Courtesy of Melissa Novecosky, Shaw Associate Director
This is a November and December newsletter! I think you’ll forgive me for a double issue when you hear what’s been going on.
It’s been a wonderful season, one full of joy and exciting new adventures. We did a lot of amazing things this year and I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished together. It’s hard to believe that at this time last year we hadn’t yet signed the lease for Upper Canada Lodge and now we’re 6 weeks away from moving into three of the five buildings!
My deepest thanks to all of you for taking on the new work that comes with a campaign like this – it’s a lot and I’m grateful that we have such a strong team to make all this happen.
I’m looking forward to the Staff Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 17 where we can toast the season and celebrate a remarkable year.
All. Together. Now. Campaign
Since we launched the All. Together. Now campaign in May we’ve reached 75% of our fundraising goal – that’s $113M raised! We’re continuing to have great meetings with donors who are excited about what we’ve got planned. On the government funding front, Tim and Jon were in Ottawa at the end of November and had some excellent conversations about funding for the Royal George.
Every year our donors receive a special Shaw magazine that we produce in house (shout out to Marion!). It features loads of behind-the-scenes content and interviews with artists. This year, we created a special edition that focuses on All. Together. Now. It lays out the big campaign ‘WHYS’ and highlights some of the incredible supporters who have already put up their hands to say yes. I hope you’ll check it out.
If you want more information about how to get involved with the campaign, please reach out toCindyorKim.
Shaw Artists’ Village Update – (or) Tin roof…not rusted!
There is a lot of work going on inside the Shaw Artists’ Village right now that you can’t see, but one of the things you can see is the new metal roof being installed. The loading dock is also coming along, which you can see in the adjacent photo.
Inside, the drywall and floors are being installed in the Wardrobe building so it’s starting to take its real shape. Over at the Festival, everything is getting packed and sorted for the big move. Anyone who has moved knows how surprising it is to see how many boxes it takes to pack up your stuff…so I’m pretty glad we’ve hired movers.
Over in the housing buildings, the drywall is completed and painted. The flooring is going in, and the millwork is being installed. We’re ordering furniture and appliances and 2 pallets of linens arrived this week. The rest of the fixtures, furniture, and equipment arrives in the next couple of weeks and will be installed as soon as possible. We’re on track to take possession of the Wardrobe and the housing buildings by mid-January.
Royal George Theatre Update – (or) ZONING APPROVED!!!!
I go to a lot of meetings (it comes with the job), but I’ve never been more stressed out at a meeting than the November Council meeting. I’ll spare you the tedious and complicated procedural details (if you are dying to know, come find me) but by the end of the meeting we got what we needed to keep this project moving – the bylaw amendment and re-zoning was approved and then ratified by council.
This has been a long process, our first submission was way back in May, but we’re moving forward. Up next, the demolition permit for 178 & 188 Victoria, followed by the second part of the conservation plan and demolition permit for the theatre and box office building in January.
Thank you to everyone who reached out after these meetings – it means a lot to know you spent some of your free time watching a town municipal meeting!
Once we receive the demolition permit for 178 & 188 Victoria, you’ll see hoarding go up around the houses as we start the careful work of removing the conservation items. Tree pruning and removal and demolition will begin shortly after that. We’ve already re-located one tree to the Artists’ Village, and the Guild has done good work to save some plantings from the garden.
We’ve been in a ton of workshops and discussions leading towards the designs and a class C budget. This design set and budget is the precursor to the tendering and onboarding of trades in the new year. Basically – the building is locking in and we’re getting into the details of how things like mechanical, electrical, and structural systems work together. Spoiler – there’s a lot of conversations about ducting. No doubt this budget evaluation will also mean cutting some things and making changes but that too is part of the process.
The production team met recently to review the plan for how we get everything out of the Royal George building. It’ll take over a month to remove all the gear and furniture we are keeping, re-using, and storing. I’m thankful for our production team experts who will be doing this work over the month of January and ensuring everything is properly removed, tagged and stored, as is required by the conservation plan.
Folks from Theater Consultants Collaboration (TCC) and Threshold Acoustics were in town for two days to work through the lights, audio, video, rigging and automation needs for the building with our teams to make sure we’re feeling confident with the plans. Thanks to Paul, Curtis, Maddie, their teams, and everyone on our team for your hard work on these details.
Farewell Events
There’s a lot of excitement around the final performance at the Royal George. The Fezziwig party is 4-6pm and is going to be an absolute blast – great food, great friends, great fun, and there are still tickets available for the 7pm performance. If you are interested, please email events@shawfest.com.
Lastly, the plan for the January 31st goodbye Royal George event is taking shape. We’ll be announcing the event in early January but in the meantime, there will be social media posts encouraging folks to share their Royal George memories. If you want to share yours head to our Instagram or Facebook account or you can email them to royalgeorge@shawfest.com.
I hope you and your families have a wonderful and relaxing holiday season. I’m looking forward to kicking off the new year recharged and reenergized and can’t wait to see all the incredible things we do together in 2026.
As always, if you have any questions, or want more information, please let me know.
