Stafford Arima (he/him) is an award-winning director for stage and screen.
With 25+ years of experience in the global entertainment industry, he became the first Asian Canadian to direct a musical on Broadway when Allegiance opened at the Longacre Theatre, starring George Takei and Lea Salonga. Arima directed the West End premiere of Ragtime, earning 8 Olivier Award nominations, including Best Director.
Arima is currently the Artistic Director at Theatre Calgary where he has helmed a number of productions since 2017 including Forgiveness, Mary and Max, The Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol, and Billy Elliot. Arima has also shepherded new musical ... read more
Alison Franck (CSA) is a casting professional with over 20 years of Broadway, Off-Broadway, Touring, Regional Theatre, TV, Film, Commercial and Voice Over Casting experience. For a decade, she was the Casting Director for the prestigious regional theatre Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, where she cast over 50 productions with some of the theatre community's finest talent. Notable credits at Paper Mill include the Broadway transfer of I’m Not Rappaport starring Judd Hirsch and Ben Vereen, Anything Goes starring Chita Rivera, The Baker’s Wife starring Alice Ripley, The Chosen starring Theodore Bikel and John Lloyd Young, Baby starring La ... read more