Transformational Investments Set the Stage for Canada’s Theatre Museum
Guests at the 2025 Year End Celebration with the Mahabharata display. Photo by Daniel Wang.
Colm Feore and Thom Allison at the 2025 Year End Celebration. Photos by Daniel Wang.
Exciting news announced at Year End Celebration hosted by Colm Feore
It has been an exciting year in many ways, and we would like to thank everyone, especially our donors, for making it all possible.
On Monday, December 15, we gathered with our community of partners and supporters at a Year End Celebration, hosted by our honorary patron Colm Feore, and shared exciting news about major investments that will help transform Canada’s Theatre Museum’s future.
This year, we were deeply grateful to receive several major contributions including the final installment of a $125,000 gift from the estate of George Grant and $135,000 as part an extraordinary multi-year commitment from the William and Nona Heaslip Foundation. Late this fall the Museum received a momentous gift of $250,000 from the Isabel Bader Charitable Trust which already has had a tremendous impact on our renovation planning.
And some more exciting news. Just last week the Board of Winnipeg based Richardson Foundation met and committed $250,000 to our renovations plans with individual family members making personal pledges of a further $150,000.
This new funding gives us the momentum needed to undertake renovations in the new year. Stay tuned for the next exciting update.
Year 2025 at a glance
Through special event programming in our interim exhibition space, and through digital engagement, we reached a lot of people this year. Here are a few highlights in numbers:
Over 1 million views on Legend Library interviews with icons of the Canadian stage.
Programs Overview
Guests at the World Theatre Day with the Preview display.
Moments from World Theatre Day and the Creative Champions Network Spring Social. Photos by Jada Reynolds-Tabobondung and Kat Rizza.
Clowning workshop with John Beale.
In 2025, we focused on public programs that reflect Canada’s Theatre Museum’s mission to connect the past, present, and future of Canadian theatre. Our programs brought Canada’s theatre history to life in multiple formats, on site and online.
Exhibitions
In our interim museum space, we presented rotating displays, including Preview (March to October) and Mahabharata (October to December) with the assistance of designers Shawn Kervin and Jackie Chau. We welcomed partner Dance Collection Danse to exhibit History of Tap Dance and Women’s Patriotic Performances (April to December). Online, our exhibition Herbert Whittaker : Concevoir pour le théâtre remained available throughout the year.
Special event programming
There are so many stories to tell, people whose accomplishments deserve recognition, and issues to reflect upon. In pulling back the curtains on our history, we are consciously including a multiplicity of voices.
Across the year, we offered 27 public and educational events—from World Theatre Day and screenings to public talks, book launches, and community conversations. Highlights also include Legend Library Live with Mark Breslin and Satire Through Attire: Astrid Janson in conversation with Matthew Jocelyn.
Canada’s Theatre Museum participated in National Canadian Film Day with a screening of Billy Bishop Goes to War. Partnerships with Dance Collection Danse brought the inaugural Lawrence and Miriam Adams Dance History Lecture, the Dance Author Book Panel, and a WWI Patriotic Performance Historical Re-enactment. In collaboration with Playwrights Canada Press, the Museum hosted the Fall Book Launch featuring new Canadian plays. As a presenting partner with Northern River Productions/Jim Betts and Kate Barris, we celebrated the wonderful composer, lyricist, and producer David Warrack.
We created space for conversation and exchange through the Creative Champions Network Spring Social with the Toronto Arts Foundation, and through the report launch “AI for Administration in Ontario’s Creative Industries” with Work in Culture.
Practical learning expanded through clowning workshops with John Beale, including a special session with Inglenook Community School.
Legend Library Highlights
Left to right: Mark Breslin in conversation with Lorne Frohman; the audience at the live interview with Mark Breslin.
New Interviews
The Legend Library is our ongoing collection of interviews with icons of the Canadian stage, helmed by R.H. Thomson and Andrew Moodie. This year, we recorded new conversations with costume designer Marie Day, arts champion Richard Rooneyet Mark Breslin, legendary comedian and founder of Yuk Yuk’s. These interviews are now being prepared for publication.
We recently published new Legend Library interviews with director Bill Millerd et Jim Garrard, playwright and actor.
Legend Library Live
We also introduced a new format for our interviews: Legend Library Live, bringing theatre and cultural legends into conversation as part of a live audience experience. Our first event featured Mark Breslin, founder of Yuk Yuk’s and a key figure in Canadian stand up comedy, interviewed by comedy writer and producer Lorne Frohman.
Explore more of the Legend Library collection on our YouTube channel.
Notre équipe
Left to right: Adrian Merchant Macdonald and Janis Barlow
Left to right: Chris Lorway, Derrick Chua, Tim Johnson. Photo sources: Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity website; Derrick Chua (Facebook); Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum website.
Thank you to outgoing Board members
We would like to extend our sincere thank you to our outgoing Board Members, Adrian Merchant Macdonald et Janis Barlow, for their time, guidance, and valued contributions to Canada’s Theatre Museum over the years.
New Advisory Circle members
We are delighted to welcome new members of our Advisory Circle: Chris Lorway, President and CEO, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; Derrick Chua, award-winning theatre producer and entertainment lawyer; and Tim Johnson, Lord Cultural Resource’s Indigenous Advisor, Shaw Festival Board member, and former Associate Director for Museum Programs at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Looking Ahead
Thank you for being part of Canada’s Theatre Museum during this transformational year, through your attendance, your engagement, and your support. As we look ahead to 2026, we’re excited to build on national programs, as well as welcome the public into the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres for exhibitions, learning, and in-depth encounters with Canadian performing arts stories.
There is no place like home!
Canadian theatre connects generations, regions and artistic traditions through work that continues to shape our cultural landscape. At Canada’s Theatre Museum, we celebrate this creativity by sharing the stories, voices and ideas that define theatre in Canada today and the ones that will shape its future.
Your contribution helps us create a national space where people gather, learn, connect and feel inspired by Canadian theatre. It strengthens a growing community of artists, audiences and theatre lovers who want to see theatre in Canada championed, celebrated and elevated.
With your support, we create experiences that highlight the artists who move us, the collaborations that shift the landscape and the emerging voices who are redefining what theatre in Canada can become.
