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A very Uxbridge show
?When OnStage Uxbridge, north Durham’s busiest community theatre company, was putting the finishing touches on its All-Canadian 2009-2010 season about a year ago, the executive didn’t have a whole lot of options when it came to the number three spot in its lineup, the January musical which traditionally helps pay for the lesser-known draws on the playbill.
Although there have been some very successful small Canadian musicals like Billy Bishop Goes to War, and although some shows like The Drowsy Chaperone are beginning to emerge from the Fringe circuit, there is really only one - count ‘em, one - well-known Broadway-style musical written and grown in Canada. It is, of course, the one which has been the centrepiece of the Charlottetown Festival for more than 40 years: Anne of Green Gables: the Musical.
Fortunately for OnStage, that show also has a strong Uxbridge connection, with which everyone who has lived in the township for at least two years (the centennial of the book was in 2008) will be familiar: the author of the musical’s source material, Lucy Maud Montgomery, lived in the Uxbridge area for 15 years, during which time she wrote most of the subsequent “Anne” novels. If Anne Shirley the character was born in P.E.I., you could say she grew up in Leaskdale.
The news that the only surviving co-creator of the musical, lyricist and scriptwriter Don Harron (the Canadian actor best known for his “Charlie Farquarson” character), is coming to Uxbridge during the run of the show (as reported on page 7) to help launch his new book about the musical, is another feather in OnStage’s cap. Producers hope the Music Hall will be standing room only when Mr. Harron attends the performance this coming Saturday afternoon.
And that brings up another Uxbridge connection to the show. In an interview during the “Anne” centennial, Don Harron was asked if he had a favourite among the actresses who’ve portrayed the red-head during the show’s four decades. His reply? Chilina Kennedy, who was in Charlottetown in 2000 and 2001, who has choreographed many musicals for OnStage Uxbridge in the past, and directed Camelot for the company last January. Ms. Kennedy is now starring at the Stratford Festival.
Critics have predicted Chilina Kennedy to be the next “big thing” in Canadian theatre. We would suggest that the star of the current OnStage production, Katie Wilson (who has a “Cup of Coffee” with Roger Varley this week on pages 3 and 9), has that kind of potential. If she chooses a professional theatre career, she will go far.
So there are lots of reasons to attend Anne of Green Gables: the Musical at the Music Hall over the next two weeks. Have Don Harron sign his new book for you. Watch a new Canadian musical theatre star on the rise. And enjoy a very entertaining piece of Canadian theatre performed by a great cast and orchestra.
And by the way, do your thing as an Uxbridge patriot. There are probably less than a handful of things you can do which brand you as a true-blue Uxbridger. Cheer at a Bruins game. Canoe Elgin Pond. Race in the Fall Fair Demo Derby. And celebrate the creations of Lucy Maud Montgomery. If you haven’t done the last one, here’s yourchance.
