Tanya Wills

Tanya Wills’ voice has been described as a “smoky, substantial, mezzo-soprano.” Her artistry spans musical theatre, jazz, chanson, cabaret, and classical repertoire.

Her rich and expressive voice is her hallmark as she works with many Swing and Big Band groups in the Toronto area. Known for her dynamic performance, and her great vocal technique, Tanya has been Eva Peron (Evita), Peter Pan, and Adelaide (Guys and Dolls) amongst many other memorable roles.

Tanya is one of two singers with the Wintergarten Orchestra, performing 1920s and 1930s cabaret songs in English, German and French.

She can also be seen with the Tanya Wills Quartet performing from the Great Songbook, along with contemporary and original works.

Her two albums, It’s Time (2019) and She (2025) can be heard and purchased on all the streaming platform.

Tanya is mother to two adult daughters. She lives in Brighton, Ontario.

www.tanyawills.ca

Zahra Faiz, Composer and Music Director

Zahra Faiz is an award-winning musician who has been making and writing music as long as she can remember.

At age 13 she was the youngest member of the Jazz FM91 Youth Big Band as a trombonist.

In high school she created and led a brass quartet, which made the winners' circle at Ontario Festivals. Zahra studied piano, composition and theory at the Royal Conservatory and earned a degree in music (along with economics and cultural studies) from McGill University.

No stranger to theatre, Zahra created and performed with McGill Student Improv. She co-founded an all-women’s comedy troupe and was on the founding creative team of the McGill Students Comedy Club. Kathryn, A Life Almosting, marks Zahra’s debut as a composer for the stage. She is also the music director.

Upcoming projects include an original show for which she is the book writer, lyricist and composer.

@zarchomp

Andrew Faiz

Andrew Faiz has worked in television and radio, at newspapers and magazines, in documentary film and once was a hotel manager. He has been a public speaker, a lecturer, and a lay minister. Also a janitor and a short order cook. He is an award-winning poet, photographer, journalist, humour writer, editor and columnist. Andrew has done a little a lot for decades.

He once had a theatre company which he built carefully and then crashed with one big ambitious show. (It was in the early stages of the theatre company he first met Kathryn.)

In between being a journalist, editor and news producer, Andrew wrote and directed the National Film Board documentary, Flemingdon Park: A Global Village. He did a profile of Kathryn Albertson for CBC Radio, which he then turned into a theatre script. Kathryn, As Herself, At Last, played in Toronto and Winnipeg in 2005 and 2006. Aromas, another one-woman play appeared on Toronto stages in 2014 and 2015.

@afaiz61

Joanne Latimer, Director

Joanne Latimer is an actor, director and dramaturg, with a passion for developing new work, with both young and seasoned creators and performers.

As an actor, she created the roles of Josephine Vitale in Tony and Tina’s Wedding (Second City Toronto), and Marianne Montague in Fair Verona (Lost and Gone). Other theatre credits include Aunt Dan and Lemon (Shadowtime), That Summer (4^th Line), Halfway There and Where Are You (Globus), Risk Everything (Cement Factory), and her own solo show Washed Up. Screen credits include Gray (Lionsgate), Kings of Napa (Warner Brothers/OWN), Living In Your Car (HBO), You’re My Hero (CBC), and Frankie Drake Mysteries (CBC), and Menace.

Selected directing credits: Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It (Working Duke Productions), Snap! (Toronto Fringe), Two Old Broads (Dinty Productions). Dramaturgy/Directing: Tantoo Cardinal’s No Fixed Address (Weesageechak).

As the director of Kathryn: A Life Almosting, Joanne brings her signature blend of emotional precision, musical literacy and character-driven staging to a story that spans decades.

@jolatimer_905

Kylee Martinez

Kylee Martinez (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary queer artist originally from High River, Alberta; now based in Toronto.

Her love for the arts began when she started piano lessons at four. From there, music quickly became the most important thing in her life, spanning from piano, singing, French horn, guitar and songwriting. In middle school, she was introduced to musical theatre, and her passion for storytelling through music began. Kylee attended Randolph College for the Performing Arts to study musical theatre. You can now catch Kylee around Toronto performing, music directing and teaching.

Selected Theatre credits: Aquata/Understudy: Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Swing in Thumbelina (TYT), Marty in Grease (Hart House), Ensemble/Vocal Captain in Urinetown (RCPA), and Peter in Peter Pan (HHS)

Music Direction credits: A Girl Like You: In Concert (EJ3Arts), Seussical (TYT)

@kylee_martinez_