Hard to believe that this September will be 23 years since I first started teaching at my own theatre school. The name originated from our first rental of the Old City Hall in North York On Yonge Street ( at Empress) . Mel Lastman allowed me to rent the space for a low fee if I fixed it up. My father , Dennis Seward, practically painted the 1500 square foot studio space in one afternoon- a beautiful bright blue! I recall that the local high school donated their stage risers if we picked them up ourselves…and so we crammed them into a small car in pieces and re built them. The good news was that I loved my first year teaching kids and teens and YSP was an instant success. The bad news was we were ‘removed’ from our lease after only one year as The historical Old City Hall was being torn down for some new condos.
And that was devastating for YSP…but we persevered and rented space at the New City Hall and later at Solar Stage and then Lansing ‘s Nickel Theatre. It really doesn’t matter too much where we teach- it is the energy of the children and the teens and the teaching that keeps Players coming back year after year…and new Players joining us!
I am happy to say that I am one of the luckiest teachers in Toronto- because I still love what I do each and every SATURDAY at my theatre school. Very happy to continue the challenge and create new opportunities for learning for each Player-each new season!
