For the past 36 years Chris Warrilow has run Fantastic Creations Props Weapons & Armour, pulling rabbits out of hats, interpreting hieroglyphics, and generally summoning miracles out of thin air!

At least, that is how it often feels!

Providing props is less about designing, cutting, and building, and more about figuring out what the client wants… rather than what they asked for! That is the true job of the props master.

Over the years Chris has literally been given designs on the back of a napkin; and had an art department say, “What does he need drawings for; can’t he just build it?!”

The most memorable, after 2 weeks of back-and-forth visits, after delivering the final product, Chris returned to his shop and there is an angry message waiting from the head of wardrobe, that reads: “All you have given us, is what we asked for!”

The easy part is learning wood working, leather working, molding and casting, the hard part is knowing what to do with those skills when you need them.

As well as four years as Head of Props at the Banff Centre, Wulf Higgins has worked and taught across Canada, including the National Ballet of Canada, the Atlantic Theatre Festival, Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan) University, Sheridan College and Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Newfoundland. Wherever else he goes, though, Wulf keeps returning to the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, where he is currently Props Supervisor.

Kate Dumbleton is an Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Executive and Artistic Director of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival. Kate’s work in jazz, improvised music, and performance spans nearly three decades and includes music direction for jazz clubs and festivals; curatorial direction of artist residences; direction of interdisciplinary projects in music, dance, theater, visual art, film; venue and record label management; administrative direction; and artist management. Since Kate joined the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2012, the organization has grown significantly, including the launch of a commissioning program, the development of neighborhood initiatives, multi-organization symposia, and the cultivation of international artist exchange projects. She serves on multiple curatorial committees, advisory councils and boards. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors with Enrich Chicago and ArtsFirst Chicago. 

Alex began his musical training at an early age with violin lessons. Adding jazz bass into the mix in high school and switching to viola at university where he studied composition and conducting. Alex has always enjoyed collaboration and trying new things in the pursuit of 
musical expression. After university Alex began a career as an orchestra librarian in Kitchener, Waterloo. His strings background and a degree in composition proved useful in the library. 

Several years later Alex moved to Vancouver and became Assistant Librarian at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His roles at VSO evolved over the years focusing more on digital performances, concert production and composing/arranging for the VSO and other performing arts organizations in town. Alex has presented on subjects regarding copyist work, part preparation and even bowings at conferences in Berlin, Miami, Vancouver and Montreal. Alex founded Aseosa Productions which became the home of his musical pursuits.

Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community. A 2022 Herb Alpert awardee and MacArthur Fellow, 2021 USA Fellow, 2019 Foundation of the Arts and a 2016 3Arts recipient, Reid received her doctorate in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2017. From 2019-2021 Tomeka Reid held an appointment at Mills College as the Darius Milhaud chair in composition. Most recently, she was the artist in residence with the Moers Jazz Festival 2022. 

Image by Michael Jackson

Artist based in Lyon, Malo Lacroix works as a director and scenographer and artistic director of Sinople. 

Since 2013, he has worked and collaborate on a wide range of creation with theater, opera, film and installation. Past experiences include projects with Jean Louis Grinda, Jean Romain Vesperini, Murcof, Allex Aguilera, Robert Henke, Antoine Mermet, Philippe Gordiani, Dasha Rush. Bridging video, digital art with physical object, texture and new narrative forms, Malo presented different creations in institutions such Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam, Grand Théâtre de Québec, Macerata Opera Festival, Teatro Cervantes de Malaga, Musée Fabre Montpellier, Berliner Festspiele, Ohm, Berlin, Forte festival Portugal, Gaîté Lyrique et Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris, Stereolux, Nantes, De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam, TNP, TNG, and Nuits Sonores, Lyon, Positive Education Festival, Saint-Étienne, Metropolitan pavillon, New York et Gamma festival, Saint Petersburg. In 2019, Malo was awarded a bronze medal at the Shenzhen Design Week in China for the Porte Nef project, resulting from a collaboration with architect Maxime Aumon and composer In Aeternam Vale. More recently, he joined the creation of A l'originie fût la vitesse by Philippe Gordiani and Nicolas Boudier based on La Horde du Contrevent by Alain Damasio, coproduced by Théâtre Nouvelle Génération as well as Le Ring de Katharsy by Alice Laloy at the Théâtre Nationale Populaire. In 2024, his short film Celui qui voulait croire au Bison was awarded International Competition at Videoformes festival in Clermont Ferrand.
 

Steven Turner has been a props and scenic designer and builder for more than 45 years. He started his career at home in Nova Scotia working summers at the Festival on the Bay. Later he worked at the Neptune theater in Halifax and then went on to New York, Las Vegas, Macau and then the rest of the world. His career has taken him around the globe designing and building props, sets, and illusions for dozens of major companies like, Cirque du Soleil, DreamWorks, Audi, Harley Davidson, Mattel, Second City, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Catz, Venetian Macau Resort, Guinness Book of Records, and most recently Stephen Kings - The Institute (TV show), and many others.