It’s entirely possible that an early work by the next Atom Egoyan or David Cronenberg will screen on Wednesday night at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. With the 2013 Student Film Showcase featuring the best from post-secondary schools around the country and the Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase kicking off the evening with Toronto-area high-school students’ films, the night will be a coming-out party for a new crop of talent. Judging by the polished creativity of some of the entries, it’s safe to say that young people are more prepared than ever to start telling stories on film from an early age.

According to CBC’s Chris Boyce, the goal of this weekend’s CBCMusic.ca Festival is twofold. First and foremost, the CBC wants to celebrate Canadian music. Second, it wants to celebrate CBC Music, the broadcaster’s online music service, which launched a little over a year ago.

In 1996, Theatre Columbus premiered playwright Michael O’Brien’s “freely adapted” take on the famous Beaumarchais play The Barber of Seville, which was written in 1775. O’Brien’s version mixed in music from the 1816 opera of the same name by Gioachino Rossini, as well as original tunes by composer John Millard. The adaptation also propelled the story forward a couple centuries, with pop culture references galore. With Theatre Columbus co-founder Leah Cherniak at the helm, the musical ended the season with six Dora Award nominations (it won three) and plenty of critical acclaim.

Seventeen years later, Soulpepper Theatre is remounting this zany reimagination of The Barber of Seville, updated once again by O’Brien, Millard, and Cherniak. But, for some reason—the change in decade, or company, or sense of humour—whatever had made the original so magical, has faded, save for a few key performances.

Actress Arlene Duncan (right) won a Dora last night for her titular role in Caroline, or Change. Photo by Joanna Akyol.

At Monday’s Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Obsidian Theatre’s two-hander drama Top Dog / Underdog earned big wins in the general theatre category: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performance in a Lead Male Role for Nigel Shawn Williams, and Outstanding Direction for Philip Akin.

Before any of that happened, recent Broadway star and hometown hero, host Thom Allison, tied up his opening monologue by telling the nominees he wanted to “see emotion, people… but keep it under 90 seconds.” Akin’s classy speech did just that, with the seasoned actor and director barely glancing at his notes. He advised the crowd to “accept bounty when it comes.”

The bounty continued for Obsidian in the musical theatre division, where actors Sterling Jarvis and Arlene Duncan won the outstanding male and female lead awards, and their show Caroline, or Change won Outstanding Production, bringing Obsidian’s unofficial Dora award count to eight. Caroline, or Change, which also grabbed an Outstanding Musical Direction nod for Reza Jacobs, was produced by the Acting Up Stage Theatre Company, which also shared a Best Touring Production award with Victoria’s Atomic Vaudeville company and Theatre Passe Muraille for the quirky and popular musical Ride The Cyclone, bringing Acting Up Stage’s total to five awards.

Theatre Passe Muraille was the biggest winner in the general theatre division, where Pamela Mala Sinha’s one-woman show Crash earned Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Female Lead, Outstanding Lighting Design (for three-show nominee Kimberly Purtell), and Outstanding Sound design for Sinha’s brother Debashis Sinha. The actress and first-time playwright (who also shared in Nightwood Theatre’s Outstanding Ensemble award for The Penelopiad) gave full credit for her emotionally raw show—about surviving a home invasion—to her collaborators. “A play lives on its artistic realization,” she told us after the ceremony, “and it needs an artistic team, like I had, to fulfill its potential.” Sinha ignored the swelling stage music during her acceptance speech to praise her director, Alan Dilworth. As she said after the awards, “I told him, ‘I don’t have a venue, or anything,’ and he told me, ‘We’ll do Crash on a doorstep if we have to.’ He didn’t even know me. We were speaking on the phone after he’d read the script.”

The all female cast of Nightwood Theatre's The Penelopiad won an ensemble award last night. Photo by Robert Popkin.

Collaboration was the theme for the night, both between companies sharing in “the bounty,” and in the recipient’s acceptance speeches. As one tweet joked, a drinking game could have been made out of the number of times “you can’t do this alone” was said. The tone was set early in the night by Pauline McGibbon Award recipient Ravi Jain, an inventive theatre creator who uses multimedia techniques, international talent, and even his own family (his show with his mother Asha will be remounted in Tarragon Theatre’s next season). Jain, who received a standing ovation, opened by telling the full theatre, “I greet you with so much joy,” and ended his speech with a call and response of “Joy!” Jain explained the origins of the call and response to us at the after-party. “My friend Ian Kamau, the poet and hip-hop artist, does that at concerts, so I asked him, ‘I’m winning this award, can I borrow “joy”?’ He said, ‘Absolutely, go ahead.’”

Surprises for the night included wins by Theatre Smash in the independent theatre category for Outstanding Set Design (by previous Dora winner Camilla Koo) and Outstanding Production for The Ugly One; an Outstanding Performance award in the same category for clowns Morro & Jasp in their show Go Bake Yourself; and a shutout of the phenomenally popular Kim’s Convenience, currently being remounted by Soulpepper Theatre. The controversial ousting of Factory Theatre’s artistic director Ken Gass was only briefly referred to by André du Toit during his acceptance speech for Best Lighting Design for The Double (though Gass’s name elicited generous applause).

For a full listing of all Dora Mavor Moore award winners, visit the Toronto Alliance of Performing Art’s website.

TALK: Remember when Toronto had a mayor who liked ideas? Talking about them, listening to others, open-mindedly debating their merits? Former mayor David Miller, who was always gracious and comfortable with the part of his job that entailed people putting mics in his face, holds one as the MC for tonight’s Occupy the Mic NowTalk series, featuring guests like comic Arthur Simeon and policitian/musician Andrew Cash. Miller and his guests will be debating the root causes and tactics of the Occupy movement, and the benefits (if any) the movement may have (or have had) for Toronto. Bloor Hot Docs Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), doors at 6:15, 7 p.m. start, $15 (plus HST & 2 per cent service charge).

THEATRE: Last chance theatre round-up! And there’s a lot of it tonight and this weekend:

• The Mayworks Festival has a one-night-only workshop presentation of Intent City, an interactive play written and designed by Gein Wong. Theatre Direct @ Wychwood Barns (601 Christie Street), 7:30 p.m., $12.
• Canadian Stage’s Festival of New Ideas and Creation continues this weekend, with performances tonight of several works in progress, including Life, Death, and The Blues, by musician and actor Raoul Bhaneja. Canadian Stage Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley Street), 7: 30 p.m., FREE (best reserved in advance.)
• And then there’s the plethora of runs ending this week, including Gruesome Playground Injuries, The Innocents, Pamela Sinha’s Crash, The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs (And The Repudiation and Reformation of Mike Daisey), The Game of Love and Chance, and How to Disappear Completely. Over at the Harbourfront Centre, Young Jean Lee’s The Shipment is getting just three shows in their World Stage Series; we have every expectation our review will be favourable, but the show will have closed before we can tell you what we thought and we were right. Harbourfront Centre Enwave Theatre (231 Queens Quay West), Friday & Saturday 8 p.m., $15–$45.

LAUNCH: The Paris-based literary arts magazine Her Royal Majesty has co-ordinated launch parties for their 12th international issue in seven cities around the world. Toronto’s event features readings from Susanna Fournier, Ryan Kerr, and Grace O’Connell, and musical performances by Thom Gill & Johnny Spence, Graham Wright of Tokyo Police Club, and more. Placebo Space (1409 Bloor Street West), 9:30 p.m., PWYC.

RAP: For his third album, MC Sean Jordan, better known as WordBurglar, dug deep into the roots of Toronto’s local rap scene, enlisting luminaries like More or Les and Fresh Kils to contribute to his appropriately titled 3rdBurglar. He’s also welcoming them as guests, along with Timbuktu, Chokeules, and many more, at tonight’s massive CD launch for the album. El Mocambo (464 Spadina Avenue), 9:30 p.m., $10 (includes CD).

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Award-winning playwright Daniel Karasik's The Innocents opens tonight at the Tarragon Theatre. Photo by Jordan Tannahill.

THEATRE: The curtain falls this weekend on a number of well-reviewed theatre shows, such as The Exquisite Hour (Factory Theatre Studio, 125 Bathurst Street, 7:30 p.m., $17) and Clybourne Park (Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, 8 p.m, $22–$49). But there are openings to take their place, including Pamela Mala Sinha’s one woman show, Crash, about a woman rediscovering her memory after a traumatic event (Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue, 7: 30 p.m., $15–$30), and The Innocents, Tango Co.‘s play about young people of different social standing brought into each other’s stratas by a senseless murder. Finally, playwright Daniel Karasik’s The Innocents is returning to Toronto after successful runs off-Broadway and in Germany—it’s apparently changed substantially since its successful 2010 SummerWorks run. Tarragon Theatre Studio (30 Bridgeman Avenue, 8 p.m., $17–$22.)

MUSIC: Rowdy throwback rock and roll outfit Steamboat, known for their popular past residencies at the Dakota Tavern, have a freshly-pressed vinyl record in hand, Rules (which you can stream here) and they plan to play a multi-set album release show to celebrate tonight, with guests like Maylee Todd (who also appears on the album). Sneaky Dee’s (431 College Street), doors at 9 p.m., $8.

DANCING: Popular world, roots, and soul music hub Uma Nota (One Note) has a Roots Rhythm Reggae edition of their dance party tonight, and they’ll be steaming it up at the Great Hall until late into the night, with guests including Rollin’ Cash, Friendlyness and The Human Rights, and Mar Aberto SoundSystem. The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West), doors at 10 p.m., $15 at the door until 11:30 p.m., “more after.”

COMEDY: The hard-partying improvisers of Mantown bid bon voyage to one of their own tonight, as troupe member Bob Banks takes to the high seas with a touring Second City company. And how else would Mantown celebrate, than with drinking games, comedy, and ludicrous frat party shenanigans, all under the permissive auspices of the Dean of Mantown, Rob Baker? Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), 10:30 p.m., $10.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.