Be Our Guest with Doctor Bird Productions "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" with Manuele Adrian Mizzi, Ethan Rotenberg and Emilia Ballester

Musical Theatre Radio presents "Be Our Guest"

Doctor Bird Productions⁠ is looking to bring something fresh and new to Toronto's performance world. We want to put on productions that stretch the imagination, that bring smiles to peoples faces and help to make people walk away with new thoughts and new ideas. We hope to put on new productions in Canada and hope to reimagine shows that have been so important to the makeup of Torontos performance world.

We are committed to the practice of color-conscious casting. We recognize that considerations of race, including how race and ethnicity shape society and the stories we tell, are vital components to the casting process. Also critical to the casting process are audience perceptions of race on stage and in film. We strive to craft performances in ways that respect, care for, and honor individuals, cultures, and communities of color. Furthermore, we recognize that the practice of white-washing erases culturally and racially specific stories and experiences. White-washing takes away opportunities from people of color and reinforces the dangerous notion of white superiority. Therefore, we reject this practice. In light of this, we seek to be inclusive and color-conscious not only in our casting but also in the material we choose to stage.

Manuele Adrian Mizzi

Jamaican-Italian tenor, Manuele Adrian Mizzi discovered his love for performing at a very young age. Growing up in Markham he attended Unionville High School for the Arts later obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Voice Performance from York University under the tutelage of renowned Canadian operatic soprano Stephanie Bogle and having also studied with renowned European soprano Galina Lumkosky.

With a repertoire ranging from pop to musical theatre to opera and classical, he has performed in a wide variety of venues throughout North America. His musical theatre credits include performing the roles of Schroeder in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Japheth in Two by Two, Thomas in Emmanuel the Musical (New York City), Barnaby in Hello Dolly, Shrek in Shrek Tateh in Ragtime, The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, and Dickon in The Secret Garden among many others.Manuele Adrian Mizzi also has a long career of teaching under his belt. As an avid pianist, accompanist, musical director and director, he has been working with all ages from 3-99 for the last 23 years. His directing and musical directing credits include musicals, plays, pantos and recitals. Ethan Rotenberg

Ethan is a Toronto-based music director and classically-trained pianist who's has been described as "delivering all the colours of an orchestra" (Schmopera), "an accomplished accompanist" (Richard Ouzonian), and "brilliantly drawing the listener into the world of the story by using the piano as the backdrop to sweeping, emotionally nuanced melodies" (Mooney on Theatre). He frequently collaborates with both Opera and Musical Theatre singers on productions, concerts, and open mics, most recently serving as music director and performance accompanist for The No Frills Revue (Spotlight Musical Productions). Having grown up in theatre and music, he has enjoyed both sides of the stage, graduating from Queen's University with a Bachelors in Drama and Music. He currently trains with world-renowned pianist Dmitri Levkovich. In 2019, he co-founded and is current music director of Impromptu Concert Series, presenting concerts featuring the Toronto's top non-professional talent, bringing the series outdoors during the Covid-19 pandemic as The Front-Lawn Series. Previous musical credits include: Songbook VI, Songbook XII (Tapestry Opera), Dr. Silver (Musical Stage Co.) Legally Blonde, The Drowsy Chaperone, Mamma Mia (Nightwood Theatre), Masterclass (Oshawa Little Theatre), Ragtime (Encores). HEmilia Basllester

Is a Mexican dancer, actor singer and photographer living in Toronto. She studied dance perfromance at Centennial College and phtography at Escuela Activa De Fotografia.