Thank you to the many TAPA Members who engaged and participated in the 2023 Dora Mavor Moore Awards Review. TAPA held extensive consultations in the form of six Divisional Town Halls, one-on-one conversations, and a review of archived feedback messages and Dora juror survey responses from the past six years. Thank you as well to the dedicated members of the Dora Review Committee for sharing your insights and expertise! Bravo to Chris Goddard (Dora Review Committee Chair, PAIS Board President), Belinda Bale (National Ballet), Sue Balint (Independent producer), Natalie Sandassie (TAPA Board Secretary, Canadian Opera Company), Michael Sinclair (TAPA Board Vice-President, Obsidian Theatre), Tanisha Taitt (Cahoots Theatre), and Annemieke Wade (Roseneath Theatre).
The TAPA and PAIS Board of Directors and TAPA team are committed to continually reassessing the Dora Mavor Moore Awards every 5 years in response to the changing cultural environment and evolving needs many of the TAPA membership. We have listened to your feedback and are glad to share the following changes to the Dora Mavor Moore Awards. The changes are effective immediately and are implemented for the 2023-2024 Dora Awards season.
Change 1
Performance by an Individual categories, ALL divisions: to remain as opening night cast credits, however, permit case-by-case exceptions as needed
context: to be used when substitutions for illness or double-cast roles occur
Change 2
Performance categories: General Theatre and Musical Theatre divisions to change to Performance by an Individual and Performance by an Ensemble, replacing Performance in a Leading Role and Performance in a Featured Role.
context: growing calls for return to recognizing Ensemble work in both Divisions AND very low Featured Role numbers in Musical Theatre
Change 3
General/Independent Theatre divisions threshold: to increase production budget divider to $125K from $100K, with a commitment to review again before 2024-25 season with due consideration given to a member company’s registration history and placement precedent for those production applications bordering the threshold during this transition period, in consultation with the Dora Awards Manager.
context: rapid inflation and pandemic recovery is causing 25-30% higher production costs and companies with long history of registering in Independent Theatre would be forced into General Theatre if no change is made; increasing the budget threshold will instead MAINTAIN the number of companies registering in Indie and General.
Change 4
Minimum performance numbers: General Theatre and Independent Theatre to require at least seven (7) performances to be eligible (up from five [5] in General and down from nine [9] in Independent)
context: strong membership feedback for Independent Theatre that minimum of nine (9) was too high at this time due to difficulties in producing during pandemic recovery; General Theatre adjusted to match
Change 5
Minimum registrants for voting: ALL categories in ALL divisions to require at least three (3) eligible candidates to proceed to voting.
Change 6
Feasibility of low registration categories: to merge New Musical and New Opera categories as shared “Outstanding New Musical / New Opera” with both divisional juries to attend and adjudicate
context: a method of saving this important recognition, as Dora Awards at risk of losing both categories due to insufficient annual registration numbers in each
Change 7
Feasibility of low registration divisions: to merge Direction, Musical Direction and Choreography in Musical Theatre and Opera Divisions, creating “Outstanding Creative Direction” category in each, to be registered as a team
context: a method of saving these important recognitions, as Dora Awards at risk of losing some of these categories due to insufficient annual registration numbers
Outstanding Creative Direction
A person or group of persons named by the producer engaged as Director, Musical Director and/or Choreographer for the purpose of conceptualizing and/or directing the creative vision of a production; conceptualizing, provide musical direction and/or conducting any live music played or sung on stage; and creating and/or staging dance numbers and/or specialized movements are together eligible for this award provided the production meets all other eligibility criteria.
Change 8
Recognize alternative or innovative member presentations, including but not limited to digitally-delivered material: introducing a new “Outstanding Innovative Experience” award
context: adapting to recognize excellence in theatrical experimentation, called for by many members
Outstanding Innovative Experience
- Any TAPA member company across any discipline or Division may register Innovative Experiences.
- Any production or theatrical artistic work that is not otherwise eligible for any existing Dora Awards, Canadian Screen Awards, or Canadian Comedy Awards categories.
- An “Innovative Experience” can include but is not limited to: digitally-delivered content, immersive experiences, augmented or virtual reality, or any alternatively-delivered work or theatrical experiment.
- A registration for Innovative Experience must include a paragraph outlining why this piece is an Innovative Experience.
- To ensure jurors are able to experience the work, an eligible piece must be available for a minimum of three days.
This award is adjudicated by the Dora Eligibility Committee. The Recipient, which shall be the TAPA member company, is presented with a plaque.
If you have any questions, please contact Dora Awards Manager, Scott Dermody, at scottd@tapa.ca