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In September 1971, the Ryerson Theatre School opened its doors for the first time, welcoming 35 students to the inaugural Theatre Arts program.  This weekend, the school will celebrate their 40^th anniversary as a leader in theatre education in North America.

The Ryerson Theatre School will mark its 40^th year by hosting an Anniversary Weekend from February 10 – 12.  The weekend will include a gala performance of Marathon ’33, immediately followed by a ‘(re)opening night’ party on Saturday, February 11 and an alumni brunch hosted by the Gerd Hauck, Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Design on Sunday. Ryerson Theatre School alumni will be honoured throughout the weekend, including the school’s very first acting graduate Philip Akin, who graduated in 1975.

A theatre school at Ryerson was a dream realized by the founder and first Artistic Director, Jack McAllister.  After 18 years of periodic planning and research, including study of the world’s most prominent theatre schools, McAllister first brought his proposal to the Academic Council in early 1970. McAllister's proposal was accepted, and in the spring of 1970 he began the search for facilities, instructors, and students. University President Donald Mordell later approached McAllister with a recommendation to incorporate the Canadian College of Dance in Montreal into Ryerson's new theatre program. The dance students subsequently relocated to Toronto and were part of the school’s inaugural class.

The school opened in fall 1971 offering four distinct programs; four-year degree programs in acting and arts administration and three-year diploma programs in dance and technical production.  At that time, Ryerson was one of only two schools in North America to offer full-time professional theatre training in acting, dance teaching, arts administration, and technical production all under one roof.  

The arts administration and technical production programs later amalgamated and today the Ryerson Theatre School offers Bachelor of Fine Arts programs in Performance Acting, Performance Dance and Performance Production.  All three streams communicate with, learn from, and support each other as part of a creatively pooled, partnered ensemble. Students take classes, carry out projects, and mount professionally run performances together, presenting a full season of shows each year.

Since its founding, the Ryerson Theatre School has been a place of study for many celebrated Canadian designers, playwrights, producers and performers. Notable alumni include actors Eric McCormack, Sonja Smits, David James Elliott, Tonya Lee Williams, Governor General Award-nominated playwright Lisa Codrington, Governor General Award-winning Designer Camellia Koo, Simon Marsden the Head of Production at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Ruth Smillie, Artistic Director of the Regina Globe Theatre.

RTS alumni interested in joining this homecoming celebration can learn more about the weekend’s events at http://www.ryerson.ca/theatreschool/40th-anniversary-celebrations.html

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to more than 30,000 students, including 2,300 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 faculty and staff, and more than 140,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca

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Johanna VanderMaas
Public Affairs
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johanna.vandermaas@ryerson.ca

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