Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Gordon Portman was exposed to theatre at an early age, thanks to the elementary school tours and Christmas pantos of Regina’s Globe Theatre . Drawn first to performance, he studied at the prestigious Bachelor of Fine Arts program at the University of Alberta, from which he graduated with distinction in 1986. Over the last twenty five years, he has accumulated an extensive range of experience as a playwright, director, actor, and dramaturge, having worked in coast-to-coast venues from Vancouver to Halifax. He also has a wide-ranging understanding of theatrical narrative theories and practices, having studied and analyzed more than a hundred plays of various genres as well as several books on theatre technique.
Since moving to Brandon, MB and becoming a sessional instructor in the voice department at the Brandon University School of Music, Mr. Portman has applied his skills to work as an opera director and acting coach. In collaboration with vocologist David Playfair, we are developing a training program (unique in the prairie provinces) for the singing actor integrating both acting and musical techniques. As a key component of that program, Mr. Portman has staged full productions of Britten’s Albert Herring and Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, as well as a concert production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado. Future projects include participation in a panel on music theatre training at a conference in Winnipeg sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing and, with Prof. Playfair, co-presenting a paper on their evolving technique to the inaugural Lyric Canada Conference (October 2010). Future productions include a concert presentation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers in the spring of 2011.