About Dry Cold Productions
Dry Cold Productions was created with the vision of presenting musicals never produced in Winnipeg by a professional theatre company.
We choose repertoire from the modern musical theatre canon which, through comedy or serious drama, is transformative. Dry Cold is proud to have presented two decades of Manitoba and Canadian premieres to our audiences.
We embrace pieces which celebrate characters who represent the marginalized and the disenfranchised. We choose to tell stories of how love can change people, change society and potentially change the direction of our world.
Dry Cold Productions proudly engages artists of all backgrounds regardless of race, age or orientation.
Thank you for supporting innovative and stimulating Musical Theatre.
Co-Founders
Reid Harrison
Reid Harrison has been active in Winnipeg’s arts community for many years. In 2009, he was inducted onto Rainbow Stage’s Wall of Fame, testament to his twenty-seven productions at that theatre on stage and in the pit. During thirty-four years as a high school teacher of English, Music and Drama, he directed twenty-five musical theatre productions at Grant Park and Kelvin High Schools.
A founding member of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Winnipeg, he sat on the Society’s board for twenty-eight years until its dissolution in 2019, including two terms as President. He performed in principal roles in the early years of the Society’s productions followed by seven years as resident conductor and as the director of the last 12 productions. He is co-founder and co-artistic director of Dry Cold Productions. In addition to acting in two Dry Cold shows, he was music director for The Light in the Piazza and Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and stage director for Follies, Dry Cold’s sold-out contribution to SondheimFest 2013.
As a cellist, in addition to his work at Rainbow Stage, he has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Philharmonic and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. In recent years he has taken on the role of general manager for both the Rosamunde Summer Music Academy and the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival.
Donna Fletcher
Donna Fletcher is an actor, singer, and director. Proud of her prairie roots, Donna earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Manitoba, a diploma in Music Theatre from The Banff Centre for the Arts, and a Master of Music from The University of Toronto.
As an actor, Donna has performed in principle roles from east to west with the Charlottetown Festival, Drayton Festival, Rainbow Stage, Theatre Calgary, Stage West Calgary, the National Arts Centre, Manitoba Opera, MTC, PTE, MTYP, WJT, the Belfry Theatre and Persephone Theatre. Donna’s favourite directing credits include Annie for Rainbow Stage, the WSO/Rainbow Stage concert presentation of South Pacific; Kiss Me Kate, Carousel and City Workers In Love for NUOVA; Phantom of the Opera, Into the Woods & The Sound of Music for Opera on the Avalon; No Change in the Weather for TerraBruce Productions; A Man of No Importance, The Addams Family and Sweeney Todd for Dry Cold Productions; Brundibar for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the WSO presentation of Send in the Clowns: The Music of Stephen Sondheim where she took the stage with TONY Award winner Len Cariou.
Donna is a nationally respected clinician, Voice and Musical Theatre Instructor at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music as well as the University of Winnipeg Theatre Department and is a Faculty member of the NUOVA Opera & Musical Theatre Summer Training Programme in Edmonton. Donna serves as the Manitoba/Nunavut Councillor for Canadian Actor’s Equity and was inducted into the Rainbow Stage Wall of Fame in 2012.
Alongside Reid Harrison, she co-created Dry Cold Productions which is celebrating its 21st season.
Board of Directors
Venetia Bourrier
Venetia Bourrier is thrilled to be a member of the Dry Cold Productions Board of Directors.
Venetia has retired after 30 years at CancerCare Manitoba where she developed the Pharmacy and Provincial Oncology Drug Program. Venetia’s last few years in the organization were spent as Director of Quality, Patient Safety & Risk. In this role, she was responsible for leading the organization through three very successful Accreditation surveys. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology and in Pharmacy.
Venetia was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Winnipeg when she was 15 years old. While living in South Africa, her parents always exposed her to music, opera, and dance. This cultivated a love of the arts, which continued into adulthood.
Venetia’s true passion for musical theatre was ignited when her two sons and her daughter started singing and dancing in school and divisional musicals, as well as local productions such as Rainbow Stage. Now she never misses opportunities to attend community theatre, including Dry Cold’s musicals.
Venetia loves to travel and takes yearly trips to New York City with her oldest son, who shares her love of Broadway shows.
Kathryn Deeley
Kathryn joined the Dry Cold Productions Board of Directors in 2013. She supports all annual Board initiatives as well as sits on the Dry Cold Marketing Committee where she focuses primarily on digital and traditional marketing and advertising strategies for the Company.
Kathryn is a Marketing Manager at Pollard Banknote Limited. She holds a Bachelor Commerce Honours (Marketing and International Business) degree from the University of Manitoba’s I.H Asper School of Business. Upon graduation, Kathryn was the recipient of Asper’s Highest Standing in Marketing Award. Aside from her business and marketing background, Kathryn has a passion for the arts. She is an active community soloist and recently completed her Associate of the Royal Conservatory (ARCT) Performance Diploma through the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Robin Dow
Robin Dow is a well-known choreographer, dancer and dance educator in Winnipeg’s theatre community. Over the span of her forty-year career, Robin has taught dance in at all levels, choreographed main stage productions as well as professional and amateur productions, including The Wave (Manitoba Theatre Centre), Falsettos (Dry Cold/Winnipeg Jewish theatre), and the Grey Cup Half Time show. She has also been a significant contributor to over 60 segments of Sesame Street.
In 2016 Robin was a co-recipient of the Winnipeg Theatre Awards Honorary Theatre Educator Award in recognition of her extensive experience and contribution to the arts community in Winnipeg. Robin has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Winnipeg, and a Certificate of Ballet Teaching Studies from the Royal Academy of Dance. She has developed and implemented dance programs for Isaac Newton Jr. High, Balmoral Hall, and Seven Oaks School Division, and she has been a sessional instructor for the University of Manitoba.
Robin is especially proud of her work with the Grant Park Performing Arts Program, which she and her husband, George Budoloski, created in 1995. Additionally, Robin taught tap, jazz and musical theatre for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for over ten years. As a passionate advocate of the arts in Winnipeg, Robin is proud to serve on the Board of Dry Cold Productions.
Pamela Roz
Pamela Roz has spent the last 15 years as a radio broadcaster and over a decade in the public relations field. Since starting Pamela Roz PR, she has helped Manitoba-based artists/bands, theatre companies, events, and charities gain media coverage as well as enhance their online presence and grow their public followings.
Under “other skills/passions”, you will find voiceover, journalism, interviewing, event planning, and event hosting.
Pamela also launched into a passion for volunteering at a young age alongside her parents. That has very much continued as she’s contributed her marketing, social media, and writing skills on a volunteer basis for BS Comedy Players, Canadian Beats Media, Crosswalk Productions, North Kildonan Community Players, Theatre by the River, The WPG Magazine, and, most recently, Dry Cold Productions.
Pamela has been a lifelong advocate for the arts, both onstage and off, and is so proud to be a part of the Dry Cold Family!
Jaz Sealey
Jaz is very happy to be a part of the Dry Cold family. After first playing hockey for 10 years, Jaz caught the theatre bug while attending Grant Park High School. Alongside his training there, he spent many years studying at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and in private voice lessons. Jaz made his theatre debut with Rainbow Stage and happily went on to perform 4 more times with the company. Dry Cold was the first company to cast him in a featured role as Arpad in She Loves Me, where he first made connections with Donna Fletcher and Reid Harrison. In Canada, he has worked with RMTC, MTYP, Mirvish, Citadel, Theatre Calgary, Neptune Theatre, The Grand, Theatre Aquarius, Ross Petty, Stage West, The Charlottetown Festival, Port Hope, KOBA, Drayton, and two seasons at the Stratford Festival. In 2012, Jaz made his Broadway debut in the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. Since 2013, Jaz has been an Original Company member of Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway which also included performing for the Obamas in the White House and originating the North American Tour before returning to the Broadway cast. Jaz is very grateful and looking forward to bringing his experience to Dry Cold, assisting them excel at giving the gift of theatre to this community and continuing to learn everything that makes theatre so magical.
Hollie Hatt-Sissons
Hollie holds a Bachelor of Physical Education from the University of Manitoba and has been in the fitness industry for over thirty years. A motivated advocate for inclusivity and disability rights inspired by her son and a proud "dance mom" to her aspiring triple threat daughter, her love of all things Theatre began as a child when she was mesmerized by a performance by her Mother's lifelong friend and local Superstar Patricia Hunter.
Hollie is thrilled to be on the board of Dry Cold since 2019 and has been an admirer and supporter since Donna Fletcher and Reid Harrison established the company over twenty years ago.
Hollie enjoys being involved with such a dynamic and forward looking team and can't wait to get back to live theatre so she can get brush up on her new skill of "Light Walker" acquired during Dry Cold's last production.
Jovanni Sy
Jovanni Sy is a Calgary-based playwright, director, and performer. He served as Artistic Director of Gateway Theatre (Vancouver) and of Cahoots Theatre (Toronto). He has collaborated with theatre companies across Canada and abroad.
Jovanni's one-man play, A Taste of Empire, was nominated for two Dora Awards. It was subsequently translated into Cantonese and performed by Derek Chan. A Tagalog version (Lasa ng Imperyo) is being developed by Carmela Sison.
Jovanni’s award-winning play Nine Dragons premiered in Calgary in 2017 before transferring to Winnipeg and Vancouver. Currently under development: Kowloon Bay for Vertigo Theatre and Salesman in China (with Leanna Brodie) for the Stratford Festival.
Joseph Tritt
Joseph Tritt has enjoyed a rich and varied career in musical theatre. As a music director, he has worked extensively in Manitoba (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Rainbow Stage, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Dry Cold Productions, Winnipeg Studio Theatre) and Ontario (The Grand Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Drayton Entertainment, Ross Petty Productions). As an educator, Joseph has been a contract faculty member in the Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance program at Sheridan College, as well as a masterclass clinician and adjudicator in various settings. As a composer, he has contributed incidental music to plays at the Shaw Festival and was a participant in The Musical Stage Company’s Noteworthy lab for emerging music theatre writers. Joseph is a graduate of the Shaw Festival’s music direction internship program, under the supervision of Maestro Paul Sportelli. As part of this experience, he had the privilege of serving as substitute conductor and pianist for Shaw's 2016 production of Sweeney Todd. Joseph holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music.
In addition to his musical pursuits, Joseph is preparing to enter graduate school in counselling psychology. He is a dedicated volunteer at Klinic Community Health and the Rainbow Resource Centre, as well as an advocate for mental health in the performing arts.
Joseph is honoured to serve on Dry Cold’s board, having been the apprentice music director for Company and the music director for Follies and A Man of No Importance. He looks forward to helping Dry Cold continue to play their vital role in the Winnipeg arts scene, presenting intellectually and emotionally stimulating works of music theatre and guiding emerging talent into the professional world.
Maria Vincenten
Maria Vincenten, now retired, began her work career in business after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Applied Economics) and a Master of Business Administration (Marketing & Finance) from the University of Manitoba. Since graduation Maria has taken many courses in sales, marketing, management, quality, and finance receiving further certificates and designations. Having worked as a consultant, as well as holding various roles for Xerox Canada and Coca-Cola Canada, she transitioned to the education industry at Red River College.
All that education and experience has given Maria a strong business acumen as well as a flair for the dramatic. In her youth she performed regularly in church services, at weddings, in the Winnipeg Music Festival, and in short stints with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society and the Winnipeg Philharmonic. She was honoured to be asked to join the Board which combines her love of musical theatre and business acumen.
Marketing Committee
Kathryn Deeley
Donna Fletcher
Pamela Roz
Andrea Spiers
