Off The Wall fundraiser celebrates Trillium Foundation grant and the spectacular results

Cast members from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Liam Tobin performed before an intimate audience at the Gallery Stratford for a fundraiser for Off The Wall. They sang a repertoire of songs from musicals they have appeared in including West Side Story, Book of Mormon, and South Pacific.

Off The Wall (OTW) held its fall fundraiser Nov. 24, themed “A Scandalous Affair” and inspired by the Stratford Festival’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The evening saw a near sold out crowd of supporters and former students gather for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in excited anticipation of the evening’s entertainment provided by none other than Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Liam Tobin from this year’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The stars were accompanied on the piano by Karen Rempel.

The fundraiser celebrated the 2024 Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grant from the Resilient Communities Fund. Thanks to the $48,300 grant, recent planning efforts have been inspired and supported with the goal of building a more sustainable organization focused on future requirements and strategic priorities.

“This OTF grant is transformative. At Off the Wall, we came to realize that we needed planned growth and more sophisticated marketing, programming and fundraising strategies,” said OTW board director, Michele Boniface. “Over the past 20 years our passionate volunteers have fueled our success, but we need to add professional staff and a more strategic response to changes in the marketplace so we can continue to train up the next generation of backstage professionals.”

OTW is a not-for-profit centre of excellence in theatre production arts education. They provide intensive hands on-training by backstage theatre experts – most from the Stratford Festival – to participants who have a keen interest in theatre production, whether for personal interest or a future career.

“We’re growing and there’s a lot of excitement and interest both in Stratford and in the area, but we need more. We need more people working to continue to expand. We’re really doing well and we want to do more of what we are doing well,” said Elizabeth Dahmen, OTW board chair.

The OTF grant has already helped OTW upgrade its outreach and recruitment via modernized marketing and fundraising efforts that are attracting new participants and generating new revenue. Everything from new graphic designs and a re-configured website with fresh, fun content will encourage engagement and market OTW’s foundational programs, along with the new short-term options. Enrollment for the new workshops and the fall roster have already exceeded expectations with spectacular results.

“One of the stories that we’re most proud of is the fact that we have quite a number of Off The Wall students who have gone through our program and are now working in professional theatre. I would say anywhere up to a dozen working at the Festival Theatre and some at Blyth (Festival) or the Grand Theatre. We’re very proud of that achievement,” said Boniface.

It is through mentorship of backstage artists that the next generation of artists will develop. Many current artists have been working for 20 or 30 years and are retiring. By passing on their skillset, they aid in the continuity of the world class sets and props audiences delight in.

“The grant is to grow and make more sophisticated our marketing and fundraising, and the marketing has yielded great results. We have gone from our lowest enrollment in 2024 to our highest enrollment in 2025. We did 33 workshops for 2025. Our summer workshops were 100 per cent enrolled and so were our fall workshops,” said Boniface.

Sophisticated was the theme of the fundraiser as attendees dressed up in their finest attire to be either scoundrel, a mark or an heiress. With Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as their inspiration, they came sparkling and bedecked in jewels and ascots. Prizes for the best costume went to Jean Hewitt and Tom Gray. The pair won $200 gift certificates. Also, funds were raised with the purchase of jewels for a chance to win a loot bag valued at over $500. The happy recipient was Patrick Smith.

By sponsoring a student, sponsoring a workshop or simply donating by visiting their website stratfordoffthewall.com, there are many ways to support OTW.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Ontario government with a mission to build healthy and vibrant communities across the province. Last year, OTF invested nearly $105 million into 732 community projects and multi-sector partnerships.