Creative Director

Barbara is a multiple Dora-nominated performer, writer, director and choreographer. She has worked in arts education for the past 18 years at multiple arts institutions across the GTA, including Wexford School for the Arts, Theatre Sheridan, The Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, Annex Children’s Theatre in Education (ACTE), and Lakeshore Arts. She holds a degree in Theatre Performance Acting from TMU (formerly Ryerson Theatre School).

Barbara has choreographed for TV shows Ginny & Georgia and Orphan Black and composed music for upcoming CBC Gem show He Murdered Sleep. She is an active writer in Canadian Musical Theatre, collaborating with some of the country’s most prolific Dora Award Winning writers. Barbara and co-writer Anika Johnson were awarded Patron’s Pick at the 2023 Toronto Fringe Festival for their musical CHOIR!!!. She is a founding member of Edge of the Sky Theatre and has worked extensively with The Musical Stage Company, Outside the March, and Corpus Dance Projects.

Beyond her work in musical theatre and TV/film, Barbara is co-founder/director of WANNABE: A Spice Girls Tribute where she stars as Ginger Spice, performing to sold out shows across the globe for over a decade. She is the front woman for country band ‘Love Hurts’ and portrays Gwen Stefani in the No Doubt Tribute band ‘Spiderwebs’.

Managing Director

Talia Regan is an English Literature Ph.D. and former University of Toronto educator, with a strong background in the performing arts. She is thrilled to be pivoting away from academia to bring musical theatre to her community as the Managing Director of Performance Studio.

In her youth, Talia specialized in dance and theatre, which led her to pursue these interests in the Musical Theatre Program at Wexford Collegiate School of the Arts. At Wexford, Talia learned the power of storytelling through musical theatre, and she experienced the confidence and creativity that grew within her and her classmates. She saw the way performing with a group fostered connectivity and collaboration. She also met her life-long friend and the Creative Director of Performance Studio, Barbara Johnston, which serves as evidence that the bonds created through the performing arts can last a lifetime!

After completing her M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature at the U of T, Talia focused her attention on her two children and their busy extra-curricular activities. Performance Studio was born from a need for an all-in-one performance experience, the likes of which she benefitted from at Wexford. In trying to nurture her children’s passions and interests, Talia unexpectedly reignited her own.

Teacher

Kenton Blythe has been a professional performer in the Toronto scene for over a decade.

His selected credits include: Curious K Explores the Paleozoic (written by/ Toronto Fringe Festival Patron’s Pick Award Winner 2023) Cabaret / Juno & the Paycock (Shaw Festival), Evil Dead: The Musical (Starvox Entertainment/Jeffrey Latimier Ent.), Canada’s Got Talent (CityTV), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Mayday (Cineflix).

Teacher

Jordan has taught music theatre and dance for several years and is completing a Master of Education in Curriculum and Pedagogy program pursuing an emphasis in Arts Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).

Training includes: Kingsway Conservatory of Music for vocal training, Minor in Acting and Dance from Toronto Metropolitan University. Credits include: Maggie in Chorus Line (Etobicoke School of the Arts); Splash Show choir (Etobicoke School of the Arts); Henry in Newsies (Toronto Met Theatre Company), Ensemble member in Big Fish, Gynecia in Head Over Heels (Toronto Met Theatre Company; Claire in Ordinary Days (St. Michael’s College Troubadours), Freida Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein (Victoria College Drama Society).