For immediate release: July 5th, 2023

AUDACIOUS NEW TORONTO MUSICAL THEATRE COLLECTIVE LAUNCHES WITH A BOLD FIRST PRODUCTION

Toronto, ON – Shifting Ground Collective, Toronto’s newest emerging musical theatre group is launching their first full-scale production, Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days, with a risky twist: the performers won’t know which role they are playing until the show begins. The role distribution will be determined by a coin toss performed in front of the audience only moments before the opening notes play.

Onstage at the Pia Bouman Studio Theatre from August 16th-26th, Ordinary Days follows the lives of four young New Yorkers navigating life, loss, and love in the big city. A sung-through one act musical, the show runs just 75 minutes in length, and features limited spoken dialogue.

The production will star up-and-comers Randy Chang (A Perfect Bowl of Pho – Toronto Fringe), Shannon Murtagh (Next to Normal - On Its Way Productions), Kevin Forster (Storybook Search – Bad Hats) and Colette Richardson (Statistics – Toronto Fringe), with Emma Coulson (TikTok personality) and Taylor Long. Led by director 郝邦宇 Steven Hao (A Perfect Bowl of Pho) and music director Jonah Nung (A Perfect Bowl of Pho), these young artists at the onset of their careers are unabashedly jumping into this risky theatrical experiment.

“Ordinary Days is about the wonder of randomness that exists within our mundanity and the beautiful desire for connection through unexpected encounters”, says Director 郝邦宇 Steven Hao. “It’s a musical about limitless potential, and there is no better way to highlight this theme than implicating randomness within our performances from night to night as well.”

“[The concept] is undoubtedly risky, scary, and an absolute nightmare of an idea for an indie company to undertake. But it’s not about doing the impossible – rather, it’s about reconsidering the stories we tell and the way we tell them.”

Murtagh and Richardson, who make up the collective’s core producing team alongside Joshua Kilimnik, remember the serendipitous inception of the idea.

“We were in my apartment one night, chatting about Ordinary Days being our first show out of the gate”, Richardson recalls. “It was probably one thirty in the morning and we were all a little delusional”.

Kilimnik was sure that the conversation was going to be simple. “We all walked into the meeting thinking we knew exactly how the casting was going to shake out, but when we started talking, we couldn’t disagree more about which characters fit people the best.”

But it was Murtagh who happened upon the idea. “I jokingly looked at the two of them and said ‘Why don’t we just flip a coin?’. And we all looked at each other and knew…”

“We know it might not be the most risk-conscious production for our first kick at the can, but we’ve never really been the kind to play it safe,” Richardson adds. “No matter what happens, it’s going to be one hell of an adventure”.

Ordinary Days plays August 16th-26th (Opening Night August 18th) at the Pia Bouman Studio Theatre (103-225 Sterling Road) with performances Weds-Mon at 7:30pm and select weekend matinees at 1:30pm. Tickets start at $20. For more information and tickets visit shiftinggroundcollective.com.

Questions can be directed to Associate Producer Julian Da Silva at shiftinggroundcollective@gmail.com. Media kit available upon request.

ABOUT ORDINARY DAYS

Music and Lyrics by Adam Gwon

Directed by 郝邦宇 Steven Hao with Assistant Director Mya Wong

Music Direction by Jonah Nung

Set and Costume Design by Irene Ly

Lighting Design by Mathilda Kane

Sound Design by Alison Thomas-Hall

Featuring: Randy Chang, Kevin Forster, Shannon Murtagh and Colette Richardson

Additionally featuring: Emma Coulson and Taylor Long

ABOUT SHIFTING GROUND COLLECTIVE

Shifting Ground Collective was founded in the Spring of 2022 with a mission to nurture a diverse and sustainable Canadian Musical Theatre culture by investing in new Canadian musical theatre content; offering equitable, high-quality presentation and development opportunities for emerging Canadian artists; and bringing beloved staples of the musical theatre canon to Canadian audiences.

Focusing on artists at the onset of their professional careers, we have invested in developing works by up-and-coming composer playwrights Shreya Jha (Statistics) and Ben Page and Jenny Waxman (Leaving Eden).

We are grateful to have received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as from community partners including Collective Arts Brewery, The Niagara Parks Commission and Long and McQuade Bloor Street.