Places, Please: A virtual 24-Hour telethon to benefit the Actors Fund of Canada

The Actors Fund of Canada (AFC) and Olivier Award-winning producer Michael Rubinoff are excited to announce Places, Please a 24-hour virtual telethon to benefit members of the entertainment industry impacted by COVID-19. The online fundraiser will begin on Wednesday, March 25 at 2 p.m. EST and will continue live for 24 hours, until Thursday afternoon, with all donations going to The AFC. 

Co-hosted by Rubinoff, award-winning playwright Nick Green and Second City veteran Ashley Botting, Places, Please will feature performances and interviews with Canada’s leading artistic directors, performers, writers and composers. A special segment will feature student hosts from Sheridan College’s Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance’s Class of 2020, who will conduct interviews and show performances by theatre students from around the world.

“Our mission is to digitally bring together our theatrical community and audiences,” said Rubinoff. “Together, we will promote hope and resilience, carried out through living room showcases,  to highlight the extraordinary theatres and talent across the country.”

Confirmed guests include, in alphabetical order: Daniel Abrahamson, Thom Allison, Chris Barillaro, Herbie Barnes, Christian Barry, Dave Bennett, Anthony Black, Tricia Black, Michelle Bouey, Valerie Boyle, Adam Brazier, AJ Bridel, Petrina Bromley, Robert Chafe, Andrea Donaldson, Nathan Downer, David Connolly, Daryl Cloran, Dean Constable, Belinda Cornish, Alesandro Cosintini, Colleen Dauncey, Oscar Derx, Steven Gallagher, Dennis Garnhum, Alexis Gordon, Robert Green, Gloria Guo, Deb Harvey, Nicholas Harvey, Brendan Healy, David Hope, David Hein, Britta Johnson, Adam Lenson, Trish Lindstrom, Natasha MacLellan, Jeigh Madjus, Mitchell Marcus, Joe Matheson, Tawiah M’Carthy, Natalie Metcalf, Charlotte Moore, Matt Murray, Alex Mustakas, Steve O’Connell, Evalyn Parry, Jonathan Patterson, Louise Pitre, Michelle Raine, Richard Rose, Lisa Rubin, Arden Ryshpan, Irene Sankoff, Vanessa Sears, Jessica Sherman, Sarah Strange, Kelly Thornton, Ron Ulrich, Danielle Wade, Jeremy Webb, Ari Weinberg, Ben Welch, Astrid Van Wieren, Kevin Wong, Marianne Woods, Geoff Whynot, Shawn Wright, with many more to be announced. An updated roster of guests and telethon schedule will be available from Tuesday afternoon on the AFC website.

“The AFC is the lifeline for Canada’s entertainment industry,” said David Hope, Executive Director of the AFC. “Our organisation and members of our industry have experienced immense strain in the last week and this fundraiser will go a long way to help in these difficult times.”

The AFC is experiencing an unprecedented increase in demand due to COVID-19. Through compassionate and confidential support, the AFC helps Canadian entertainment professionals when they are at their most vulnerable to maintain health, dignity and ability to work. In this time of hardship, the organisation expects to expend 70% of its average yearly emergency financial aid budget on meeting requests for help that have come in just during the last week.

Make a charitable donation to the AFC.

Join the telethon live.

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Erika Santillana

Supervising Producer

647-620-2132

Email: erika.p.santillana@rogers.com

ASHLEY BOTTING is an alumna of The Second City where she wrote and performed in four Mainstage shows, and will direct their revue for spring 2020.  Ashley With a “Y” - her improvised one-woman musical cabaret, was NOW Magazine’s #1 Toronto Comedy Show, and The Stars of Mars - a musical she co-wrote - was awarded the Stage West Pechet Family Musical Award by The Playwrights Guild of Canada. She’s a panelist and writer on CBC Radio's Because News, and has written for the Emmy-winning series Odd Squad.  Selected acting credits are TV: What We Do In The Shadows, Schitt’s Creek, Odd Squad.  Theatre: Beautiful Man (Factory) The Second City Guide To The Symphony (The Kennedy Center, Roy Thomson Hall) Cam Baby (Theatre Mischief). 

NICK GREEN is a Dora and Sterling Award winning playwright in Toronto. Selected credits include In Real Life (book and lyrics; music and lyrics Kevin Wong; Canadian Music Theatre Projects); Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre); Every Day She Rose (Nightwood Theatre); Fan Girl (book; music and lyrics Anika Johnson and Barb Johnston; Musical Stage Company's Launch Pad); Dinner with the Duchess (Next Stage Festival); Body Politic (Buddies in Bad Times/lemonTree Creations; Dora Award); The Fabulous Buddha Boi (Guys UnDisguised; Sterling Award); and Poof! The Musical (book and lyrics; Twenties St Productions; Sterling nomination). Nick has been part of Nightwood Theatre's Write from the Hip; Factory Theatre's Natural Resources; and the Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program at the Stratford Festival of Canada.

MICHAEL RUBINOFF is a Tony Award nominated and Olivier Award winning producer who conceived the musical Come From Away. In 2011 he launched the Canadian Music Theatre Project (the “CMTP”), an international incubator for the development of new musicals at Sheridan College where he originally produced and developed Come From Away. He previously served as Sheridan’s Associate Dean of Visual and Performing Arts and is currently Producing Artistic Director of the CMTP, Producer for Theatre Sheridan and a member of Sheridan’s Board of Governors. For his role in creating Come From Away, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross by Canada’s Governor General. He is a proud graduate of Western University’s law school.