Silverman presented with Governor General’s Performing Arts Award

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This article was published 14/05/2011 (5464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Leslee Silverman, the longtime artistic director of Manitoba Theatre for Young People, received Canada’s most prestigious performing-arts honour at Rideau Hall on Friday.

She was one of six Canadians presented with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement. The award comes with a $25,000 prize.

Her fellow laureates are actor William Shatner, Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore, Quebec humorist Yvon Deschamps, dancer/choreographer Margie Gillis and theatre creator Paul Thompson.

The winners will be feted tonight at a glamorous gala at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, hosted by actor Colm Feore. At the gala, short films commissioned by the National Film Board will pay tribute to each laureate.

The film celebrating Silverman, What If? is directed by Winnipeg’s Noam Gonick. It and the other films can be viewed online starting at 9:30 p.m. tonight at www.nfb.ca.

Silverman, a Wolseley resident, has led MTYP for nearly 30 years, since its inception in 1982. She is recognized as a national leader in the field of theatre for young audiences.

She was instrumental in the 1999 creation of MTYP’s performance facility at The Forks, the only one of its kind in English Canada to be built from the ground up. She has commissioned plays from major Canadian playwrights and has directed 80 shows.

She was the first recipient in 2003 of the Manitoba Arts Council Arts Award of Distinction, recognizing the highest level of artistic excellence and distinguished career achievement.

Under Silverman’s leadership, MTYP programs a full season of shows for children, teens and families from local, national and international companies, conducts annual provincial tours, operates a year-round theatre school and runs an aboriginal arts training and mentorship program.