Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Dorscht, Brian
Actor, director, and singer Brian Dorscht was born August 23, 1954 in Kitchener Ontario; died April 9, 2017 of colon cancer in Calgary, Alberta. He was involved in theatre since the age of 9. Most of his directing focused on theatre for young audiences, large musical show groups and Industrial Shows.
Brian Dorscht was very active in Kitchener/Waterloo Musical Productions and Little Theatre as an actor, teacher, and director, and was the co-founder and Artistic Director for Project People. After moving to Calgary in 1988, he co-founded Calgary Young Peoples Theatre with Jackie Pontin, and was the Artistic Director there for 14 years, focusing on classic and new works for young people and developing a Theatre School and Summer Theatre Program for young people.
Selected directing credits for Calgary Young People' s Theatre include The Secret Garden, Pinocchio, Alice, Great Canadian Vaudeville Show, Maxmillian Beetle and Shooting for the Moon. For the University of Calgary's Wagonstage Theatre, he has directed Gilly Goes West and the Buskin Company's Pinocchio and Alice Through the Looking Glass.
After leaving Young People’s Theatre in 2005, Dorscht developed and directed for the University of Calgary's Wagonstage Summer Theatre. In 2006 he was a jury member for Picture This, Canada’s first international disability film festival, held in Calgary.
He was a Performing Arts Coordinator for the City of Calgary; then Festival Curator for Calgary International Children’s Festival.
He was an accomplished singer, and directed and performed in many choirs during his lifetime.
Links: Calgary Young People's Theatre: www.cypt.ca
Last updated 2020-08-07
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