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Toronto Metropolitan Theatre Company (TMTC) has returned with big plans for their 10th anniversary.
The student-led theatre troupe is planning to perform Freaky Friday, which is the first female-led cast for the company since performing Into The Woods six years ago.
“That was really important to me coming into this year, making sure that our leads are female, because we’ve had mostly male leads in the past years,” said Hunter Moore, a fourth-year business technology management student and TMTC’s newly appointed president.
For Moore, this show accompanies a working goal of having the production at The Creative School Chrysalis, which would be the first time in TMTC history that a theatre production is on TMU soil.
“It’s going to be amazing – if it happens,” said Moore. “What a wonderful opportunity for the cast and company as a whole to perform on their campus at their school, that is really special.”
According to Moore, the company is still in a logistics phase with The Creative School to use the theatre space for this year’s production.
Freaky Friday is a story about how a teenage daughter and overworked mother have one day to make things right after they switch bodies, according to Musical Theatre International. The show is based on the 1972 novel and first made its broadway debut in 2016. The sequel to the 2003 film with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis is reportedly in production.
Reflecting on the process of voting on this year’s production, Anne Lague, a third-year media production student and TMTC’s new creative director, highlights the reformative nature of the show and the desired impact on cast, crew and audience members.
“This show is the first contemporary story that TMTC has gotten to put on,” said Lague. “I hope people see themselves in this show, because it’s modern, there are so many opportunities for us young people to see ourselves represented onstage.”
Not only does the cast and audience have a chance to see themselves in these new characters, it allows opportunities for ‘behind the scenes’ members to step into roles which fit their personalities.
Preparing for a new show while adapting to a new executive role is something Sejal Masih, a second-year creative industries student and TMTC’s new director of operations, has been working on since being onboarded in late August.
“We’re trying to make our roles our very own and not fit into the past molds, but molding it ourselves, [we are] bringing our personalities into our role,” she said.
Moore explains how his new role comes with new goals for himself and the company, highlighting that this year, he intends to increase turn-out and engagement from the TMU community and beyond.
“This year, I want to sell double the tickets that we usually do. I want to sell around 2,000 tickets,” he said.
Driving towards the goal of a successful show, Lague recognizes TMTC as a company full of diverse singers, dancers, executives and production crews who combine their skills to produce a 100 per cent student-run and executed show.
“It’s going to be a symphony of arts, [if] you think about how people are coming in who are dancers, and singers and then we have musicians who are playing on instruments, it’s the most lovely display of young talent,” she said.
If you want to test your own theatre skills, TMTC’s in-person auditions will take place from Sept. 12 to the 15 on TMU’s campus. Their online auditions are now open and will close on Sept. 15.
Abbie North is a 4th-year journalism student at Toronto Metropolitan University who is a reporter for On The Record.
