For an Outstanding Contribution to the Stage

The Silver Ticket Award, inaugurated in 1980, is presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the stage in the Toronto area. The committee, composed of previous Silver Ticket winners, considers those people who not only have excelled in their own careers, but also contributed to the development of Canadian theatre by helping and encouraging others. This award entitles the winner to a lifetime of complimentary tickets to TAPA member company productions.

Member Responsibilities

The Silver Ticket Award recipient is selected by a committee composed of previous award recipients from a slate of nominees submitted by the committee, the performing arts community and general public. The winner is presented with an award, and is entitled to two (2) free tickets to any production by a member company of TAPA for life. As a member of TAPA, we thank you for your continued support in recognizing the achievements of these recipients.

Please take a moment to review the following guidelines:

• As a member of TAPA, companies must surrender two (2) tickets to any Silver Ticket Award recipient who requests it (as outlined in the Members Responsibilities Section)
• Tickets are based on availability. TAPA Member companies reserve the right to refuse tickets to Silver Ticket recipients based solely on ticket availability (i.e. the show requested is sold out)
• Silver Ticket recipients are required to reserve 48 hours in advance of performance date requested

A list of recipients is available in Appendix C of your Members Handbook and online here. Please review the list of recipients, post it in your box office and inform your box office staff and publicist.

Nominations

The distinguished panel of past Silver Ticket winners meet every year in May to evaluate the nominations submitted and to award the new Silver Ticket recipient. They consider those people who have not only excelled in their own careers, but have also made a significant contribution to the development of Canadian Theatre.

The theatre community and the public are invited to submit names for consideration by the committee.

In order to nominate an individual for the Silver Ticket Award, please email the following information by April 1 to the Dora Manager at sandral@tapa.ca:

* Nominator’s Name, Title, Company, Phone and email * Name of nominee * Nominee’s bio * Why you feel that the nominee should be awarded the Silver Ticket (up to 2 pages) Please indicate clearly that your nomination is for the Silver Ticket Award.

2009 Silver Ticket Award

Marlene Smith 2009 Silver Ticket Award Winner for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Canadian Theatre

One of the country’s major contributors to Canadian theatre, long-time producer Marlene Smith, was presented with the Silver Ticket Award at the 30th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, held Monday evening, June 29, 2009 at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre.

Since 1980, the Silver Ticket Award has been bestowed upon an individual who has excelled in their own career while also nurturing the development of Canadian theatre. Presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), the Silver Ticket Award winner is selected by a committee of previous winners and entitles the recipient to a lifetime of theatre tickets to any TAPA member company production.

Marlene Smith has been producing and co-producing live theatre in Toronto for the last 40 years in almost every conceivable venue.

She initiated and co-produced the first “mega-musical” to play in Toronto with an all-Canadian cast and production team: the long-running Cats, thus signaling the rise of a new commercial phase in the life of Toronto theatre. Cats ran for an unprecedented five years, first at the Elgin Theatre, then on tour as the first major tour of a Canadian show before returning to Toronto’s Massey Hall. She then co-managed the historic Elgin/Winter Garden Theatre complex through its inaugural five years of operation.

Her showbiz career began as Director of Group Sales for Hair at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. After working as publicist and company manager for the legendary Godspell (starring Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, et al), she co-produced her first show (with Susan Rubes), What’s A Nice Country Like You Doing in a State Like This? for Theatre in the Dell.

She has produced or co-produced such productions as Ain’t Misbehavin’, I’m Getting My Act Together and Takng it on the Road, Piaf, Tomfoolery (The Ports), Damn Yankees (Royal Alexandra Theatre), Arsenic and Old Lace (Hart House Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Crest Theatre), Side by Side by Sondheim (Elgin Theatre), The Wizard of Oz (Elgin Theatre), Napoleon (Elgin Theatre) and The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) (Bathurst Street Theatre).

Smith has also given much to both the theatre and larger communities, serving on numerous boards and advisory groups, including those of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, the Shaw Festival and the Toronto Hospital Board. She currently sits on the Boards of Hart House Theatre, Theatre Museum of Canada, Performing Arts Lodges (PAL) and Studio 180.

She has also produced important fundraisers such as the star-studded It’s Always Something which raises money for Gilda’s Club of Greater Toronto, named in honour of the late comedienne Gilda Radner; and DQ, a fundraiser for Casey House, the most prominent Aids Hospice in Canada.

Smith has been married to Dr. David Smith for 52 years, has four children and ten grandchildren.

Past Silver Ticket Winners

• 1992 – Barbara Chilcott
• 1991 – Sandy Webster
• 1990 – Douglas Campbell
• 1988 – Mary Joliffe
• 1987 – Robert Christie
• 1986 – Araby Lockhart
• 1985 – Frances Hyland
• 1984 – Jean Roberts
• 1983 – Donald Davis
• 1982 – George Luscombe
• 1981 – Herbert Whittaker
• 1980 – Louis Appelbaum