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Nominations for the 2025 Dora Awards, recognizing the best of Toronto theatre, opera and dance, were revealed Wednesday morning, with the Canadian shows “Mahabharata” and “Life After” earning the most nominations. The announcement marks the end of a jam-packed performing arts season in the city. This year’s nominations were spread among 81 shows, representing some 59 companies.
The winners of the 45th Dora Awards, administered by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, will be announced on June 30 at Meridian Hall. The ceremony will be hosted by Peter Fernandes, a Dora-winning actor who’s nominated again this year for his starring role in “Fat Ham.”
Here is the full list of nominees for this season’s Dora Awards.
General Theatre Division
Outstanding production
- “Flex”
- “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- “Mahabharata: Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose”
- “Rosmersholm”
- “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Outstanding new play
- “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit,” by Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain
- “Mahabharata: Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose,” by Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain
- “Table for Two,” by Akosua Amo-Adem
- “There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death, or The Born-Again Crow,” by Caleigh Crow
- “Trident Moon,” by Anusree Roy
Outstanding direction
- Brendan Healy, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
- Djanet Sears, “Table for Two”
- Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, “Flex”
- Ravi Jain, “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
Outstanding performance by an individual
- Akosua Amo-Adem, “Table for Two”
- Ins Choi, “Kim’s Convenience”
- Kevin Matthew Wong, “Benevolence”
- Martha Burns, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
- Miriam Fernandes, “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- Peter Fernandes, “Fat Ham”
- Vanessa Sears, “Shedding a Skin”
- Virgilia Griffith, “Rosmersholm”
Outstanding performance by an ensemble
- Jewell Bowry, Jasmine Case, Asha James, Trinity Lloyd, Shauna Thompson, Sophia Walker, “Flex”
- Sara Farb, Meghan Swaby, Rong Fu, Anita Majumdar, “Interior Design”
- Shawn Ahmed, Neil D’Souza, Jay Emmanuel, Ravin J. Ganatra, Darren Kuppan, Anaka Maharaj-Sandhu, Goldy Notay, Ellora Patnaik, Sakuntala Ramanee, Ronica Sajnani, Ishan Sandhu, Navtej Sandhu, Munish Sharma, Arun Varma, Sukania Venugopal, John Gzowski, Suba Sankaran, Hasheel Lodhia, Abbas Janmohammed, Gurtej Singh Hunjan, Dylan Bell, “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- Shawn Ahmed, Neil D’Souza, Jay Emmanuel, Ravin J. Ganatra, Darren Kuppan, Anaka Maharaj-Sandhu, Goldy Notay, Ellora Patnaik, Sakuntala Ramanee, Ronica Sajnani, Ishan Sandhu, Navtej Sandhu, Munish Sharma, Arun Varma, Sukania Venugopal and Meher Pavri, “Mahabharata: Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose”
- Neema Bickersteth, Jane Miller, Taurian Teelucksingh, “The Wolf in the Voice”
Outstanding scenic/projection Design
- Ken MacKenzie (scenic), “Flex”
- Lorenzo Savoini (scenic) and Hana S. Kim (projection), “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- Lorenzo Savoini (scenic) and Hana S. Kim (projection), “Mahabharata: Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose”
- Nick Blais (scenic), “Erased”
- Nick Blais (scenic) and Laura Warren (projection), “seven methods of killing kylie jenner”
Outstanding costume design
- Christos Darlasis, “Oraculum”
- Gillian Gallow, Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- Julie Fox, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
- Jung A Im, “Erased”
- Ronnie Burkett, “Wonderful Joe”
Outstanding lighting design
- Kevin Lamotte, “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- Kevin Lamotte, “Mahabharata: Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose”
- Kimberly Purtell and Imogen Wilson, “Rosmersholm”
- Nick Blais, “Erased”
- Raha Javanfar, “Flex”
Outstanding sound design/composition
- Debashis Sinha, Mike Ross, Kaleb Horn, SATE, Divine Brown, “A Streetcar Named Desire”
- Dasha Plett, “Roberto Zucco”
- John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran, “Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit”
- John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran, “Mahabharata: Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose”
- Thomas Ryder Payne, “Flex”
Independent Theatre Division
Outstanding production
- “A Case for the Existence of God”
- “Big Stuff”
- “Last Landscape”
- “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- “People, Places and Things”
Outstanding new play
- “Last Landscape,” by Adam Paolozza with the company
- “Monks,” by Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján
- “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time),” by David Danzon
- “Performance Review,” by Rosamund Small
- “The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers,” by Makram Ayache
Outstanding direction
- Adam Paolozza, “Last Landscape”
- David Danzon, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- Diana Bentley and Alyssa Martin, “People, Places and Things”
- Jackie Maxwell, “Infinite Life”
Outstanding performance by an individual
- Charlotte Dennis, “Job”
- Haley McGee, “Age Is a Feeling”
- Jakob Ehman, “Cock”
- Lindsay Merrithew, “Red”
- Louise Lambert, “People, Places and Things”
- Mazin Elsadig, “A Case for the Existence of God”
- Naomi Snieckus, “Big Stuff”
- Noah Reid, “A Case for the Existence of God”
Outstanding performance by an ensemble
- Ella Berger, Kole Durnford, Atlin Hofer, Margot Greve and Nicole Kleiman, “Insert Clown Here”
- Nada Abusaleh, Nicholas Eddie, Gibum Dante Lim, Annie Luján, Adam Paolozza, Kari Pederson and SlowPitchSound, “Last Landscape”
- Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján, “Monks”
- Kaitlin Torrance, Takako Segawa, Sakura Korin and Kohey Nakadachi, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- Oliver Dennis, Nickeshia Garrick, Farhang Ghajar, Matthew Gouveia, Sam Grist, Sarah Murphy-Dyson, Kwaku Okyere, Fiona Reid and Kaleb Tekeste, “People, Places and Things”
Outstanding scenic/projection design
- Adam Paolozza and Ken MacKenzie (scenic); Roxanne Ignatius (scenic marionettes); Graeme Black Robinson, Clelia Scala and Puppetmongers Theatre (additional puppets), “Last Landscape”
- Kenzia Dalie (scenic), “Red”
- Maryam Hafizirad (scenic) and Laura Warren (projection), “Qalb — A Journey of the Ego”
- Ting-Huan Christine Urquhart (scenic) and William Yong (projection), “Carried by the River”
- Yann Becker (scenic), “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
Outstanding costume design
- Atsuko Kiyokawa, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- Justin Miller, “Pochsy IV: Unplugged”
- Laura Delchiaro, “People, Places and Things”
- Ting-Huan Christine Urquhart, “Carried by the River”
- Valerie Calam, “Last Landscape”
Outstanding lighting design
- André du Toit, “Last Landscape”
- André du Toit, “Takwahiminana”
- Bonnie Beecher and Jeff Pybus, “People, Places and Things”
- Nick Blais, “A Case for the Existence of God”
- Yann Becker, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
Outstanding sound design/composition
- Anika Johnson, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- Cheldon Paterson (SlowPitchSound), “Last Landscape”
- Kenzia Dalie, “Red”
- Siavash Sadrmahdavi, “Qalb — A Journey of the Ego”
- Thomas Ryder Payne, “People, Places and Things”
Musical Theatre Division
Outstanding production
- “A Strange Loop”
- “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
- “Life After”
- “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
- “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
Outstanding new musical/new opera (shared by the two divisions)
- “La Reine-garçon,” by Julien Bilodeau (composer) and Michel Marc Bouchard (librettist)
- “I Was Unbecoming Then,” by Lyndsey Bourne (book and lyrics) and Sam Kaseta (music)
- “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical,” by Matt Murray (new book and original song contributions)
- “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White,” by Sean Mayes (composer) and Haui (librettist)
- “Sankofa: The Soldier’s Tale Retold,” by Titilope Sonuga (new libretto), based on the original music by Igor Stravinsky
Outstanding performance by an individual
- Dan Chameroy, “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
- Isabella Esler, “Life After”
- Jake Epstein, “Life After”
- Julia Pulo, “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
- Julia Pulo, “Life After”
- Malachi McCaskill, “A Strange Loop”
- Mariand Torres, “Life After”
- Vanessa Sears, “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
Outstanding performance by an ensemble
- Sierra Holder, Amaka Umeh, Matt Nethersole, David Andrew Reid, Nathanael Judah, Marcus Nance, Charlie Clark and David Lopez, “A Strange Loop”
- Ruth Acheampong, Nick Boegel, DeAnn deGruijter, Tiffany Deriveau, Breton Lalama, David Lopez, Caitlyn MacInnis, Jacob MacInnis, Larry Mannell, Zorana Sadiq, Michael Therriault and David Webb, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
- Kaylee Harwood, Arinea Hermans, Zoë O’Connor, “Life After”
- Olivia Daniels, Nam Nguyen, Diana Del Rosario, Berkley Silverman, Jameson Mosher, Lauren Taylor Scott, Zoe Virola, Ben Ridd, Misha Sharivker, Joey Harvey and Marie Raferty, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
- Jordan Bell, Andrew Broderick, Sierra Holder and Kirstyn Russelle, “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
Outstanding creative direction
- Annie Tippe (director), Ann Yee (choreographer), Lynne Shankel (music supervisor, orchestrator, arranger) and Chris Kong (music director), “Life After”
- Jennifer Walls (director), Nicholas Rocque (choreographer) and Michael Ippolito (musical director), “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
- Ray Hogg (director), Rodney Diverlus (choreographer) and Chris Tsujiuchi (music director), “A Strange Loop”
- Ted Dykstra (director), Jennifer Mote (choreographer) and Mark Camilleri (musical director), “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
- Thom Allison (director), Allison Plamondon (choreographer) and Jeannie Wyse (musical director), “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
Outstanding achievement in design
- Brian Dudkiewicz (scenic), “A Strange Loop”
- Holly Meyer-Dymny (scenic), “In My Own Little Corner”
- Kai Harada and Haley Parcher (sound), “Life After”
- Ming Wong (costume), “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
- Todd Rosenthal (scenic), “Life After”
Opera Division
Outstanding production
- “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White”
- “Eugene Onegin”
- “La Reine-garçon”
- “Madama Butterfly”
- “Wozzeck”
Outstanding performance by an individual
- Eri Nakamura, “Madama Butterfly”
- Evan LeRoy Johnson, “Eugene Onegin”
- Kang Wang, “Madama Butterfly”
- Kirsten MacKinnon, “La Reine-garçon”
- Long Long, “Faust”
- Marnie Breckenridge, “Jacqueline”
- Mary Elizabeth Williams, “Nabucco”
- Michael Schade, “Wozzeck
Outstanding performance by an ensemble
- Neema Bickersteth, Adrienne Danrich and SATE, “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White”
- Canadian Opera Company chorus, “Eugene Onegin”
- Canadian Opera Company chorus, “La Reine-garçon”
- Canadian Opera Company chorus, “Madama Butterfly”
- Canadian Opera Company chorus, “Nabucco”
Outstanding creative direction
- Angela Konrad (director) and Johannes Debus (musical director), “La Reine-garçon”
- Haui (director), Aria Evans (choreographer) and Sean Mayes (musical director), “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White”
- Jordan Lee Braun (revival director), based on original direction by Michael Grandage, and Keri-Lynn Wilson (musical director), “Madama Butterfly”
- Peter McClintock (revival director), based on original direction by Robert Carsen; Serge Bennathan (choreographer); and Speranza Scappucci (musical director), “Eugene Onegin”
- William Kentridge and Luc De Wit (director), and Johannes Debus (musical director), “Wozzeck”
Outstanding achievement in design
- Alexandre Desjardins (projection), “La Reine-garçon”
- Anick La Bissonnière (scenic), “La Reine-garçon”
- Catherine Meyburgh (projection), “Wozzeck”
- Diseiye Thompson (costume), “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White”
- Sabine Theunissen (scenic), “Wozzeck”
Theatre for Young Audiences Division
Outstanding production
- “Alligator Pie”
- “The Assembly”
- “Patty Picker”
- “Wicked Nix”
- “Les Zinspiré·e·s: le nombre sublime”
Outstanding new play
- “The Assembly,” by Deivan Steele and Breanne Tice
- “Patty Picker,” by Evan Bawtinheimer
- “Taking Care of Maman,” by Djennie Laguerre
- “Wicked Nix,” by Paula Wing
- “Les Zinspiré·e·s: le nombre sublime,” by Sara Bulz, Ella Jade de Boer-Eldelekli, Rachel Darroch, Cindy Mujangi, Mohammad Elnakoury, Mia Liang, Angelina Trejos Castillo, Lara Arabian, Carolyn Fe, François Macdonald and Merlin Simard
Outstanding direction
- Severn Thompson (director) and James Smith (music supervisor), “Alligator Pie”
- Cameron Grant, “The Assembly”
- Cass Van Wyck, “Patty Picker”
- Stephen Colella, “Wicked Nix”
- Vincent Leblanc-Beaudoin and Hannah Forest Briand, “Les Zinspiré·e·s: le nombre sublime”
Outstanding performance by an individual
- Alexandra Laferrière, “Taking Care of Maman”
- Egor Yasau, “Pettson and Findus at Christmas”
- Landon Krentz, “The Little Prince”
- Lua Shayenne, “Yassama and the Beaded Calabash/Yassama et la Calebasse aux Cauris”
- Olga Petrashkevich, “Pettson and Findus at Christmas”
- Seeara Lindsay, “Taking Care of Maman”
- Sergei Kupriianov, “Pettson and Findus at Christmas”
- Sophie St. Jean, “Unbelievably Believable”
Outstanding performance by an ensemble
- Alicia Barban, Belinda Corpuz, Ben Kopp, Ruaridh MacDonald and Haneul Yi, “Alligator Pie”
- Deivan Steele and Breanne Tice, “The Assembly”
- Anne van Leeuwen and Kaitlin Race, “Patty Picker”
- Christine Horne, Qianna MacGilchrist, Davinder Malhi, James Dallas Smith and Michael Spencer Davis, “Wicked Nix”
- Meryl Mourey, Kiana Woo, Eudes Laroche-Francoeur, Danik McAfee and Rowe Demers, “Les Zinspiré·e·s: le nombre sublime”
Outstanding achievement in design
- Logan Raju Cracknell (lighting), “Alligator Pie”
- Joe Pagnan (scenic), “The Assembly”
- Natalia Dlugosz (scenic), “Les Zinspiré·e·s: le nombre sublime”
- Slava Yasov (scenic), “Pettson and Findus at Christmas”
- Ting-Huan Christine Urquhart (scenic), “Wicked Nix”
Dance Division
Outstanding production
- “Big Time Miss”
- “Contes pour la fin du temps”
- “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now)”
- “Ophis”
- ”Akshongay”
Outstanding original choreography
- Alyssa Martin, “Big Time Miss”
- Jessie Garon, “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now)”
- Lina Cruz, “Tomato Blues (Older & Reckless)”
- Lucy Rupert, “heartless”
- Yvonne Ng, “All that is between”
Outstanding performance by an individual
- Jarrett Siddall, “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now)”
- Joey Arrigo, “Ophis”
- Johanna Bergfelt, “My House (Older & Reckless)”
- Lina Cruz, “Tomato Blues (Older & Reckless)”
- Lucy Rupert, “heartless”
- Pulga Muchochoma, “Ngoma (Don’t Worry About It)”
- Sully Malaeb Proulx, “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now)”
- Travis Knights, “Jam Session”
Outstanding performance by an ensemble
- Morgyn Aronyk-Schell, Johanna Bergfelt, Sierra Chin Sawdy, Amelia Brown and Charlotte Cain, “All that is between”
- Drew Berry, Brayden Jamil Cairns, Sam Grist, Steph Harkness and Natasha Poon Woo, “Big Time Miss”
- Morgyn Aronyk-Schell, Sierra Chin Sawdy, Miyeko Ferguson, Sully Malaeb Proulx, Claire Whitaker, Alexander Bozinoff, Jeanie Chung, Joseph Johnson, Juan Gabriel Olivares and Aaron Schwebel, “Contes pour la fin du temps”
- Rumi Jeraj, Kelly Shaw, Ryan Lee, Clara Isgro, Jeffrey James Lapira, Minyoung Kim, Young-Ju Kwon, Hyoshin Kim, Esl Kim and Sarang Lee, “Moem — Body”
- Nova Bhattacharya and Louis Laberge-Côté, ”Akshongay”
Outstanding original sound composition
- Adam Campbell, “Moem — Body”
- Dwight Jones, “The Mars Project”
- Semiah and Jacob Vanderham, “Big Time Miss”
- Stephen Joffe, “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now)”
- Stephen Joffe and Laurel MacDonald, “Ngoma (Don’t Worry About It)”
Outstanding achievement in design
- Donny Milwalkee (sound), “Jam Session”
- Gabriel Cropley (lighting), “heartless”
- Hoax Couture (costume), “Contes pour la fin du temps”
- Noah Feaver (lighting), “Big Time Miss”
- Simon Rossiter (lighting), “everything i wanted to tell you (but couldn’t, so here it is now)”
Touring Division
Outstanding touring production
- “Bow’t Trail Retrospek”
- “Goblin:Macbeth”
- “Home”
- “Wilma”
