Photos: Inside the 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Awards

The 36th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards for the 2014/2015 season were handed out in a star-studded ceremony in Toronto on the evening of Monday, June 22 at Harbourfront Centre's WestJet Stage, hosted by the hilarious Gavin Crawford, whose eight seasons on CBC-TV's This Hour Has 22 Minutes earned him numerous accolades and who recently won an ACTRA Award for his leading role in the film Two 4 One.

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards are produced and presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) and celebrate excellence in Toronto theatre, dance and opera. For the 2014-2015 season, 117 producing companies registered 212 eligible productions. A total of 48 Dora Awards plus the Silver Ticket Award and the Audience Choice Award were given out.

The Canadian Opera Company led the pack, taking home 8 Dora Awards (5 for Falstaff and 3 for Die Walküre). Modern Times Stage Company / Aluna Theatre earned second spot with 6 Doras, all for their co-production of Blood Wedding (Bodas de Sangre).Soulpepper Theatre Company followed closely with 5 wins (2 for Accidental Death of an Anarchist, 2 for Spoon River and 1 for Twelve Angry Men). David Mirvish tallies in with 4 hits: 3 for the musical Once and 1 for The Heart of Robin Hood. The details for each division are below:

In the General Theatre Division, Soulpepper Theatre leads the division with 3 Doras: Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance-Male (Kawa Ada) for Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and Outstanding Performance-Ensemble for Twelve Angry Men. Outstanding New Play goes to Hannah Moscovitch for Infinity, a Tarragon Theatre / Volcano Theatre co-production. Volcano also wins Outstanding Sound Design/Composition for The Four Horsemen Project - original sound poetry/composition: Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Paul Dutton, Steve McCaffery & bpNichol; additional sound design/ creation: Bill Brennan, Graham Hargrove, John Millard and the cast - presented with Crooked Figure Dances and Global Mechanic for a total of 2 for the company. Eda Holmes nabs Outstanding Direction for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre's Tom at the Farm. Nicky Guadagni hooks the Outstanding Performance-Female Dora for Theatre Passe Muraille's Hooked. Börkur Jónsson snatches Outstanding Scenic Design for the David Mirvishproduction of The Heart of Robin Hood (co-presented with Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Barry and Fran Weissler) while Astrid Janson nets Outstanding Costume Design for VideoCabaret's Trudeau and Lévesque and André Du Toit nabs Outstanding Lighting Design for Theatre Smith-Gilmour's Take Me Back To Jefferson.

The inaugural Pat and Tony Adams Freedom Fund for the Arts provides a cash prize of $1,000 each to the recipients of the Outstanding Performance-Female and Outstanding Performance-Male in the General Theatre Division.

In the Musical Theatre Division, David Mirvish leads the division with 3 Doras for Once: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performance-Female for Trish Lindström and Outstanding Performance-Ensemble. Outstanding Performance-Male goes to Daren A. Herbert for Acting Up Stage Company's The Wild Party (which also nabs Outstanding Choreography for Stephanie Graham in the shared Musical Theatre/Opera Division for a total of 2 wins). Outstanding Touring Production goes to Kiss & Cry from Charleroi Danses presented by Canadian Stage.

In the shared Musical Theatre/Opera Division and Opera Division proper, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) tops the Dora wins list with a total of 8 awards over these two divisions: Atom Egoyan wins Outstanding Direction for the COC's Die Walküre which also nabs Outstanding Lighting Design for David Finn and Outstanding Performance-Female for Christine Goerke. The COC's Falstaff (a co-production with Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Teatro alla Scala; Metropolitan Opera and Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam) scores 5 Doras in total: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performance-Male for Gerald Finley, Outstanding Performance-Ensemble, Outstanding Scenic Design for Paul Steinberg and Outstanding Costume Design for Brigitte Reiffenstuel. The Dora for Outstanding New Musical/Opera goes to Mike Ross and Albert Schultz for Soulpepper Theatre's Spoon River for which Mike Ross also earns the Dora for Outstanding Musical Direction, bringing Soulpepper's overall haul to 5.

Continuing the tradition of Bluma's Indies, the winners in the Independent Theatre Division each receive a $1,000 cheque from theBluma Appel Community Trust in addition to Dora Awards. The Modern Times Stage Company / Aluna Theatre co-production ofBlood Wedding (Bodas de Sangre) leads the wins in this division with 6 Doras: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction to Soheil Parsa, Outstanding Performance-Female to Beatriz Pizano, Outstanding Costume Design to Angela Thomas and both Outstanding Scenic Design and Outstanding Lighting Design to Trevor Schwellnus. Quote Unquote Collectives's Mouthpiece snags 2 awards: Outstanding Performance-Ensemble and Outstanding Sound Design/Composition for composer Amy Nostbakken and sound designer James Bunton.Jordan Tannahill nets Outstanding New Play for Suburban Beast's Concord Floral and Sergio DiZio of Bob Kills Theatre's The Motherfucker With the Hat nabs Outstanding Performance-Male.

In the Theatre for Young Audience's Division, Theatre Direct's Beneath the Banyan Tree heads the division with 3 Doras: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction to Lynda Hill and Outstanding Performance-Ensemble. Firebrand Theatre's Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story takes the remaining 2 categories: Outstanding New Play to Beau Dixon (created by) and Susan Newman / Rob Fortin (lyrics and music) and Outstanding Performance-Individual to Beau Dixon.

In the Dance Division, the Art of Time Ensemble leads with 2 Doras, both for #lovesexbrahms (from Intermezzi) with Outstanding Choreography to James Kudelka and Outstanding Lighting Design to Simon Rossiter. Outstanding Production goes to Luminato's presentation of So Blue (produced by Fou Glorieux and co-produced by the Festival TransAmeriques, Tanzhaus nrw, Theatre de la Ville, Hellerau and National Arts Centre). Caroline Fraser snags Outstanding Performance-Female for Gadfly's Skills & Soul Battles(TUDS) and Vincent Mantsoe nabs Outstanding Performance-Male for DanceWorks' NTU (DW 208). Outstanding Performance-Ensemble goes to This Is a Costume Drama (Harbourfront Centre's World Stage presents The Deitrich Group). And Outstanding Sound Design/Composition goes to Nicolás Hernández for his new arrangement of Pueblo for Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company's remount of Letters to Spain, after Jose Luis Valle "Chuscales" and Hernández's composition for the original presentation.

OTHER AWARDS:
The Silver Ticket Award is bestowed upon an individual who has excelled in their career while also nurturing the development of Canadian theatre. It was presented to master prop builder fina macDonell who has been making her magic for Toronto's theatre community for over three decades, ranging from small fringe theatre works to multi-million dollar lavish musicals.

TAPA's Audience Choice Award for Outstanding Production, co-sponsored by NOW Magazine and Yonge-Dundas Square, was also handed out. The public was invited to vote online from a list of Outstanding Production nominees in all divisions, or choose their own favourite. Presented with a commemorative plaque, the Audience Choice Award winner is Brantwood by Sheridan College's Canadian Music Theatre Project.

Photos by Racheal McCaig. Check her out on Twitter and her website here.