The Toronto alliance for the Performing Arts has announced the nominations for the 2026 Dora Mavor Moore Awards. There are 221 nominations across 44 gender-inclusive categories that cover the fields of theatre, opera, and dance.
The nominations are culled from 214 shows presented by 99 TAPA-registered companies. It’s the highest number of shows submitted for the awards since 2019, and an encouraging sign of post-pandemic recovery.
The Dora Awards ceremony takes place on Monday, June 29 at Toronto’s Meridian Hall, and will be hosted by actor Amaka Umeh. Umeh received their 9th and 10th Dora Award nomination for ensemble work in both Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary (Crow’s Theatre), and Narnia (Soulpepper Theatre Company, Bad Hats Theatre, and Crow’s Theatre).
Nominations & Awards
The winners of TAPA ancillary awards were also announced at the June 1 press conference. Michael Caldwell was this year’s recipient of the George Luscombe Mentorship Award, recognizing his extraordinary mentorship in the performing arts, and designer Ashley Naomi as this year’s Pauline McGibbon Award recipient. The award recognizes an early stage artist who has demonstrated exceptional and unique talent.
The Ray Ferris Innovation and Sustainability Grant of $25,000 went to Clay and Paper Theatre in recognition of their innovations in theatrical design, and their efforts to promote environmental sustainability in live theatre.
Several productions garnered multiple nominations. In the theatre categories, they include:
- Le malentendu (The Misunderstanding)
- Rogers v. Rogers (Crow’s Theatre)
- The Welkin (Soulpepper Theatre Company)
- Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
- The Green Line (Buddies in Bad Times)
- Dance Nation (Coal Mine Theatre)
- After the Rain (Tarragon Theatre)
- Octet (Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre and The Musical Stage Company)
- She Holds Up the Stars (Red Sky Performance)
In the dance categories:
- Zayo (Esie Mensah Creations)
- Be the Bird (Rock Bottom Movement)
- Reverence (National Ballet of Canada)
In the opera categories:
- Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company)
- Bluebeard’s Castle / Erwartung (Canadian Opera Company)
- LOL: Laughing Out Lonely (Tapestry Opera)
- Rigoletto (Canadian Opera Company)
The winners of two Dora Award categories were announced at the press conference. They include:
- Outstanding Touring Production: What the Day Owes to the Night (Luminato Festival)
- Outstanding Innovative Experience (unanimously acclaimed): The Haunting (UnSpun Theatre), written and performed by Shira Leuchter
Nominations
Here are some of the highlights of the 221 nominations. For a full list, you can check out the TAPA website.
General Theatre Division
Outstanding Production
- Bremen Town (Tarragon Theatre)
- Copperbelt (NAC English Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre Company)
- Le malentendu (The Misunderstanding) (Théâtre français de Toronto)
- Rogers v. Rogers (Crow’s Theatre)
- Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
Outstanding New Play
- Through the Eyes of God, Anusree Roy (Theatre Passe Muraille)
- The Christmas Market, Kanika Ambrose (b current Performing Arts in association with Crow’s Theatre
and Studio 180 Theatre) - Rogers v. Rogers, Michael Healey (Crow’s Theatre)
- Copperbelt, Natasha Mumba (NAC English Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre Company)
- The Neighbours, Nicolas Billon (Green Light Arts in association with Tarragon Theatre)
Outstanding Direction
- Andrea Donaldson, Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in Her Lungs (Nightwood Theatre in association with Tarragon Theatre)
- Claren Grosz and Augusto Bitter, Reina (Pencil Kit Productions in association with Buddies in Bad
Times Theatre) - Gregory Prest, Bremen Town (Tarragon Theatre)
- Karine Ricard, Le malentendu (The Misunderstanding) (Théâtre français de Toronto)
- Thomas Morgan Jones, Through the Eyes of God (Theatre Passe Muraille)
Musical Theatre Division
- Outstanding Production
- After the Rain, Tarragon Theatre and The Musical Stage Company
- Bright Star, Garner Theatre Productions presented by Mirvish Productions
- Narnia, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Bad Hats Theatre, and Crow’s Theatre
- Octet, Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre Company, and The Musical Stage Company
- The Drowsy Chaperone, Shifting Ground Collective
Outstanding New Musical
- Narnia, Fiona Sauder (Writer); Landon Doak (Composer); Matt Pilipiak (Dramaturg); Jonathan
Corkal-Astorga (Music Supervisor/Arranger/Orchestrator); and Victor Pokinko (Creative Producer)
(Soulpepper Theatre Company, Bad Hats Theatre, and Crow’s Theatre) - Cyclops: A Satyr Play, Griffin Hewitt, with additional music by Juliette Jones (Talk Is Free Theatre and Panic Theatre
- After the Rain, Rose Napoli and Suzy Wilde (Tarragon Theatre and The Musical Stage Company)
Opera Division
Outstanding Production
- Bluebeard’s Castle / Erwartung (Canadian Opera Company)
- Canuck Cantatas (Against the Grain Theatre)
- LOL: Laughing Out Lonely (OPE–N presented by Tapestry Opera)
- Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Elysées,
Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera
of Chicago) - Rigoletto (Canadian Opera Company co-production with English National Opera)
Outstanding Performance by an Individual
- Anna-Sophie Neher in Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera of Chicago)
- Iestyn Davies in Orfeo ed Euridice (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Théâtre des
Champs-Elysées, Fondazione Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra Royal Château de Versailles Spectacles, and Lyric Opera of Chicago) - Midori Marsh in Sanctuary Song (Tapestry Opera)
- Morten Grove Frandsen in LOL: Laughing Out Lonely (OPE–N presented by Tapestry Opera)
- Quinn Kelsey in Rigoletto (Canadian Opera Company co-production with English National Opera)
- Russell Thomas in Werther (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Opéra de Montréal and
Vancouver Opera) - Sarah Dufresne in Rigoletto (Canadian Opera Company co-production with English National Opera)
Victoria Karkacheva in Werther (Canadian Opera Company co-production with Opéra de Montréal and Vancouver Opera)
Outstanding New Opera
- Come Closer, Ryan Trew and Rachel Krehm (Opera 5)
- Tapestry Briefs: Under Where, Rebecca Gray, Saman Shahi, Roydon Tse, Keith Klassen, Prokhor
Protasoff (Composers); Rachel Gray, Sarah Henstra, Christene Adina Browne, Keith Klassen
(Writers) (Tapestry Opera) - Canuck Cantatas, Danika Lorèn, Sarah Slean, Spencer Kryzanowski (Composers); Royce Vavrek,
Vern Thiessen, Emma Pennell (Librettists) (Against the Grain Theatre)
Tickets & Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award
Voting is now open for the annual Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award. The public can vote for their favourite show from the list of Outstanding Production nominees across all divisions, or they can write in their own, until June 22 at midnight.
The Dora Awards is Canada’s largest and oldest awards program. Tickets for the Dora Awards event are on sale now, with early bird pricing available until June 8.
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- Find tickets, Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award nominations, and a complete list of all the nominees, on the TAPA website [HERE].
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