ABOUT

The Uncommon Folk Collective is a group of songwriters and performers crafting music-forward theatre experiences. 

Founded and coordinated by composer / music director Jake Schindler and folk singer/songwriter Sam Boer, this collective has showcased its first original musical,
Ursa: A Folk Musical, all over the place since its premiere at the Toronto Fringe NextStage Festival in 2022. Praised by The WholeNote for its “freshness, youthful energy, and experimental daring,” and dubbed a "winning, foot-tapping account of grizzly adolescence" by the Guardian, this versatile, one-act musical has been enjoyed by audiences in venues ranging from the Kingston Grand Theatre (Watershed Festival, 2022) to Bon Echo Provincial Park (as the first show selected for Tweed & Company's site-specific theatre program, 2022) to the Stratford Festival's online streaming service, Stratfest @ Home (2023).

In addition to presenting this original musical, the Uncommon Folk Collective orchestrated, music directed, and performed in a theatre revue celebrating the music and life of Joni Mitchell, presented by Tweed & Company (2023). This original show, Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now, presented this Canadian icon's music through brand new, engaging arrangements, all while highlighting her storied past and ongoing legacy.

The Uncommon Folk Collective is currently writing its second musical, with support from the Grand Theatre (London) and the Toronto Fringe Festival.

SHOW DATES

Previous events

Date Event Location
 —  — Ursa: A Folk Musical — in Concert! The Guelph Show Silence, Guelph Silence, Guelph
 —  — Ursa: A Folk Musical — in Concert! The London Show XUUX, London XUUX, London
 —  — Ursa: A Folk Musical — in Concert! The Toronto Show The Attic Studio and Theatre, Toronto The Attic Studio and Theatre, Toronto
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Vanderwater Vanderwater, Belleville, ON Vanderwater, Belleville, ON
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Marble Arts Centre Marble Arts Centre, Tweed, Ontario Marble Arts Centre, Tweed, Ontario
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Bancroft Village Playhouse Bancroft Village Playhouse, Bancroft, Ontario Bancroft Village Playhouse, Bancroft, Ontario
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Bonnechere Caves Bonnechere Caves, Eganville, Ontario Bonnechere Caves, Eganville, Ontario
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Bonnechere Caves Bonnechere Caves, Eganville, Ontario Bonnechere Caves, Eganville, Ontario
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Bon Echo Provincial Park Bon Echo Provincial Park, Cloyne, Ontario Bon Echo Provincial Park, Cloyne, Ontario
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Watershed Festival Kingston Grand Theatre, Rosen Auditorium, Kingston, ON Kingston Grand Theatre, Rosen Auditorium, Kingston, ON
Ursa: A Folk Musical at Watershed Festival Kingston Grand Theatre, Rosen Auditorium, Kingston, ON Kingston Grand Theatre, Rosen Auditorium, Kingston, ON

VIDEO

CAST & TEAM

Belinda Corpuz

"Ursa"

Belinda Corpuz (she/her) is a Filipina actor, singer, musician, creator and producer based in Tkaranto, Treaty 13. Her debut EP, All I Am, received critically acclaimed reviews with radio-play across Canada, including features on CBC Radio. She has sung on the soundtracks for feature films The Witch, and Netflix’s In the Tall Grass. Other album credits include: Retribution by Tanya Tagaq (as part of Christine Duncan’s Element Choir); Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 by Collective Order. Belinda holds a BMus in Performance - Jazz Voice from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music. As an actor, Belinda has developed new works with Factory Theatre, Nightwood, Cahoots, Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper, Ergo Arts, Bad Hats Theatre, Studio 180, Carlos Bulosan Theatre (CBT), fu-GEN, and the Canadian Film Centre. She is a founding member of all-Filipina group, the Tita Collective. Selected Acting: Lady Sunrise (Factory), Tita Jokes (Tita Collective), Hilot Means Healer (Cahoots), Prairie Nurse (Factory/Thousand Islands Playhouse/PlayMe CBC Podcast), Lola’s Wake (Canadian Film Centre) Jezebel (Reel Asian International FF).

Website

Ben Page

"Bear"

Ben Page is a theatre artist and fastest shawarma eater east of the Don Valley (unofficial). Having worked primarily as a composer and musician since graduating from Sheridan College in 2020, their composition debut Leaving Eden (book and lyrics by Jenny Waxman) won best musical in the New York Musical Festival in 2019. In 2021, Ben workshopped a new musical with their frequent collaborator Germaine Konji called The Lobster Who Cried Person as part of Bad Hats’ New Bad Ideas festival. In the future, they hope to do more work that centres the collective experience of live-ness inherent to theatre as an artform. Selected performance credits include: the Emcee in Cabaret (Theatre Sheridan), Spot Conlon in Newsies (Theatre Sheridan), The Preposterous Predicament of Polly Peel (Toronto Fringe), and The Crack of Doom (Bravo NMTI). 

INFO

Jake Schindler

Co-creator (book, music, and lyrics)—“Jake”

Jake Schindler (he/him) is a Toronto-based musician, educator, and composer who has a specific interest in creating and performing new Canadian musical theatre. Originally from London, Ontario, a music education graduate from Western University, Jake currently works as a music director, music teacher, and audio engineer for various organizations around Toronto. As a composer, his first full length musical, “Where Do We Begin?”, premiered in August 2019 to a sold-out run. Jake is a multi-instrumentalist with a keen interest in finding unique ways to incorporate popular and classical music into musical theatre storytelling in a fresh, authentic way.

Sam Boer

Co-creator (book, music, and lyrics)—“Sam”

Sam Boer (he/him) is a musician and writer born and raised on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (Guelph, Ontario). Sam has toured Canada with several groups—most notably art- folk collective The Lifers—performing at major Canadian festivals including Hillside, Summerfolk, Mariposa, Blue Skies, and Flourish. Under the moniker Samson Wrote, Sam released his debut album Pigeon in 2019, which was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in the “Pushing the Boundaries” category and praised by Exclaim! as “prolific and expansive.” Recently, he was selected for Otherwise Studios / Bumaroo Festival’s Co-Create Residency (April 2021) and contributed percussion and vocals on folk duo Tragedy Ann’s forthcoming album “Heirlooms” (2022). Ursa: A Folk Musial is his first musical.

Website

Margot Greve

Director

Margot Greve (she/her) is a multidisciplinary playwright, director and producer in Toronto, Ontario. She is the artistic director of Mixtape Projects, a dance/theatre fusion company that’s quirky, colourful, and musical. Her original production, “Mixtape”, performed as part of the 2019 New Voices Festival over a sold-out run. Since that initial production she has directed both contemporary and classical works for independent companies in the Toronto area. Her second original show, “Rebecca Love”, performed for four sold out audiences this past December and is continuing it’s development through workshops this winter. She was the intimacy choreographer for the 2019 productions of “Unfunny”, Little Accomplishments” and “Over Again” and led the devising process for the 2020 Panoply Collective production of “The Bacchae”. As an artist she is dedicated to weaving story, movement and music to create sensorially exciting productions for audiences young and old.