Upcoming Events
Jeremy Hotz, a Canadian-born comedian, is widely regarded as one of the most unique and talented stand-up comics in the industry today. Known to grab audiences with his completely original and confused, yet very astute, observational comedy. Jeremy has achieved international success with sold-out theatre tours across Canada, as well as performances in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Jeremy’s career took off in 2002 when he received a standing ovation at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He continued to impress at subsequent festivals, earning accolades such as Best Performer by the “Globe and Mail” in 2005 and Best in Fest by the “Montreal Gazette” in 2008. This recognition attracted attention from major American studios and networks, leading to development deals with CBS, DISNEY, and COMEDY CENTRAL.
Jeremy’s television appearances include memorable performances on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has also filmed stand-up specials for Comedy Central and CTV, including “What A Miserable Show This Is…” and “Some of the Best of Jeremy Hotz.” Additionally, Jeremy has showcased his acting talent on HBO Canada’s Call Me Fitz and as a guest star on Unusually Thicke and Jay Leno’s Garage.
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia
presents
It’s Okay to Be Different – Stories by Todd Parr
Author/Illustrator: Todd Parr
Director/Production Designer: Jim Morrow
Composer: Asif Illyas
Sound Producer: Shehab Illyas
Narrator: Rebecca Thomas, Laura Britton, Nicholas Wang, Lachlan MacSween, Lydia Muchangi, Milena Tucker, Anik Jeyakumar, Logan Robins, Ivy Abbott-Charles
Project Manager: Struan Robertson
Associate Production Designers: Deborah MacLean, Rosie Browning
Scenic Painter: Lisa Bedard
Stage Manager: Kate Redding
Performers: Logan Robins, Ivy Abbott-Charles
Adapted with permission.
It’s Okay to be Different
Copyright © 2001 by Todd Parr
Cover art copyright © 2009 by Todd Parr
The Earth Book
Copyright © 2010 by Todd Parr
This is My Hair
Copyright © 1999 by Todd Parr
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of Nova Scotia. Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement.
About Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia ranks among North America’s most respected theatres for the young, and plays an important ambassadorial role for Nova Scotia and for Canada. The company regularly crosses the continent, and has represented Canada in the United States, Japan, Mexico, Australia, England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Holland, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan, Bahrain, and the People’s Republic of China. Mermaid Theatre has earned Export Excellence awards from both the Governments of Canada and of Nova Scotia. Based in the Town of Windsor, Mermaid has performed for more than 6 million spectators on four continents. The company was founded in 1972.
About our Production
With his signature blend of playfulness and sensitivity, Todd Parr explores important and timely subjects. It’s Okay to Be Different cleverly delivers the important messages of acceptance, understanding, and self-confidence. Equally whimsical and heartfelt, The Earth Book, is a sweet homage to our beautiful planet inspiring readers of all ages to do their part to keep the Earth happy and healthy. This is My Hair is a funny exploration of how silly hair can be and that no matter how your hair looks, always feel good about yourself.
Mermaid’s new show will be directed and adapted by Jim Morrow, veteran director of numerous internationally acclaimed Mermaid productions. It will feature a diverse cast, an innovative approach to puppetry manipulation and construction, combined with playful original music for which the company has earned worldwide praise.
Todd Parr is the author and illustrator of more than 71 books for children. His books are available in over fifteen languages throughout the world. He is the co-creator of the three-time Emmy-Nominated children’s television show ToddWorld™ as well as short films for Sesame Street.
Todd Parr, Author/Illustrator
Todd Parr is the author and illustrator of more than 50 books for children including the New York Times bestselling The The I Love You Book, The Earth Book, and The Thankful Book. His books have received numerous awards and are available in over eighteen languages throughout the world. He is the co-creator of the popular Daytime Emmy® nominated television show, ToddWorld, as well as short films for Sesame Street. Todd is also working on a new show based on his books, produced by Spider Eye in the UK. In a review of his 2019 release, The Kindness Book, The School Library Journal states “Parr encourages consideration of all people and creatures great and small.” Kindness and empathy remain at the forefront of Todd’s books and in his collaborations with SF-MARIN Food Bank, Stouffer’s, People Magazine and several companies working towards helping people, animals, and promoting literacy. Todd lives in Berkeley, California with his three adopted Pit Bulls.
About the Creative Team
Jim Morrow, Director/Production Designer
Jim creates puppets for stage, television and film. He’s directed numerous shows for the Theatre, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Other Eric Carle Favorites; Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, Frederick, Inch by Inch; Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, The Rainbow Fish as well as designed many others. A gifted performer, Jim has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. He serves as director of puppetry for Symphony Nova Scotia’s production of The Nutcracker, and frequently conducts master classes in puppetry in North America and abroad. Jim is Mermaid Theatre’s Managing Artistic Director.
Asif Illyas, Composer
Asif Illyas is an ECMA award-winning veteran of the Canadian music scene, based on the Atlantic Coast in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and currently spends most of his time creating music for film and television. His career spans over 25 years where he fronted Canadian progressive-pop outfit and EastWest/Warner Europe recording artists, MIR, touring four continents and producing 4 critically-acclaimed albums. He also was guitarist for Cutting Crew, during a portion of lead singer Nick Van Eede’s solo career during the late 1990’s. He has appeared on albums with Sting, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell and performed on stage with Australia’s Colin Hay of Men At Work, Paula Cole, and many others. He has composed and arranged for many orchestral charts for symphonies such as VSO, WSO and SNS across the country in their Pops series’. He was also assistant to the musical direction for David Foster’s touring All-Star show, working for artists BabyFace, Lionel Ritchie, Natalie Cole, and Nathan East.
Currently, his work is in dramatic and documentary score production and has written award-winning scores for feature films such as TIFF and CSA Winner, “Weirdos”, 2018 breakthrough Horror epic, “The Child Remains”, Cannes-Winner “Blackbird”, and National Film Board’s award-winning documentary, “The Chocolate Farmer” and other hit-documentaries such as “Sickboy”, HBO’s “Fanarchy”, “Bounty – Into The Hurricane”, “Forever Young” among many others
Shehab Illyas, Sound Producer
Shehab Illyas has explored his penchants for the visual arts through photography since the 1990’s working on several commercial projects and gallery shows. He made the transition into screen production and editing in 2004. Having a background in music has given him a unique shooting and editing style with over 20 years of involvement in the music industry. Shehab is owner of Skylab Productions based in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Rebecca Thomas, Narrator
Rebecca Thomas is a Mi’kmaw with family roots in Lennox Island First Nation. She is the daughter of a residential school survivor and unrelenting advocate for her community. She is a published poet and was the Halifax Poet Laureate from 2016 to 2018. She has won numerous awards and accolades. She has performed with a Tribe Called Red and has spoken and lectured at conferences and coffee houses from coast to coast. She has written for CBC, the Washington Post, and Bon Appétit Magazine but has yet to make a chapbook (another name for a short book of poetry). Rebecca writes kids books about growing up the child of a residential school survivor. Her first book I’m Finding My Talk was shortlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Award. Her children’s book Swift Fox All Along was a finalist for a Governor General literary award, and Marilyn Bailie Picture Book Award and was also shortlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Award. Her collection of poetry called I Place You Into the Fire was a CBC’s Top 20 book of 2020.
About the Company
Mermaid Theatre has been in continuous operation since it was founded in 1972 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. We moved to the neighboring town of Windsor in 1987, and helped to revitalize the historic town’s downtown business core. Our extensive headquarters encompass production studios, administrative offices, rehearsal quarters, a versatile studio, animation studios, film & television recording capacity, and an elegant 400-seat performance facility known as The Mermaid Imperial Performing Arts Centre (MIPAC). The enthusiastic response to our innovative family audiences programming has enabled us to establish unparalleled touring circuits.
Each year we present more than 400 performances for 200,000 spectators – many of them new to the theatre experience. Mermaid regularly crosses Canada and the United States, and has represented Canada in more than a dozen countries. Recorded narration featuring outstanding international artists facilitates performances in English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, French, Cantonese and Mandarin. Closer to home, Mermaid’s Institute of Puppetry Arts offers puppetry instruction at both community and professional levels. The Institute’s imaginative curriculum-based touring programs entertain and inform students and teachers throughout the region, as well as encourage educators to incorporate the performing arts in the teaching of science. Our MIPAC Performing Arts Series attracts audiences of all ages. Many travel from nine counties to join local fans in enjoying our Family Fare program, unique to Nova Scotia.
Our contributions to the local economy as well as the role we play as cultural ambassadors for Nova Scotia and for Canada have merited Export Excellence awards from both the Governments of Canada and of Nova Scotia. We’re proud to have been recognized by CAPACOA with an award for Best Performing Group, and to have received the Crystal Tourism Ambassador Award from Nova Scotia’s tourism industry leaders in the fall of 2008. Several of our productions have earned coveted Citations of Excellence from UNIMA-USA. Simultaneous tours have enabled the company to appear in Canada, the United States and the China on the same day! Mermaid continues to make theatre history, both in Nova Scotia and in Canada.
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia Staff
Executive Director: Danny Everson
Managing Artistic Director: Jim Morrow
Financial Administrator: Cathy White
Project Manager: Struan Robertson
Administrative Associate: Heather Donohue
Technical Director: Terry Daly
Seamstress: Sarah Harvey Hart
Production Associate: Lisa Bedard
For general information, please contact
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia
P.O. Box 2697
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada B0N 2T0
tel: 902 798 5841
fax: 902 798 3311
email: puppets@mermaidtheatre.ca
website: mermaidtheatre.ca
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Looking for fun days out with the kids?
Dare to experience the dangers and delights of Dinosaur World Live in this roarsome interactive show for all the family!
Discover a prehistoric world of astonishing (and remarkably life-like) dinosaurs.
Meet a host of impressive creatures, including every child’s favourite flesh-eating giant, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor and Segnosaurus!
A special meet and greet after the show offers all our brave explorers the chance to make a new dinosaur friend. Don’t miss this entertaining and mind-expanding Jurassic adventure, live on stage. Book now before tickets become extinct!
Ages 3+
SOLD SEPARATELY:
Dinosaur World Live VIP Meet & Greet
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 7:30pm
Price: $25.00 [**Does not include a ticket to the show, must be purchased separately.]
Meet the Dinos!
VIP ticket holders can attend a special meet and greet after the show and take a photo with their new dinosaur friend
Presented by Lutz Parish Gerrish Barristers & Solicitors, Nineteen Plus & Kool 98
Produced by Creative Power Entertainment in conjunction with The Canadian Cancer Society
CONCERT FOR THE CURE! (A portion of the proceeds from the show will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society)
Back by popular demand, Grace 2 from Toronto, Ontario delivers a show that celebrates the music of the Hip and honors the legacy of the late Gord Downie. Like all Hip fans, Grace 2 remembers these songs as the soundtrack of our lives. Combining their passion for the music and genuine on stage energy, Grace 2 brings the audience together to pay tribute to Canada’s favoorite band.
Local dance studio Connection Dance works premiers their new piece: Still Buffering
Alan Jackson & Friends Tribute as performed by Aaron Halliday & The Long Horns.
An amazing evening performed by International Singer Songwriter Association Entertainer of the Year Aaron Halliday and the world class Long Horn band.
Enjoy the best of Alan Jackson’s music as well as other country greats including Merle Haggard, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam, and more!
A great evening of country music that spans the generations that you won’t want to miss.
This performance has been selling out venues across Canada and internationally!
Moved from July 7, 2023 to May 12, 2024
Formerly: SNB” “It’s About Heroics!”
SNB wraps up the season with a salute to heroism, including Beethoven’s mighty “Eroica” Symphony. Bravo, indeed!
SNB termine la saison par un hommage à l’héroïsme, notamment avec l’interprétation de la puissante symphonie « Eroica » de Beethoven. Bravissimo!
Get ready for the ultimate rock concert experience! Sandman, the world’s only Metallica licensed tribute band, has been blowing audiences away internationally since 1994. Band members Rick Van Dyk (lead vocals and lead/rythm guitar), Joe Di Taranto (lead/rythm guitar and vocals), Paulo Fonseca (bass and vocals), Brent Nicmi (drums) collectively have a lifetime of experience playing and recording with recognized bands such as Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Headstones, Anvil, War Machine, as well as Classic Albums Live & many more! After a curious series of events in early 2016, the members of Metallica gave Sandman their blessing to pay tribute to their music, resulting in a momentous meeting at Toronto’s famed opera house in November 2016.
SJTC: Mary Poppins A Musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney Film. Original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Book by Julian Fellowes. New songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Co-Created by Cameron Mackintosh. Directed by Scott Thomas
Experience the practically perfect magic of Mary Poppins! Embrace the timeless musical adventure of Mary Poppins as she uses her special combination of common sense and magic to bring order to the Banks household. Step into a world of wonder and adventure and be inspired by Mary Poppins’ extraordinary adventures.
SJTC: Mary Poppins A Musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney Film. Original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Book by Julian Fellowes. New songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Co-Created by Cameron Mackintosh. Directed by Scott Thomas
Experience the practically perfect magic of Mary Poppins! Embrace the timeless musical adventure of Mary Poppins as she uses her special combination of common sense and magic to bring order to the Banks household. Step into a world of wonder and adventure and be inspired by Mary Poppins’ extraordinary adventures.
IMPERIAL HOLIDAY LOTTERY
A fundraiser for Imperial Theatre’s Outreach and Educational programs
