SPRING 2015...

Recent happenings:

January residency at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver to continue developing 'WE ARE MAKING FICTION', with dancer/choreographer Noam Gagnon (Vision Impure) and director/dramaturg Peter Hinton.  5 days of stimulating creation, culminating in a public showing of work in progress.  Great feedback.  More to follow...

Shot an episode of the Netflix original series 'HEMLOCK GROVE', directed by Russel Fine.

Currently running the world premiere of Daniel MacIvor's new play 'CAKE AND DIRT' at the Tarragon Theare in Toronto. A nasty, chewy play about urban and social decay.  Directed by Amiel Gladstone  and Richard Rose, CAKE AND DIRT runs till Sunday April 12, 2015.

Dr. Cara Summers is back.  Global TV's hit series 'REMEDY' returns for Season 2:                          Season premiere  Monday April 23, 2015.                                                                                                  9PM EST on Global.                                                                                                                                       Tune in...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FALL UPDATE

August in Vancouver.  Laara finished off the summer on the west coast for a good dose of sun, salt, mountains and a fascinating 2 week multidisciplinary intensive curated by Vancouver's Theatre Replacement.  The New Aesthetics intensive brought together 16 artists from Canada and the US, for an exchange of ideas and practices.  Leading the intensive were directors/creators Mariano Pensotti  (Argentina) and Toshiki Okada (Japan). A wild and stimulating experience...

Directly following the intensive, Laara spent several days in studio at The Scotiabank Dance Centre with COLLISION co-creator Noam Gagnon, continuing development on the piece, now titled 'We Are Making Fiction'.  A residency at The Scotiabank Dance Centre in early 2015 will be the next phase of development.

In the film/ tv world, Laara recently shot an episode of SYFY network's new series Killjoysguest starring in the role of 'Mother Sal'. Watch for air dates in 2015.  And Greg Spottiswood's excellent series Remedy  has just gone into production for season 2.  Laara reprises her recurring role of 'Dr. Cara Summers'.  It'll air on Global TV spring 2015.  

Upcoming:  In March 2015, Laara will premiere Daniel MacIvor's new play ' Cake and Dirt' at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.  Stay tuned for details...

 

UP TO SPEED…

2013 was indeed an exciting and creative year. A bit of this, a bit of that, and a lot of travel points racked up.

Hard on the heels of the initial creation phase in the spring for COLLISION, a new multidisciplinary piece Laara’s been developing with West Coast dancer Noam Gagnon, came the Guest Starring role of ‘Dr. Tricia Virani’ for CBC’s hit series Heartland. Spring and summer were spent commuting back and forth to Calgary to shoot 3 episodes.

In September Laara attended the TIFF 2013 premiere of her latest Bruce Sweeney feature, The Dick Knost Show, playing the role of ‘Sadie’ with fellow Sweeney alum Gabrielle Rose and Tom Scholte.

October was another commuter month, this time to Sault Ste Marie, where she shot Joan Carr Wiggins’ new film If You See Her for Paragraph Pictures, playing the role of ‘Vendana’ alongside Peter Firth and Alex Kingston.

These days you can catch Laara in the recurring role of ‘Dr. Cara Summers’ on Global TV’s new medical drama Remedy, starring Enrico Colantoni. This first season of Greg Spottiswood’s excellent series premiered on February 24th. It’s exciting, fast paced and funny. Tune in to Remedy, Monday nights on Global @ 9PM EST, or watch it online.

Upcoming: with the support of the Ontario Arts Council and Nightswimming Theatre, COLLISION goes into the next phase of development in April @ the Dancemakers studio in Toronto. More details to come.

2 things to catch in town if you’re looking for a good art fix: anything and everything at Buddies in Bad Times, consistently the most interesting and dynamic theatre the city has to offer. AND, a tiny exhibit of Alex Colville sketches and paintings at the Mira Godard Gallery in Yorkville.

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING

2013 promises to be an exciting and creative year. Laara and dancer/choreographer Noam Gagnon (Vision Impure, Holy Body Tattoo) were awarded a Creator’s Reserve grant by Nightswimming Theatre courtesy of The Ontario Arts Council, for their multidisciplinary project, Collision. Much gratitude to Nightswimming for their support.

The first phase of the creation process took place from March 31st – April 6th. A very productive week of explorations in the Ernest Balmer Studio in Toronto’s distillery district, followed by a wild and wonderful day in Montreal working on sound design with composer/scratch artist/musical savant, Kid Koala. Next phase involves some interesting residency possibilities to continue developing the piece. Definitely more to come…

Other recent projects in the can:

-  The Listener: ‘Angela’ in House of Horror, Shaftesbury/CTV, directed by Harvey Crossland.

The Patels (Pilot): ‘Priya’, CBC, directed by Keith Samples.

-  West Coast premiere of Anton Piatigorsky’s pithy Eternal Hydra, playing the role of ‘Vivan Ezra’. Produced by Touchstone Theatre, directed by Katrina Dunn. See the PRESS page for reviews.

And – it looks like Electric Company Theatre's multimedia production of Jean Paul Sartre’s No Exit will return to its origins and run in Vancouver this fall. Stay tuned for details…

RECENT & UPCOMING

Laara finished off a great summer of work and play with an episode of the smart new CBC series Cracked, playing the role of ‘Ria Kush’, directed by Brett Sullivan. Slated to premiere in early 2013, this series is going to be very, very good.  Watch for it… www.cbc.ca

In October, Laara will head to Vancouver to play ‘Vivian Ezra’ in Touchstone Theatre’s production of Anton Piadigorsky’s Eternal Hydra.  This incredible play explores literature, sex, authorship and the question of genius.  Running from November 1st – 11th 2012 @ Studio 16.

Also starring: John Murphy, Cherissa Richards, Andrew Wheeler

Director: Katrina Dunn

Design Team: Owen Belton, Adrian Muir, David Roberts, Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh

www.touchstonetheatre.com

SPRING 2012

Laara’s been busy shooting a bunch of interesting projects in Toronto.  Great writing, great shows…

  • Greg Spottiswood’s excellent new series KING.  Playing the role of ‘Jillian Saunders’ in the season 2 episode Wendy Stetler. Dir: Don McBrearty.
  • DEGRASSI: playing the role of ‘Dr Yardley’ in Walking on Broken Glass. Dir: Stefan Brogren.
  • Currently shooting John Grisham’s THE FIRM.  Playing the role of prosecutor ‘Helen Figgis’ in the episode Chapter Eighteen. Dir: Holly Dale.

Stay tuned for air dates…

THE PENELOPIAD IN VANCOUVER

Laara is currently in previews for the Arts Club Theatre’s west coast premiere of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, playing the role of Helen of Troy. Running at Vancouver’s historic Stanley Theatre, The Penelopiad features a cast of shit hot women, including Meg Roe, Megan Leitch, Colleen Wheeler, Dawn Petten and Lois Anderson.

Direction by Vanessa Porteous, Artistic Director of ATP. 

Movement Design by Denise Clarke, Associate Artist at One Yellow Rabbit.

Don’t miss this beautiful, bold production…

Opening Night: Wednesday October 26th, 2011.
Running till November 20th, 2011.

http://www.artsclub.com/20112012/plays/the-penelopiad.htm
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162322153860682&context=create#!/event.php?eid=162322153860682

BUSY SUMMER, NEW PROJECTS!

It's been a busy summer. A few noteworthy projects to mention:

- Guest starring on USA Network's hit series Covert Affairs. Catch the episode 'Sad Professor', directed by Miller Tobin, on Tuesday August 2nd, 2011 @ 10/9C

-Workshop of Peter Brook's classic adaptation of The Mahabarata with Toronto's Tarragon Theatre, directed by Richard Rose.

-Upcoming: shooting an episode of Don McKellar's new comedy series Michael - Tuesdays and Thursdays, directed by Patricia Rozema.

**Hot tip: don't miss Cat on a Hot Tin Roof @ the Shaw Festival this season. Spectacular performances, particularly Moya O'Connell and Gray Powell as Maggie & Brick.

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LEO AWARDS 2010

Laara was the recipient of a Leading Actress award for her performance in Bruce Sweeney's feature film Excited. at the Leo Awards Gala, held in Vancouver at the Westin Bayshore on June 5th 2010. The film also picked up awards for Supporting Actress, Best Director and Best Feature Film. In 2009, Excited had its world premiere at TIFF, opened the Canadian Images program at VIFF, and has been making its way through the film festival circuit in Canada & the US. Commercially released by Union Pictures, Excited will open in Vancouver on June 14th at the Ridge Theatre. For details and screen times, go to www.excitedmovie.com.

NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE 2010-2011

Laara will be heading to Ottawa this fall to join the Resident Acting Company at the National Arts Centre. She will appear in Romeo & Juliet, Nativity - A Coyote Christmas, and St. Carmen of the Main (co-produced with the Canadian Stage Company).