulfill.

NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 Photo by Dahlia Katz

Compensation

The Musical Stage Company offers a comprehensive compensation package, including an annual salary of $90,000 – $100,000 per year, commensurate with experience and membership in The Musical Stage Co.’s extended benefit program. The ideal candidate will be willing to relocate to Toronto.

Application Instructions

The Musical Stage Company Artistic Director Search is guided by Martin Bragg, Nicola Dawes, Nancy Webster, and Sarah Geddes of Martin Bragg & Associates. To apply confidentially, please email your letter of interest and resume in Word or PDF format to Martin Bragg & Associates at musicalstageco@mbassociates.ca. The review of applications will begin immediately.

The deadline for receipt of applications is February 21st at 5:00 pm EST. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply and will receive an acknowledgment of their application. No phone calls, please.

The Musical Stage Company and Martin Bragg & Associates are committed to an open and transparent hiring process and encourage applications from our diverse community.

The Musical Stage Company advocates equal opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment and is committed to diversity in the workplace. The Company is actively seeking submissions from candidates of all backgrounds, abilities, and ethnicities, as they are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion within this selection process. The Company especially encourages folks who identify as Women, Gender Minorities, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, LGBTQ2S+, d/Deaf, Mad, Disabled/People with Disabilities, and/or Neurodiverse to submit.

As we enjoy music-making and storytelling in Tkaronto, the Musical Stage Company would like to acknowledge the many Indigenous peoples – both recorded and unrecorded – who have been making music and telling stories on this land for generations. The Company recognizes that they are on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit, and also recognize the damage that colonization has caused to Indigenous peoples, including but not limited to the horrendous Residential School program, the horrors of which keep revealing themselves to us today. May our privilege of enjoying music on this land remind us of our responsibility to repair the history of injustice and damage that has been perpetrated on Canada’s Indigenous peoples by its settlers.