Once again, the ACT-CO Gala will be held at the Paradise Banquet & Convention Centre. This year however, due to the tremendous growth in attendance over the past couple of years, ACT-CO is pleased to announce we are again holding this year's Awards Gala in the larger combined “Queen Victoria, Mary & Anne” rooms. The Paradise was recently renovated and expanded, its elegant marble halls and the gentle rhythms of the waterfall provide a suitable backdrop to an evening of theatrical celebration, reunions and fun.

For more information about the venue, please visit their website at
www.paradisehalls.com

To ensure a safe and enjoyable evening, ACT-CO has reserved a limited number of rooms at the Courtyard Marriott at a special rate. This hotel is located at Finch and Hwy 400, a ten minute ride away.

For reservations at the Courtyard Marriott, call 905-707-6533

For the special rates, be sure to ask for the Gala rate and mention that you are attending the ACT-CO Gala function at the Paradise Banquet Hall.

If the Marriot Courtyard is not suitable for you, you can also check out a couple of other hotels in the area. These are:

1. Monte Carlo Inn 905-761-7170
2. Howard Johnson Markham (905) 479-5000

Gala Information
and
Order Forms

To ensure you correctly provide the complete information necessary to guarantee your tickets, please click
here for the ticket order form

For hard copies of the information contained on this page. please click the links below:

Gala Information Flyer



Gala Thea Sponsorship Information

TICKETS GO ON SALE February 16, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.


ACT-CO, with the support of the Paradise Banquet Hall, has once again been able to avoid any price increases for this year. The ticket options are the same as last year:

[1]. Full Evening Tickets: $50.00
Includes Cocktails, Dinner, Award Ceremony, Sweets Table and after-party

[2]. Ceremony Only: $25.00
Includes Award Ceremony, Sweets Table and after-party only, with no entrance until 8:00pm

Important Notice: Due to the likelihood of the evening selling out, there will be NO tickets available at the door. All tickets whether Full Evening or Ceremony/Dance only must be purchased in advance. Please ensure you order early to avoid disappointment.

OPTION 1 – TELEPHONE ORDER
Please call 905-830-4355 and provide all of the required information.
Mail the completed order form with your cheque.

OPTION 2 – MAIL ORDER
Mail the completed order form with your cheque.(Please note all orders must be received no later than March 16th)

Gala Ticket Order Form

Please Note:All ticket orders must be placed and paid in full by 6:00pm March 16th, as we need to confirm our final numbers with the Paradise. To book your tickets, you must phone the ACT-CO Ticket Line, then mail your order payment to

Kim Collins
ACT-CO Gala Committee
18709 Yonge Street,
RR#1,
Newmarket, ON
L3Y 4V8
Attn: Gala Tickets

We suggest that dress should be semi-formal to formal.

“Full Evening” tickets include a full multi-course meal. Any dietary restrictions must be discussed with Kim Collins by March 16th. Contact or 905-830-4355 for assistance.

There will be a cash bar for the pre-dinner cocktail hour as well as throughout the evening.

Smoking will be in a designated area outside.

Be Top bidder at our Silent Auction and take home your prize! Lucky previous year bidders took home these bargains, to name a few:

Theatre tickets to:

- Soulpepper
- Canstage
- Tarragon Theatre
- The Shaw Festival
- Amicus Productions
- The Curtain Club
- Georgetown Globe Productions
- East Side Players
- Scugog Choral Society

Passes to attractions:

- The ROM
- Black Creek Pioneer Village
- Ontario Place
- Ontario Science Centre

- Signed ballet slippers from Heather Ogden of the National ballet of Canada
- Venetian Masks from Hamilton Theatrics
- A year of pizza from Pizza Pizza
- $100 gift certificate from McDonald Faber Fabrics

So, tell your members to bring some 'mad' money and go crazy!!

Should your group be willing to donate a prize(s) or you know of someone within your community who would like to help, please contact Kim Collins at (905) 830-4355 or .

We will again be running our visual presentation of all the productions entered in this year's festival to make the evening more involving and exciting. To help us make this portion of the evening even more successful than it was last year, we would love to include photographic projections of every one of this year's festival shows.

You can help: please forward (via e-mail, on disk, or in hard copy) one or two stills from any of your 2009 Festival productions with group name, production titles, dates, names and any other information you consider relevant by March 27th. We will include them as part of our ongoing collage projection celebration of the festival season prior to the awards, and winning productions during the ceremony as they are announced.

Send your material to or to Kim Collins, 18709 Yonge Street, RR#1, Newmarket, Ontario L3Y 4V8.

Each "full evening" or "show only" guest will be eligible for one of several prizes to be drawn at the end of the awards presentations. To be eligible for these prizes, the draw portion of your gala ticket must be turned in at the door.

"SPONSOR A THEA AWARD"

In 2008, eleven community theatre groups each donated $100.00 to sponsor an award category at the Gala.

A number of these companies gave their sponsorships as a tribute to the contributions of colleagues who are no longer with us. When sponsoring an award, the sponsoring group is invited to submit information on the individual for complimentary inclusion in ACT-CO's special Final Curtain memorial section.

This year we have 42 awards in 14 categories. We invite you to consider this opportunity to sponsor your favourite Thea award. We are asking for a sponsorship per category of only $100.00. The sponsorship process will be handled on a first come, first serve basis. You may request a particular category, but unfortunately, we cannot guarantee your choice. ACT-CO will sponsor the three Best Production awards.

The categories are as follows:

- Lighting Design for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Set Design for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Costume Design for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Sound Design for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Supporting Actor for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Supporting Actress for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Leading Actor for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Leading Actress for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Musical Director and Choreographer for Musical (2 awards)
- Director for Drama, Comedy and Musical (3 awards)
- Adjudicator's Awards for Drama (4 awards)
- Adjudicator's Awards for Comedy (4 awards)
- Adjudicator's Awards for Musical (4 awards)

If you are interested in sponsoring a Thea, please complete the Thea Sponsorship Form, along with your cheque for $100.00 made payable to the Association of Community Theatres - Central Ontario and mail/ courier directly to Kim Collins. Requests should be received by March 16th, 2008. You can also make contributions of goods or theatre tickets to our Silent Auction.

Thea Sponsorship Order Form