W. Michael Than, President and Founder

Born in China and raised in India, Michael immigrated to Canada in 1970, and has since lived and worked in Toronto, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Bangkok. Most of his corporate career has been with financial institutions such as Siam Commercial Bank, Bangkok Bank, Bankers Trust and American Express – initially responsible for management and organizational development activities, and eventually for large-scale organizational transformations.

Theatre, however, has always been his passion. He involved himself with amateur/community theatres wherever he lived – as an actor, director, administrator, and chief cook & bottle-washer. Finally retiring from the corporate world, he returned to settle permanently in Canada in 2009.

Richard Lee, Vice-President and Program Manager

Richard is an actor, fight director, theatre producer and Dora Award winning sound designer who has worked extensively in both film and theatre. Some highlights of his career as an actor include Bruce Lee (Little Dragon –K’now/Theatre Passe Muraille); Rick Wong (Banana Boys – fu-GEN Theatre Company); Sun WuKong (The Forbidden Phoenix – Lorraine Kimsa Theatre For Young People/Citadel Theatre); Falkor (The Neverending Story – Roseneath Theatre), receiving Dora Award nominations for all these performances.

Richard is also a founding member and former General Manager of fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company. Richard is passionate about cultural diversity in Canadian theatre and seeks to actively address and raise awareness of this issue.

Byron Abalos, Secretary

Byron Abalos is an actor, playwright and theatre producer from Toronto, Ontario. Select theatre credits include You Play Beautifully (Theatre New Brunswick), Monday Nights (The Theatre Centre- Ensemble Dora nomination), Twelve Angry Men (Soulpepper – Ensemble Dora Award), Roshni (Theatre Passe Muraille), The Making of St. Jerome (EastBound Players- Dora nomination), paper series (Cahoots Theatre – Ensemble Dora nomination), Banana Boys (fu-GEN) and The Romance of Magno Rubio (CBT). Film/TV credits include Baroness von Sketch, The Boys, Return to Christmas Creek, Flatliners, Condor, Man Seeking Woman, Defiance, Dark Matter, Covert Affairs, The Listener, Mr. Dressup and The Magic Schoolbus.

Byron is a graduate of Ryerson University, a Toronto Second City Bob Curry Fellowship alumnus and currently teaches at The Second City’s training centre. He is also the Director of Development for Studio 180 Theatre.

Sarena Parmar, Member

Sarena Parmar is an actor and playwright based in Toronto. As an actor, she has worked in theatre, film and television. On stage, Sarena has appeared at the Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Canadian Stage. Other favourite roles include Perdita in the award-winning production of Winter’s Tale with Groundling Theatre, and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with Forward Theatre. Screen highlights include three seasons in the Gemini-nominated television series, How To Be Indie; and the feature film, The Animal Project, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her play, The Orchard (After Chekhov), will premiere at the Shaw Festival in 2018. Sarena is a graduate of The National Theatre School and the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.