Alex Mustakas
When Alex Mustakas walked into a restored 1902 opera house in
a small rural Ontario town, the beauty of the place literally made
his heart skip a beat. But the longtime director knew architecture
alone wasn’t going to fill seats in a town better known for farming
and Mennonite furniture than theatre.
Mustakas had his work cut out for him in 1991 when he took a position as artistic and managing director of the new Drayton Festival Theatre. He worked sixteen-hour days with only three volunteers and in that first season the company sold 14,500 tickets.
The company prospered under Mustakas’ leadership and today Drayton Entertainment puts on shows in five venues across southern Ontario, selling more than 200,000 tickets. It has become the third largest non-profit professional theatre company in Canada after the Stratford and the Shaw festivals.
With summer theatre venues already in Drayton, Grand Bend, Penatanguishene and the Schoolhouse Theatre in St. Jacobs, Drayton Entertainment opened its first year-round theatre in a renovated St. Jacobs winery and cidery. The 400-seat St. Jacobs County Playhouse had its inaugural season in 2005-06.
“I like the concept of regional theatre,” Mustakas said once. “I truly believe you do not have to be in Toronto.”
Born in Cyprus to Greek parents, Mustakas moved to Canada when he was 6-years-old. He discovered his passion for theatre while working on shows at Eastwood Collegiate in Kitchener and later as a student at Wilfrid Laurier University.
After receiving a B.A. in economics from WLU, he worked as a manager of a student employment centre. However, he quit his government job to pursue a career in theatre, travelling across Canada
In 1988 he moved to England to study arts administration at London’s City University. Locally, he has been the director of the Waterloo Regional Gilbert and Sullivan Society and Kitchener-Waterloo Musical Productions, before taking the post in Drayton.
During the early days Mustakas did everything from hiring performers, to lighting and directing plays. The Drayton Festival made Canadian history by selling out its 1993 and 1994 seasons. For three years in a row, starting in 1996, the Drayton Festival was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts. In 1993, Mustakas won the K-W Arts Award for performing arts. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2004.
Mustakas opened the Schoolhouse Theatre in St. Jacobs in 1997 and three years later Drayton merged with the Huron County Playhouse in Grand Bend. While many hours are spent on the administrative side, Mustakas has managed to keep his hand in the artistic side of the company - directing more than twenty-five productions and writing a few since the company started sixteen years ago.
His drive to make Drayton Entertainment a success is rooted in his belief that theatre entertains but that it also changes people and transforms communities.
“Theatre plays an integral role in our quality of life. By introducing more people to theatre, we will enable them to expand their minds and develop a better understanding of the ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings of people throughout history.”
Photo courtesy of Drayton Entertainment.
Alex Mustakas (Waterloo 150 Profile)
Description
- Creator
- Gallagher, Beth, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Image
- Description
- To celebrate Waterloo's 150th anniversary, the Waterloo Public Library published a book called "Profiles from the Past, Faces of the Future." This book featured 150 profiles of people who helped make Waterloo what it is today. This is the digitized profile for Alex Mustakas.
- Notes
- Please visit the Waterloo Public Library to enquire about physical copies of "Profiles from the Past, Faces of the Future."
The Waterloo 150 project was funded by a grant from the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation. Beth Gallagher wrote the profiles with the assistance of many research volunteers. Information for the profiles was gathered from a variety of sources from the community and the Ellis Little Local History Room. Notable sources include the Ellis Little Papers, newspaper clippings, local magazines and books.
- Place of Publication
- Waterloo, Ontario
- Date of Publication
- 2007
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Mustakas, Alex
- Language of Item
- English
- Geographic Coverage
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Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 43.4668 Longitude: -80.51639
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- Copyright Statement
- Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
