Paris Performers’ Theatre bouncing back – ready to be a strong theatrical presence in Brant County again

Arts & Entertainment

Paris Performers’ Theatre has been acting, dancing, singing and delivering theatrical productions and brilliant workshops since 1992 and, after some recent upheaval and big changes, the community theatre company is definitely here to stay. At the end of September, Paris Performers’ Theatre released a statement and a GoFundMe campaign, saying: “Paris Performers’ Theatre has had to make the difficult decision to cancel our season due to financial constraints. We have come to the conclusion we cannot, in good conscience, offer our season without first paying some outstanding bills and replenishing our coffers. Our board has recently gone through some changes and our paramount goal is to make sure Paris Performers’Theatre is viable and that we can continue to offer great theatre

The Paris Performers Theatre has put on some brilliant performances over the years and despite recent setbacks, the group is emerging stronger than ever. Pictured above is the Cast of the award-winning production of The Pillowman, February 2023 at the Paris Fairgrounds.

The GoFundMe goal was reached in about a week with many long term supporters, former board members and Brant theatre enthusiasts sharing the campaign, and many looking forward to the upcoming AGM.” The Annual General Meeting was held on October 23rd, at the Wincey Mills Co, with members of the current board, PPT company, wider community and the Western Ontario Drama League present; it was a thorough and tough meeting which laid out the very clear challenges for the company moving forward: financial elements, expanding the theatre community in Brant and getting back to creating great theatre It was an encouraging meeting, well attended and very productive! Many of the current board members decided to stay on: Cindy Cudney, Deanna Stevens, Nikole Beda, Duncan Graham, Todd Lucek, Martin Smith, Connor McGrath and Dennis Nason and new members were nominated and elected: Heather Ashby, Sebastian Cudney, Sara Morrison, John Hobbs and myself. Moving forward, Paris Performers Theatre’ has three focuses: rebalancing their finances and administration, engaging the community through fundraising and entertaining, and getting back to bringing bright and bold productions to Paris and Brant

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Their recent Trivia night at the Paris Pub was just the start, their next event - also at the Paris Pub - is Life Is Just A Cabaret: Dinner Theatre Fundraiser, a supper club style evening with tickets getting you a three course meal and a series of pop-up performances for the Paris Performers’ Theatre members: music, monologues, cabaret, drag and more Paris Performers Theatre has a new board and refreshed energies, the first board meeting after the AGM had elections, the results being: President, Rubyyy Jones (I know right?!), Vice President, Martin Smith, Treasurer, Deanna Stevens and Dennis Nason remains the Secretary; many new roles like Head of Wardrobe (Duncan Graham), Production Manager (Sebastian Cudney), Record Keeper (Sara Morrison) were decided too.

I asked the board members for their thoughts on PPT’s future, its importance in Paris and what they’d like to share with the community, the new Head of Props and Facilities Manager, Cindy Cudney said: “Paris is a very loving and supportive community of people and I appreciate everything that they do to help the theatre. I love being a part of PPT!”

Former Vice President (from 2017-2023) and new Head of Fundraising, Nikola Beda, said: “It has been so encouraging to see so many members of our theatre and our community working together, so hard, to keep our doors open.”

Original board member Heather Ashby said: “I am VERY grateful to our community for supporting our fundraising efforts. I feel that our theatre has provided such a creative outlet for all age groups and all facets of the arts. We are looking forward to getting back to performing and running educational programs for and without community. Without community, there is no theatre!”

There’s still a lot more work, big decisions and terrific theatrical things to come and the future of Paris Performers’ Theatre is looking bolder and brighter than it did only a few weeks ago; make sure you’re following Paris Performers’ Theatre on Facebook and @ParisPerformersTheatre on Instagram for more announcements and developments.