Ted Dykstra

Ted Dykstra is a Canadian playwright and actor. He was born in Chatham-Kent, Ontario in 1961 and grew up in St. Albert, Alberta.[1] He is a founding member of Soulpepper Theatre Company.[2] Writing credits include Two Pianos Four Hands, Dorian, and Evangeline. Notable acting performances include Bach in Bach's Fight for Freedom and Ed Broadbent in Mulroney: The Opera, as well as some voice work. Notably, Dykstra voices Dad Tiger in Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

In 2003, formed an independent record label Actorboy Records with Gary Sinise.[3]

Formerly married to Melanie Doane with two children, Theo and Rosy.[3][4][5]

Dykstra and his wife Diana Bentley are co-directors of Coal Mine Theatre.[5]

References

1. "Dykstra, Ted". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
2. Fricker, Karen (12 September 2017). "The Coal Mine Theatre stays small but ambitious". Toronto Star. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
3. "Melanie Doane". Retrieved 2021-01-30. In 2003, Doane announced that she had parted ways with Sony and signed with Actorboy Records, an independent label created by her husband, theatre director and actor, Ted Dykstra, and actor, Gary Sinise.
4. "Ted Dykstra: Battling with his personal demons". 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2021-01-30. What made this work so distastefully compelling to watch in its various incarnations, is that one of the theatre world’s worst-kept secrets was that Dykstra’s two-decade marriage to singer Melanie Doane was dissolving as he kept recreating the pain on stage.
5. "How They Met: Diana Bentley and Ted Dykstra on a love story all their own". Trnto. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2019-08-10. When I met Ted I didn’t know he played piano or had a show called 2 Pianos 4 Hands or anything like that. I just knew that he was a director in the theatre. So, needless to say, the first time Ted got up to play piano at a salon, I was absolutely stunned. I’ll never forget it as long as I live. He played “Great Balls of Fire” and “Bennie and the Jets,” and when he sat back down at the table, I couldn’t speak.