James Judd at Soulo in Toronto

This weekend, James Judd presented a series of one-person shows organized by Tracey Erin Smith at Soulo Theatre, his Mid-Career Retrospective as a sort of kick off for his upcoming tour in those United States I was a little busy this weekend performing elsewhere and pretending to be Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby (long story!) but I did manage to catch one fabulous and hilarious show Friday night and his storytelling workshop on Sunday afternoon. I now have things to read and stuff to work on.

The workshop was inspiring and informative. The more I do this, the more I realize that the shows I do are a strange hybrid somewhere between solo theatre and a Backstreet Boys concert.

And the shows, by all accounts were wonderfully well received. The social medias are atwitter.

A Weekend of Storytelling

This weekend, Soulo Theatre (where I serve on staff in the ill-defined role of Interim Sanity Consultant) is presenting the Mid-Career Retrospective of storyteller James Judd. James was a performer and panelist at the 2015 Soulo Theatre Festival earlier this year where he presented his one-person-show Killer Quack. This weekend he's presenting three nights of shows - Friday, Saturday & Sunday - at the Red Sandcastle Theatre (922 Queen Street East, Toronto) tickets to the extravaganza are available at www.soulo.ca/judd. There are discounts for purchasing tickets to more than one event.

On top of that, there's a special story telling workshop on Sunday afternoon, also at the Red Sandcastle. Having sat through his show in the spring riveted, I can recommend both whole heartedly. Hope to see you there!

Photos from Killer Quack 

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SOULO Theatre Festival Gallery

I wear many hats.* *That's a metaphor. I never wear real hats, they mess up my hair

One such hat is as the general manager for the SOULO Theatre Festival which presents a weekend of exceptional one-person shows and a series of seminars and panel discussions teaching actors how to present their own material. From behind the scenes it's an exhausting four days, but also a very uplifting, inspiring and entertaining four days.

Take a look at what we got up to down at the Red Sandcastle Theatre in Toronto.

Call for Submissions

We are now accepting submissions for the 2015 SOULO Theatre Festival. Now in its third year, the festival is a four-day intensive of performances, panel discussions and workshops where every event is one-performance-only. We are looking for recently-performed finished work, 45-60 minute one-person shows. The festival will be May 21-24, 2015 at the Red Sandcastle Theatre in Toronto. For the full details and the submission form, please visit soulo.ca/submissions

The 2014 festival was a huge success and earned SOULO Theatre the title of Best Small Theatre Company from NOW Magazine's Reader's Choice. Past speakers have included artists and speakers have included Tantoo Cardinal, Linda Griffiths, Sandra Shamas, Chris Gibbs, Daniel Stofi, Sebastien Heins, Shelley Marshall, Rachelle Ellie, Terrence Bryant, Precious Chong, Phil Luzi, Sandra Battaglini, Zabrina Chavannes, Deb Filler, Wanda Caroll, Sage Tyrtle, Adrianna Prosser, Christopher Sawchyn and many others.

As the General Manager of the festival, I have no say in show selection. Even so, I will still be accepting bribes personally including but not limited to chocolate, pastries, cash, traceable securities and rare magic books because I enjoy those things.

And NOW for something completely different

SOULO Theatre - where I plot and scheme away, largely behind the scenes as the general manager - has just won Best Small Theatre Company from NOW Magazine's Best of Toronto Reader's Choice! Massive credit goes to the team that helped organize the 2014 SOULO Theatre Festival and massive thanks to everyone who voted over the past few months. It's a tremendous honour.

I also spent the afternoon earlier this week locked in a room with some wifi, unhealthy amounts of coffee and the Artistic Director, Tracey Erin Smith, planning updates to the soulo.ca website and there will be more interesting news coming out of that work shortly.

SOULO Theatre Festival

Tickets are now on sale for the SOULO Theatre Festival, May 22-25 in Toronto. SOULO Theatre, created by Tracey Erin Smith, highlights solo performances and one-person shows with a focus on personal storytelling. This is the second year of the festival and I've joined their team as their general manager, thanks, I'm sure, to my mother teaching me to make elaborate spreadsheets so I could survive managing Camp Black Belt all those years ago - love you!  (Insert joke about "Selling my soul-o" here.)

The entire festival takes place at The Red Sandcastle Theatre (922 Queen Street). The quality of the performers is exceptional. I was at the launch party which was preceded by a showcase of four short solo shows which were wonderful, heartwarming, disturbing and uplifting (but not necessarily in that order).

In the festival there are seven one-person shows (selected from nearly fifty applicants) and two showcases of four short performances, The SOULO Salon and the SOULO Allstars. And if you're more interested in the work behind the scenes - the creation, production and promotion of SOULO Theatre, there are five workshops and panels for those just curious or those seriously considering getting their stories out there.

Every event at the festival is $15. All of the tickets are available here. You can also get a pass to get into all of the workshops and panels for $50 (save $25) here. With the festival just two weeks away, tickets are going quickly, so grab yours while you still have the chance.