Famous People Players

Inspired by her vision of social inclusion, Diane Dupuy of Hamilton, Ontario received an Opportunity For Youth (OFY) grant to start FPP. This program was created by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to provide meaningful work experiences for Canadian youth in the early 1970s. On June 1, 1974, Famous PEOPLE Players (FPP) was founded.

At inception, the company consisted of Dupuy, an assistant, eleven performers, and Dupuy's mother Mary Gioberti Thornton; Thornton designed and built the costumes and props.

The company's original piece was Aruba Liberace, in which a life-size character of Liberace plays the piano. It is still the company's signature performance. Liberace attended a showing of Aruba Liberace, and was so impressed he invited FPP to perform with him in Las Vegas. The company debuted in Las Vegas at Las Vegas Hilton Hotel in October 1975; over the subsequent ten years, the company performed with Liberace both in Las Vegas and internationally.

As a result of the increasing popularity of Famous PEOPLE Players, the company was featured as regulars on CBC Television's 1976–1977 variety series, The Wolfman Jack Show; the network also later produced and aired Carnival of the Animals hosted by Canadian Actor Gordon Pinsent. In 1980, FPP was featured with the Rockettes at the re-opening of Radio City Music Hall in New York, where the Sorcerer Apprentice premiered.

In 1982, Famous PEOPLE Players was invited to perform in the People's Republic of China. The company's first Broadway Show, A Little Like Magic, opened at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City and ran for 49 performances in 1986. They returned to New York in 1994 for a 4-week run, under the sponsorship of Phil Collins and actor Paul Newman, where they performed the show A Little More Magic!

In 2001, Famous PEOPLE Players were invited to Kobe, Japan to raise money for children who were orphaned in result of a Great Hanshin earthquake. They are expected to return in 2026, with an invitation by a delegation from Kobe for the 25th commemoration of the Great Hanshin earthquake.

Famous PEOPLE Players has created many productions over its 50-year history.

Leave the Porch Light On was the company's first original, full-length musical production and was created for the company's 25th-anniversary. The initial performance of Leave the Porchlight On was attended by the Governor General of Canada. The production is still occasionally performed at the company's theatre in Toronto and on tour. A sequel of sorts followed two years later, entitled Hide and Seek: A Game of Human Spirit and A.D.H.D.(Awesome Dreams with High Drama) The Musical.