29 May Announcing Julie McIsaac – Festival Adjudicator

We are thrilled to announce that Julie McIsaac will be joining us as this years Festival Adjudicator.

Festival adjudication has a long traditional and it is one of the best ways to ensure an enriching experience for participants and audience alike. At the end of each block of shows, Julie will give a public adjudication that the audience can observe before conducting private adjudications for each of the shows back stage.

We are excited that Julie is joining us and sharing her wisdom with all of us.

JULIE McISAAC (she/her)

A versatile director, dramaturg and creator of theatre and opera, Julie lives with joy and gratitude on the territories of the W̱SÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən Peoples. She earned her Master’s in Theatre from the University of York (UK) and is also a graduate of Carleton University and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. She is a Jessie, Ovation and BroadwayWorld award winner, a 2024 Leo nominee for Best Lead Performance in a Motion Picture, a previous Artist-in-Residence with Pacific Opera, and in 2019 was named Director/Dramaturg-in-Residence at the Canadian Opera Company, where she led the critically-acclaimed premiere of Ian Cusson and Colleen Murphy’s Fantasma.

Directing highlights include the premiere of The Nightingale of a Thousand Songs (Canadian Children’s Opera Company), The Last Five Years (Blue Bridge), Beauty’s Beast (East Van Opera), The Exquisite Hour (Playhouse Fringe award), Pride and Prejudice (Chemainus) and the multiple award-winning Poly Queer Love Ballad by Sara Vickruck & Anais West. Julie is the playwright and award-winning composer/arranger/sound designer of The Out Vigil which was featured in the New American Voices Festival in London’s West End and premiered in Vancouver in 2016, receiving a total 5 Jessie nominations including Outstanding Production. A frequent collaborator with Urban Ink Productions in Vancouver, she is Associate Director of Corey Payette’s Children of God, and alongside Payette is the co-bookwriter & co-lyricist of the Leo-nominated feature film musical Les Filles du Roi. www.juliemcisaac.com