The Band
Rough Trade
Rough Trade was a trailblazing, politically charged, punk-inspired New Wave rock band formed in Toronto in 1975 by multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples and Manchester-born, Scarborough-raised vocalist Carole Pope.
Notorious for the openly sexual nature of their songs and the burlesque theatricality of their live performances — which often included bondage and sexual satire — the band was one of the first mainstream musical acts to include explicitly gay and lesbian references.
They enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1980s and won four Juno Awards before disbanding in 1986. Rough Trade was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and the Canadian Music Week Indy Hall of Fame in 2007.
Meet the Team
Creators & Artists
On the Polaris Prize short list, Carole Pope's work has been recognized with three Juno Awards, multiple independent music awards, a Genie Award, 4 gold, 1 platinum and 1 double platinum album. Pope has toured with David Bowie and performed at Roskilde, World Pride, AGO, MOCCA, Fashion Cares 25 with Elton John, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Luminato, Joe's Pub, The Global Cabaret Festival, The Frostbite Festival, Reykjavik, and countless others. She has contributed music to Transparent Season Two, The L Word, Queer As Folk, The Five Senses, and Cruising.
A CanAsian graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama, Kate Siahaan-Rigg is an award-winning playwright, performance artist, stand-up comedian and lead singer of the punk comedy band Slanty Eyed Mama. Her plays have been produced at Theatre Passe Muraille, The Tarragon Theatre, Center Theater Group Los Angeles, HERE NYC, Dixon Place NYC, La Mama ETC (in NYC and Melbourne), Out North Alaska, New World Theater, Theater Offensive Boston, Magic Theater SF and many more. She has been invited to perform original works at the Smithsonian Institute and major theater festivals across North America.
80s rocker Rob Preuss joined Burlington new wave band 'the Spoons' at age 15 — a sensation across Canada with several radio hits and 2 gold records. After leaving the Spoons he joined Honeymoon Suite, winning a Juno award and touring North America, Europe and Asia. He has played Beauty and The Beast, Phantom of The Opera, Tommy, Miss Saigon, and Blood Brothers. Rob spent 15 years playing and conducting Mamma Mia! on Broadway, and was associate musical supervisor of Once The Musical on Broadway — Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theater Album in 2013.
Broadway supernova Chilina Kennedy is known for playing Carole King in Beautiful on Broadway for over 1,200 performances. She also originated the Tony-award winning role of Dina on the First Broadway National Tour of The Band's Visit. Her Broadway debut was in 2012 playing Mary Magdalene in Des McAnuff's Jesus Christ Superstar. She starred in Paradise Square, which opened on Broadway at the Barrymore Theatre in Spring 2022, and has performed at the Stratford Festival across three seasons.