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While many are optimistic about the rebranding of the formerly known TMU Theatre to The Chrysalis, some students say they are frustrated with the lack of transparency regarding whether they will be able to access the training space under this new team, as equitable stage access has been a recurring issue even before the rebranding efforts in August.
Located at 43 Gerrard St. E., the 1,200-seat theatre, attached to Kerr Hall, is one of the largest theatre venues in Toronto — a historic landmark since 1963. Talks of the rebrand started in April when The Creative School at TMU officially acquired the space from the University Business Services after more than 60 years of their mandate.
“I’ve worked on both acting and dance shows at TMU,” said Anna Simmons, Performance Production Alum and former Vice President of the Performance School Union.
“All the acting shows happen in various spaces, some happen in the studio, some happen in the Chrysalis, some happen over at Tarragon, whereas all the dance shows happen in the Chrysalis to a traditional seating. I don’t think there’s been a single instance in my time there where the seating was shifted for dance so dance shows were able to have, 700 people sit in, but they never sold out.”
Simmons explained that last year the third and fourth-year actors had to close the curtains at the Chrysalis and invert the stage, only hosting 68 audience members seated on the stage.
“A lot of times we would sell out before the production team members even got seats and as students, we didn’t get comps,” they said.
Alex Pearce, a second-year acting student, said she and other students in the Performance School were unaware that the theatre wasn’t formerly governed by their faculty or that the Creative School had taken over.
“None of my friends in the program discuss it, none of our professors are talking about it,” Pearce said.
She explains that actors are now concerned that their already limited use of the stage, reduced to third and fourth-year performances, will be further cut due to the new governance.
“I think I can speak on behalf of the class, we’re a little tired of being blindsided. When we were applying for the program, they built up this magnificent beautiful theatre that we would get to use one day and then we went in and realised we’d already have to wait three years to use it.”
Pearce said if the changes to the space had been discussed with the students of the Performance School, many of them would have felt more comfortable asking what the changes mean for future performances in the space.
Extracurricular student groups have also faced booking limitations due to unmet financial requirements. These groups have therefore had to pay higher rental fees to outside venues not affiliated with TMU for both shows and rehearsals.
Since the Chrysalis rebrand, the Toronto Metropolitan Theatre company has been able to book space for the first time, ten years after their inception.
Unfortunately, other student groups like UHHU, TMU’s hip-hop team, have not had such luck.
UHHU still struggles after 20 years to find rehearsal space at TMU and is often found rehearsing in Kerr Hall hallways to prepare for their shows.
“We try pretty much every semester to book the theatre at the school to host our own shows,” Kaylee McCullough, fourth-year Creative Industries student and co-director of UHHU said.
McCullough said even in trying to host UHHU’s 20th-anniversary showcase this year they were turned away because the space is designated for the Dance Program.
“We do have some Dance Program members and the majority of our team are Creative School members,” She said, “but we still aren’t allowed to use that space so we have to go to Theatres outside of the school and do it all on our own accord and our own budget as well.”
McCullough said that she hopes with a new team in the Chrysalis more clubs like UHHU will be given equal opportunities to perform on the stage.
Integrating more of the student body within the Chrysalis both for rentals and performances is now a top priority,
“We prioritize students, it is one of our pillars and mission. We are part of the creative school, a post-secondary education institution. And everything we do at Chrysalis is going to have some student involvement,” Jasmine Au, TMU dance Alumna and the TD Creative Producer of the Chrysalis said.
“In general, I invite any student groups who may have seen the space as inaccessible before to reach out to us now. I definitely still want to make sure that the space is right for them to get those student groups back here.”
The Chrysalis has ambitious renovation plans and aims to attract diverse creatives to showcase their work in the space with a team that includes three professors and creatives alike to help promote and mandate the space: Owais Lighwala, Jasmine Au and Scott Martin.
“The word Chrysalis means a protective state of development. It suits well because the space is used as a hub for incubating and developing the future of performance.” TMU president Mohamed Lachemi told OTR in an email. “Chrysalis is also a space for industry professionals to work with our talented students and researchers,” he said.
According to the TMU website, the University Business Services is in charge of “the Campus Store, Duplication and Printing, Event and Space Reservation Services, Food Services, OneCard, Parking Services and the Urban Farm,” making all rentals of the theatre incentivized by a first-come, first-served policy favouring non- TMU reservations with larger budgets in the past.
The venue has hosted events such as TIFF, U2 and, most recently, Fall for Dance North, an annual Canadian dance festival.
This will be the theatre’s first major rebrand since the University Business Services took over the space over 60 years ago. The last major renovation was in 2007, according to TMU records.
“The scale of the venue that we have is a really great one and the location is unbelievably exciting,” said Owais Lightwala, a TMU Performance School professor and director of the Chrysalis.
“To be housed in an educational institution is exactly the kind of place that should be taking on the risk of research, creative development and experimentation,” Lightwala said.
Joëlle is a Toronto-based Journalist, actor, singer, performer and multi-media content creator. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Journalism with a minor in Acting and Dance at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Writing her first song at just six years old, Joëlle has had a profound love for music, writing and the arts for as long as she can remember. Later Shaping itself into a love for English and Literature, Joëlle's education through the International Baccalaureate and extended French programs in high school led her to the top journalism school in the country. She has been a contributor and a published journalist on a variety of TMU and Canadian based news outlets including her current position interning at Maclean's Magazine and working with On The Record News. Her written interests lie mainly in arts and entertainment news, but she considers herself multifaceted as she enjoys exploring various topics and themes in her writing and loves the challenge that accompanies each new story.
Joëlle has been performing since she was 9 years old but discovered her love for the stage on the floor mats at her local gymnastics club. She trained for 12 years as a competitive artistic gymnast competing at a level 6 and trained level 7. She continued her stunt, lift, acrobat and gymnastics training with cheerleading in high school for another 3 and a half years. with her team, she travelled to Florida's ESPN Wide World of Sports winning second in the nation and third in the world at the 2020 Varsity World Cheerleading Championships, two weeks before the COVID- 19 global pandemic shut down public spaces.
Throughout her career, Joëlle has performed on various stages across Toronto including Harbourfront Centre's Studio Theatre, The Canadian National Exhibition and Hart House. Joëlle has had the privilege of working on various original works as well as theatre classics, like South Pacific and her own favourite, Legally Blonde throughout the city.
In her spare time, Joëlle can be found writing, running away to New York City or spending her summers in Rome with family. Joëlle continues to train her craft and finds every opportunity to learn something new. You can find her on Instagram @JoelleArianna_ !
