Grant Tilly: news

The Cold Read series is a great resource for Playwrights who want to hear scenes read by proffesional actors in front of a live audience. Tomorrow ( Monday March 6th), I'm going to be performing as part of a fundraiser to help send one of their regular writers to the Fringe (I didn't enter this year, maybe next). Tickets are 10 bucks and the night starts at 7:30. Hope to see you there.
And... I've added Persephone Theatre to the links section, in case you happen to be in Saskatchewan and want to come see "I Love you, You're Perfect..." check them out.
And... I'm going to Calgary on Tuesday. Looking forward to it.

I had been asked by Graham Maxwell who directs the annual DQ Casey House fundraiser to write a song for their upcoming show in May. Met with the cast last night and it sounds great, looking forward to having it onstage, as it was definetely a challenge to write.
In other news, Grease has closed and I will next be off to Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon to do a production of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!". Looking forward to being back on the prairies and hopefully seeing some friends from Prince Albert.
One more thing, for all you Singers in Toronto: arranger/composer/piano player Konrad Pluta is running a Singer's open mic at Statlers (on Church south of Wellsley) every Wednesday from 9pm to midnight. Stopped by Wednesday and heard some amazing performances. Just bring your sheet music or chose from the books he has there, it's a great chance to do a song that you've always wanted to with a pro.
Back in Calgary in a few weeks, hope to see you for a drink at the Auburn.

All is good with the run at Stage West, though I'm looking forward to putting some finishing touches on the show I'm writing once the contract is up. I'll post it here once there's a public reading.
Also, someone named Jean (who worked with my Mother at OCD) came to the show the other night and sent a note backstage. Jean, couldn't find you after the show, but hoped you enjoyed it, feel free to send an email, it'd be good to hear from you.
Looking forward to a nice spring in Barrie and maybe getting back to Calgary before then. Cheers.

So far, I am enjoying this whole new year thing and the fact that I'm getting a lot of visitors from overseas. I know no one in France, and yet they keep coming! As far as theatre goes, Grease is still going strong, and I will be performing in Emily of New Moon in Spring in Barrie. Looking forward to checking out Ian Sherwood's CD release on January 24th at the Cameron house and catch up with some old friends. You can find his site in the "links" section, drop by for a great show. Cheers.

Yes, Grease is the word. The show has officially opened and we're sold out until after Christmas, but stop by then if you can. Christmas... ah, Christmas. Looking forward to a visit from my father and spending time with some family here in Toronto this year. And avoiding malls as much as possible. Wishing you and yours...

It was hard to leave Calgary, and good to see so many people I haven't for so long, but it's nice to be back in Toronto and getting down to work. I'll be in Grease at Stage West Missisauga, playing the role of "Doody", a part I've always wanted to do. Started rehearsals the other day as far as I can tell, it should be a great show. I'll put the website in the links section if you feel like coming out. Once the show is up, it looks like I'll be doing the final push to finish off the musical, and in February I think I'll start being a "Singer/Songwriter" again, it's been too long!
Check back for future dates on that,
cheers, grant

I had to do some soul searching if I should write about this here, but so much of my art is who I am, and so much of who I am is my Mom.
Last wednesday, while on a business trip in Brandon Manitoba, my Mom, Michele Stephan Tilly passed away from a massive heart attack. After a quick trip down to Buffalo to see my Mom's side of the family, I'm back in Calgary with my Father. We've been simply innondated with support and love (and beer), so thank you everyone so much for your love and thoughts.
There will be a memorial service at 3pm on Tuesday Nov. 1st, at First Memorial Funeral Services, 240 17th Avenue SW Calgary T25 0A3, condolences to the family can be sent to rufustilly@yahoo.ca. En lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, please find their website in the link section if you wish to donate online.
If you knew my Mom growing up in Buffalo, we will be organizing a memorial service in mid-november in Buffalo.

She was an amazing lady, an inspiration to me, a hard worker who also knew how to get the most out of life. Seeing how many lives she's touched has been incredible, she really knew what it meant to live a good life, and brought happiness into the lives of so many others.

I'm really going to miss her, but I am so thankful for having the time that I did with her, I was just hoping for another 20 years.

I've taken up an offer from a new cousin ("new" in the sense that we'd only just met by chance in Toronto)-- to visit the "tropical isle" of Newfoundland for a week and meet the new family while catching up with some old family and friends. They're all amazingly talented people, him, his sister... so hopefully it runs in the genes. As a friend here said, "...so, Grant my son... you come by it honestly".
St. John's is beautiful, I've only been here once before, but it always feels like home... then again, with all the relatives coming out of the woodwork, the guy I meet in the street could very well be my fifth cousin twice removed... us Tilly's were a productive bunch a couple of generations back.
On another note, I had a song from Gay for Day performed at the Jane Mallett tribute before leaving TO, thanks to everyone involved, and to Mari Trainor for doing such a great job with the song. There was some fantastic talent onstage that night.

Friday night was the closing night of Footloose in Prince Albert, and I had a fantastic time. Thanks to everyone who made Prince Albert feel like home for awhile, as well as some awesome people who made the show what it was: Darren, Gillian, Kelsey, Leslie, David, Mike, a very talented cast and crew, Eva, Hekki and the Miller Family for putting me up for a night in Paradise Hill, and Gina for the shirt: I will wear my "Nacam's where they make 'em" shirt with pride. I've put a couple of photos up in the gallery, should you feel inclined, check 'em out.
Now I'm back in Calgary for a week, to regroup and spend some time with the family, see some friends, and have a couple drinks at the Auburn before heading back to Toronto. After all, I have a musical to finish... Hoping to get a complete draft by the end of September, and then maybe a quick trip out to Newfoundland to see some family. Thanks for visiting...

PA stands for Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, for the un-initiated. First of all, thank you to Gina for letting me use her internet, there aren't too many internet cafes here. I'm here with Broadway North doing a production of "Footloose" at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts, playing the part of "Ren" (or Kevin Bacon, for those un-initiated to the world of Footloose...). Have to admit it's great to get away from Toronto's smog for a month to the "land of living skies". The people have been incredible, and... I have a Jeep to drive! The show opens on August 2nd and goes to to 12th. If you happen to be in the area, stop by for a great show (I'll put the website in the links section).
Cheers, tilly

I think I have finally finished moving into the new place, but everything is still in boxes, maybe that's to save some time, since I'll be moving out of this sublet in September again. But for now the house is beautiful, and the summer is treating me very well. The musical is coming together nicely, and I'm looking forward to doing some travelling in mid july. We've also been having some Overseas visitors to the website (I have this nifty thing where I can see where the traffic is coming from) so Hello and welcome, however you stumbled on the site, I'm glad you did.

going to be out of Toronto for a week or two, to visit home, the family, the dog, and maybe a buddy of mine in the mountains. Nothing better than Alberta in the Spring (that is when it co-operates and has a Spring) Looking forward to it and seeing a few old friends and coming back recharged. I'll be putting some new music on as well, so stay tuned...

Seems like everyone I know is in a constant state of change right now. People moving, jobs lost, and found, people passing through town, but I'm starting to get used to it, and the writing is coming along well. Also I've been spending some time volunteering for DQ '05. What's that? DQ is an annual fund raising event to benefit Casey House, featuring the city's best Drag Queens. I've been at some of the rehearsals, and I can tell you the show will be fantastic. So if you haven't got your tickets, get to it. Go to dqonstage.org for more information, the show runs April 29th - May 7th.

The internet service in the house is down (and Bell is on strike so that's not going to change for awhile) so I'm now at the Rhino in Parkdale having a beer. Spring is here, it's a beautiful day, and I'm feeling okay about being unemployed as I've started getting into writing again. Also, due to a nice little governement Grant (yes, I know, Grant got a Grant... it's funny, no really) I've got a bit of time to finish a musical that I've been working on for a couple of years. It's been nice to focus on writing for the last week, if it also drives me a bit crazy wrapping my mind around the whole project, so getting out of the house is a good thing. Also, I'm going to be getting out for gig this Friday. check the calendar section and drop by if you can.

Bat Boy will be closing this March 19th, so if you haven't seen it yet be sure to make it down to the Bathurst Street Theatre before Saturday night. Tonight I sat in the theatre and spied on the audience (you can do that as an understudy) and can tell you that they had a great time, so don't take my word, take theirs.

So... looks like starting Sunday I am back to being a Singer/Songwriter. I'll be setting up some gigs soon, so if you'd like to be know when they come up leave your email and I'll contact you. Cheers, Grant

I thought I'd try putting new music on the site about every month or so, so this month it's another one from the Cloning show. A nice love duet called "Love will keep us together", all sweet and stuff until you see the show and realize it's being sung by a Father/Daughter who don't know they're related. I've been getting a great response from "My God's Better..." so I think it gets to stay another month too. And the pictures from the Cameron house gig last month are up, check the photos section to have a look.

I've got one month with my arranger before he takes off out of town, so I'm trying to make some major inroads on the next project I'm working on. Hope to have some examples for the web in awhile. Other than that, let's hope for a healthy cast.

A crazy week, and I am glad to have made it through in one piece. Wednesday we actually had a cancelled show after three cast members were too sick to perform, and with only two understudies... you do the math. Though it has been known to happen that a show is pushed through, thanks to a generous producer that didn't happen. So, we're brought in to rehearse and did a lot of work on the guy's role we thought would be out the next day. The next morning we find out that he's fine, but the other guy has pnemonia. So with an afternoon's rehearsal in the new role I'm onstage that night, and thanks to a fantastic cast and crew I made it through. It was only after the show I was told reviewers from both NOW and EYE were in the audience... I must admit to a certain sense of dread, having to jump into a role is never fun (especially if you didn't have the luxury of being with the cast during their rehearsals), but good friends are telling me this will just make a good story in a couple years. I agree.

Thanks to everyone who made it out on Tuesday to the Cameron House, the night was a success and the band was paid. Norbert is putting some photos together and I should have them online soon. No gigs coming up for a month or two now though, I'm going to be devoting a lot of time to understudying the 6 roles in BatBoy and becoming minorly schizophrenic.

I've been in living for Toronto for about half a year now, and since my original web guy Jesse is still in Calgary it seems like it's time to make a new one that I can update from here. So thanks to Jesse for all his help on the earlier one, and let me know what you think of this one...