Sometimes life really does imitate art.
The exciting young musical theatre company Shifting Ground Collective named themselves after a lyric from Stephen Sondheim鈥檚 musical 鈥淢errily We Roll Along.鈥
鈥淪omething is stirring, shifting ground, it鈥檚 just begun,鈥 begins the song 鈥淥ur Time,鈥 about three optimistic, 20-something artists at the outset of their careers.
For Joshua Kilimnik, Shannon Murtagh and Colette Richardson, the three 20-something co-founders of the company, their time has clearly come. In only a handful of years, they鈥檝e gone from complete unknowns to an artistic force to be reckoned with 鈥 and taken seriously.
All of that became clear a few months ago, when the company鈥檚 production of 鈥淭he 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee鈥 won three Dora Awards, including best production of a musical and best creative direction of a musical, triumphing over bigger-budget, higher-profile shows like 鈥淎 Strange Loop鈥 and 鈥淟ife After.鈥
And now they鈥檙e following that success with a remount of the cult Canadian show 鈥淩ide the Cyclone,鈥 Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell鈥檚 mordantly funny musical about members of a high school choir who died in a roller coaster accident and have a chance to return to life.
The show hasn鈥檛 been remounted professionally in 海角社区官网since the early 2010s.
鈥溾楥yclone鈥 has never had a Broadway production, but it’s one of the most popular Canadian shows out there and has such a devoted fan base,鈥 said Kilimnik, on a recent sunny day in Grange Park. 鈥淚t鈥檚 aligned with all the things that Shifting Ground stands for.鈥
And just what does the company stand for?
More than three years ago, Kilimnik, Murtagh and Richardson sat at a picnic bench at Grange Park 鈥 a stone鈥檚 throw from where we talked 鈥 and wrote out the mission statement for their fledgling company.
鈥淲e wanted it to be a landing spot for new people, both onstage and off,鈥 said Murtagh. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 never really changed.鈥
鈥淲e wanted to offer a platform to the emerging artists of 海角社区官网and give them an opportunity to develop their craft,鈥 said Kilimnik. 鈥淎nd also to help establish the love of musical theatre in 海角社区官网through outputs that included community engagement events, brand new musicals and beloved works of the musical theater canon. I believe that’s the wording we used. And we’re still going full speed ahead on all fronts.鈥
What鈥檚 refreshing about talking with the three 鈥 besides their nerdy musical deep-cut references 鈥 is that no one person dominates the conversation. Even in their responses, I can feel the collaborative nature of the team.
They won鈥檛 mount a show without all of them being on board. And they always have to have a reason for putting it on.
Duncan Lang (left), Sydney Gauvin, Colette Richardson and Jameson Mosher in “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Taylor LongAfter mounting Sondheim鈥檚 鈥淢errily鈥 in 2024, the company knew it wanted its next production to be 鈥淪pelling Bee.鈥 They all loved it, but why do it? What was the point? And that鈥檚 when Richardson came up with her take.
鈥淪o many productions played up the comedy of the kids in the show being 鈥榳eird,鈥欌 said Richardson, recalling the conversation they had. 鈥淚 thought it was really important that we took the characters at face value. So I said, 鈥楾hey shouldn鈥檛 be caricatures. At the end of the day, they’re not weird, they’re not quirky. They鈥檙e鈥 neurodivergent.鈥 And Shannon looked at me and said, 鈥榃ow, that鈥檚 why we do it.鈥欌
鈥淪o then when we put out a call, it was to hire predominantly folks that identified as neurodivergent,鈥 added Murtagh. 鈥淎nd I think that鈥檚 one of the reasons why it worked. It became artists exploring how their neurodivergence factored into their own creativity.鈥
Another refreshing thing about the company 鈥 which is reviving another Canadian classic, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” next March 鈥 is it鈥檚 not merely a vehicle to showcase their own acting and singing talents.
Murtagh and Richardson starred in Shifting Ground鈥檚 2023 production of 鈥淥rdinary Days,鈥 which impressed me so much I named the company one of the theatre breakthroughs of the year in the Star. Kilimnik directed their 2024 production of 鈥淢errily,鈥 which co-starred Richardson. But none of them performed in 鈥淪pelling Bee.鈥 And only Murtagh is in the 鈥淐yclone鈥 cast, which is being directed by Stratford actor Steven Hao, who helmed 鈥淥rdinary Days.鈥
鈥淲e decided pretty early on that if we were going to be involved as artists in a direct capacity on a show, there had to be a reason for it,鈥 said Richardson. 鈥淲e program a show first, and then we sit back and go, 鈥楢re any of us the right person for this?鈥 It鈥檚 that simple.鈥
All three consider producing shows an artistic endeavour in and of itself, added Kilimnik.
鈥淲e are artistic collaborators in everything we do,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e’re all part of the conversation, and we’re all looking to bring out a show that reflects our preferences.鈥
Murtagh and Kilimnik met while doing a show at York University in 2019, and quickly became great friends. Because university theatre productions often pool talent, Kilimnik met Richardson when the latter was putting on a show at U of T鈥檚 Scarborough College. During a phone call about a possible production of 鈥淢errily鈥 that Murtagh was going to assistant-direct, she and Richardson decided they were best friends.
Shifting Ground feels like part of a new wave of talented theatre makers that includes the indie companies Bowtie Productions and First Born Theatre Productions, who both put on musicals, and Icarus Theatre, which does straight plays.
鈥淚 think it has something to do with coming out of the pandemic,鈥 said Kilimnik. 鈥淧eople spent two years at home watching bootlegs of Broadway shows. They got fed up with waiting for opportunities to happen to them, and started to want to fight for their own opportunities. In the 海角社区官网theatre ecosystem, very talented folks seem to get cast over and over in things. That doesn鈥檛 leave much space for new voices 鈥 on the stage or behind it.鈥
Shifting Ground wants to provide opportunities for talented people who may have just graduated from theatre school who need a foot in the door. They attend student productions. They hold open calls. They take recommendations from people they know.
The Shifting Ground Collective debut production, “Ordinary Days.”
Taylor Long鈥淲e have talented friends, but we’re not just interested in hiring people we already know,鈥 said Murtagh. 鈥淎 lot of the folks involved in 鈥楻ide the Cyclone,鈥 for instance, we didn鈥檛 know. They came to an open call and we were blown away.鈥
And emerging talent isn鈥檛 just about age, said Kilimnik. 鈥淪pelling Bee鈥 director, Jennifer Walls, is an established actor, but she had only been directing for a couple of years. They found her, too, at an open call.
While 鈥淢errily鈥 is obviously an artistic touchstone for the company, it鈥檚 hard not to think of what happens to the characters in the show, who end up breaking apart. How will the three avoid a similar fate?
鈥淲e don’t leave space for grudges,鈥 said Murtagh. 鈥淲e talk through problems. A lot of the magic of this company comes from the fact that the three of us are not just great collaborators but also best friends. I’m so grateful that I get to make art with them, and the idea of not getting to do that scares me.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 not gonna lie, but we do have moments where we go, 鈥楪uys, that was hard, that did not go well,鈥欌 added Richardson. 鈥淲e need to separate our egos from what is best for the company.鈥
Before every production, the three join pinky fingers and sing these lyrics from 鈥 what else? 鈥 another 鈥淢errily鈥 song: 鈥淗ere鈥檚 to us! Who鈥檚 like us? Damn few.鈥
Indeed.
鈥淩ide the Cyclone鈥 begins performances Wednesday at the Annex Theatre, 730 Bathurst St. Visit for tickets and more information.
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