Centre Stage: The Cast of North of Broadway
Thom Allison is a Canadian Screen Award winner for the role of “Pree” in KILLJOYS. Thom has appeared on Broadway in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and in the original Canadian companies of Miss Saigon, The Who’s Tommy. Stratford Festival: Into the Woods. Shaw Festival: Ragtime, A Little Night Music. Some other credits include Cabaret (Theatre Calgary), Evita (Theatre Calgary/Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre) and The Drowsy Chaperone (The Citadel, National Arts Centre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Take Me Out (CanStage) Directing: Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Calgary), RENT, La Cage Aux Folles (Stratford Festival), Seussical; Mary Poppins (Young People’s Theatre) . TV/Film: Coroner, Canada’s Drag Race, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Hudson & Rex, Murdoch Mysteries, Killjoys, Kim’s Convenience, CBC’s Over The Rainbow.
Jason Jestadt is a Dora Award-nominated music director with an extensive career in musical theatre, including credits such as the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings, the Canadian production of Come From Away, and the original Canadian staging of We Will Rock You (2007–2009). He has also had the honour of music directing events for acclaimed artists including Gordon Lightfoot, Norman Jewison, Colm Wilkinson, and Jackie Richardson.
An active classical composer, Jason recently received the Ruth Watson Henderson Award for his choral work, At Night the Valley Dreams of Snow, which sets Inuit poetry in Inuktitut.
He currently serves as Assistant conductor for the Canadian production of & Juliet, Music Director at The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto and as Musician-in-Residence at Holy Blossom Temple.
Matthew Joseph: Greetings Reader! Thank you very much for coming out and enjoying live music. The world needs more people like you :). I’m a lover of sound, a seeker of awe, and I can’t wait for a fun night of storytelling! I’m an open book, So please feel free to ask any questions, and make conversation if you catch me out and about. If you’d like to keep up with what I’m working on, check me out at instagram @_matthew_joseph on tiktok!
Joshua Kilimnik is an actor, director, and producer from Toronto. He is a co-founder of Shifting Ground Collective, a Dora-winning musical theatre company dedicated to platforming Toronto’s emerging artists. Learn more at shiftinggroundcollective.com!
Theatre credits include: Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (dir. Joel Grey, Harold Green Jewish Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (Rainbow Stage/Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), Million Dollar Quartet (Drayton Entertainment, Persephone Theatre, The Grove Theatre); tick, tick… BOOM!, Falsettos (Bowtie Productions); A Perfect Bowl of Pho (Toronto Fringe Festival, Original Cast Recording). Directing credits include recent Toronto productions of The Drowsy Chaperone and Merrily We Roll Along. Film/TV credits include: Odd Squad (PBS Kids); Sago Mini Friends (Apple TV+); Backstage (Family Channel/Disney); Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (Peacock+).
Maggie Lacasse is a proud, bilingual Montréal-born creative and performer, and a graduate of the Randolph College for the Performing Arts. She has appeared on stages around the world, with selected credits including “Jane Seymour” in the Original Canadian Cast of Six The Musical (Mirvish), “Killer Queen” in We Will Rock You (Mirvish), and Featured Vocalist on Alan Menken’s single Wonders of the Universe. Internationally, she has starred as “Shalica” in Step Up: Dubai, All In! and headlined numerous music revues such as Flashback to the 80s Rock, Wanted, and Any Dream Will Do. She has also led main stage production shows across the seven seas with Celebrity Entertainment, Playlist Productions, and Royal Caribbean Productions.
Beyond performing, Maggie is a versatile Creative Director and Performance Mentor. She has loved being on the other side of the table as a Director (Let’s Duet!, Heartbeat: The Sound of the 70s), Choreographer (Beauty & the Beast, Jesus Christ Superstar), and Casting Director (We Will Rock You). Driven by a mission to empower the next generation of talent, she recently launched her Vocal and Performance Mentorship Program, helping artists worldwide master the technical and emotional demands of the industry.
Maggie believes that the key to a sustainable creative life is fiercely following your inner child and staying rooted in the pure joy of storytelling. She is always developing and producing new work and is thrilled to have brought the vision behind North of Broadway to life. She is forever grateful to her family and friends for their unwavering support.
Maggie Lacasse, MSL Productions, Creative Director & Show Curator
[email protected], @maggielacasse_
“The mission of art is to help people realize that they are not alone.” — Anatole France
Since July of 2020, Daniel Mendelson has served as Cantor of Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, NY. A graduate of the Cantors Assembly’s Cantorial Intern Program, and the son of two distinguished cantors, Daniel was introduced to Jewish music and opera from a young age. His repertoire runs the gamut from cantorial, to opera, to Broadway, to good old fashioned rock -n- roll. Before arriving at Kol Ami, Daniel served as Cantor of Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David in Rockville Centre, New York for 8 years, where he brought engaging musical programming and innovative worship to that community.
Daniel has performed all over the United States and in Europe. Daniel’s discography includes Birthday of the World Part I with Leonard Nimoy narrating, Hazzonos with Frank London, hailed as jazz album of the year by Wired Magazine, Further Definitions of the Days of Awe with The Afro- Semitic Experience and Yontef! A Celebration of the Yamim Noraim, The High Holidays. Since 2018, Daniel has become a regularly featured national anthem performer at Citi Field for the New York Mets, as well as an anthem performer for Madison Square Garden. Over the last few years, Daniel has been exploring and composing Jewish liturgical music. His own musical setting was selected in a nationwide contest to compose a melody for the first official Jewish prayer for the United States Armed Forces. This Song of Service has been offered at congregations around the country. In February of 2022, the United Nations invited Daniel to offer the memorial prayer for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In January of 2023, Daniel made his Carnegie Hall solo debut as part of a program entitled We Are Here: Songs of the Holocaust. Daniel was honored to share the stage with Harvey Fierstein, Chita Rivera, Shoshanah Bean and other Broadway/Pop/Cantorial performers as well as religious dignitaries.
Daniel is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he received a BFA in Film/Video Directing. Even as a filmmaker, the vocal arts haven’t escaped his work. In his short film, Rehearsing, Daniel starred as a neurotic opera singer trying to make his way. Rehearsing was nominated for Best Film and Best Director at the annual Dusty Awards. Daniel’s feature-length documentary, The Voice Teacher, about eccentric voice coach, Donald Neil Roberts, premiered at the Syracuse International Film Festival and has since screened at the Louisville Film Festival and the The World Eye Jewish Film Festival in Ashkelon, Israel.
Sarah Nairne is a Black, Canadian multi-disciplinary artist of Jamaican heritage. Born and raised in the Waterloo Region but developed her vocal talents with the music of Yolanda Adams, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Donny Hathaway, Sarah has a voice you’ll never forget. Sarah’s had the privilege to share her work as a vocalist, actor, creative and more on multiple stages and spaces across Canada & Australia. More widely recognized in the Canadian musical theatre industry Sarah has performed in the multi-award winning Canadian Premiere of The Color Purple, Mirvish Productions Come From Away and the 2022/23 Australian National Tour and most recently in Drayton Entertainment’s Beehive!: The 60s Musical. You can catch Sarah in the all Canadian cast of Mirvish Productions &Juliet at The Royal Alexandra Theatre running until July 5th 2026. Follow Sarah on Instagram @canvassarah
Louise Pitre has been called the grande dame of Canadian musical theatre. In addition to headlining the Toronto, US touring and original Broadway casts of Mamma Mia! (Tony Award nomination) she is known for Piaf in Piaf Dietrich…a legendary affair; Marya in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Crow’s Theatre, Royal Alexandra Theatre); Adult Marie in Marie – Dancing Still, Seattle; Dr. Madden in Next To Normal; The Snake in The Little Prince, Fantine in Les Misérables (Toronto, Montreal, Paris) and Piaf (5 productions); Gypsy (Chicago Shakespeare); Mame (Goodspeed); YPT’s A Year With Frog and Toad; Annie; The Toxic Avenger; Sweeney Todd; among others and most recently Margaret in The Inheritance (Canadian Stage) and Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo, Segal Centre and CAA Theatre.
Louise co-created with W.J. Matheson: On The Rocks, Passe-Muraille, The Times They Are A’Changin’, Harold Green, Segal Centre, Could You Wait?,(with Joe and Diane Leah), Theatre Orangeville, Grand Theatre. She made her Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall debuts singing Ulrika in the concert version of Kristina (Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus). She has appeared in countless concerts in Canada and the U.S.
Small screen: CBC’s Saint Pierre (Marguerite), Over The Rainbow (Judge), Merry Matrimony, A Christmas Wedding, Recipe for a Perfect Christmas, MVP, Flashpoint, Pretty Hard Cases and the CBC biopic Celine. She can still be seen as the host of Star Portraits on Bravo!
Awards: Four Dora Mavor Moore awards, National Broadway Touring Award, New York Theatre World Award, San Francisco Theatre Critics’ Award, Betsy Mitchell Award, all for best performance by a leading actress in a musical. She is the proud recipient of honorary degrees from the Royal Conservatory of Music and Humber College along with a Doctorate of Music from her alma mater, The University of Western Ontario.
Cantorial Soloist Lindi Rivers came to Holy Blossom Temple in the fall of 2005 to substitute for Cantor Maissner who was preparing to take a four-month sabbatical. In June of 2006, Lindi assumed the position of Cantorial Soloist / Chazzan Sheini.
Raised in the Niagara Peninsula, Lindi achieved an Honours BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, then a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She worked for 17 years as a psychotherapist before deciding to unite in a Cantorial career, her passions for music, Judaism, emotional well-being, and interpersonal relationships.
Lindi had the privilege and honour of being the Cantorial Soloist at Temple Sinai in Toronto and Temple Anshe Sholom in Hamilton. She has been a guest Cantorial Soloist in various congregations in Southern Ontario, as well as at Temple Sholom in Vancouver, and appeared in numerous concerts, including the World Choir Games in China with Lachan Jewish Chamber Choir, under the direction of Cantor Benjamin Maissner.
Affiliations include The Guild of Temple Musicians, where Lindi sits on the Board of Directors; the Canadian Association of Social Workers, and The Ontario Association of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
Lindi’s CD, “Lazman Hazeh” is a compilation of some of her favourite Hebrew songs.
Lindi has two daughters and a stepson with her late husband, Stephen z”l.
Cantor David Rosen is the Senior Cantor and Music Director of Holy Blossom Temple; the oldest synagogue in Toronto and the largest Reform synagogue in Canada.
Cantor David Rosen is the Senior Cantor and Music Director of Holy Blossom Temple, the oldest synagogue in Toronto and the largest Reform congregation in Canada. Prior to returning to his hometown of Toronto in 2020, Cantor Rosen served with distinction as Cantor and Music Director of Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, New York, following earlier pulpits in New Jersey and Toronto. He was ordained in 2003 and received a Master’s degree in Sacred Music from the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. He also holds a degree in Psychology and Advanced Jewish Studies from York University.
Cantor Rosen’s performances of Jewish and secular music have earned widespread acclaim in religious and cultural settings across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Through meaningful collaborations, he fosters opportunities for the arts to enhance community engagement. He is the founder of Gifts of Light, an annual interfaith holiday concert supporting charitable organizations in need. He has collaborated with Opera Atelier and has appeared as a guest soloist and lecturer at Koerner Hall in Toronto in productions including Jonathan and David. He has also been featured on CHIN Radio and has recorded for Transcontinental Music Publications. Most recently, he recorded and produced Shabbat in the Woods, an album of Jewish music for families featuring the voices of over 600 children.
A passionate advocate for interfaith dialogue and the arts, Cantor Rosen is the visionary behind Holy Blossom’s Centre for Arts and Culture, a multidisciplinary hub for performance and education. Through initiatives such as Gifts of Light, he has helped raise significant funds and awareness for a wide range of humanitarian causes.
Cantor Rosen is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of cantors and has served as adjunct faculty at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR. He is an active member of the Executive Board of the American Conference of Cantors and currently serves as Chair of its Ethics Committee. In 2022, he founded the Reform Cantors and Cantorial Soloists of Canada, an organization dedicated to advancing the Reform cantorate nationwide. He is also a member of the Cantors Assembly and a past president of the Toronto Council of Hazzanim.
Cantor Rosen is married to Rabbi Ilyse Glickman, Rabbi of the Danforth Jewish Circle. Together they have a 14-year-old son, Joel, and share their home with two shih tzus, Lucy and Willow.
