Director/choreographer Judy Russell has announced that Anne of Green Gables would be her musical production this coming summer. She deliberately made the disclosure on International Women's Day last week and said there was also another commemorative reason in mind.
"Because of the sesquicentennial, Canada's 150th birthday, I couldn't really come up with a better choice to celebrate our country in a musical theatre fashion," said Russell.
Internationally popular across all stylistic eras since, Anne of Green Gables has made P.E.I. into a global tourism draw as people come to see the fabled island from the books and make pilgrimages to the actual green gabled house where Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote the series. In 1965, it was adapted into a musical and that, too, has toured the world.
"In 1985, I choreographed it in a Prince George production done with the Prince George Theatre Workshop. It was the production that gave me the confidence to do this on my own and go into producing musical theatre," said Russell. "It was my first time doing something like that on my own. I was 25. The director was Sonia Church. And I actually just had a meeting with the new leader of the UNBC Musical Theatre Club, her name is Veronica, and then she told me her last name. Church. She's Sonia Church's granddaughter. I couldn't believe it. It's like fate is telling me something. I'm really, really supposed to do this production, I guess."
The show is scheduled for the Prince George Playhouse from July 18-29. Auditions will be held in two flights: This Saturday and Sunday and April 1-2. Anyone interested in playing a part in the production is encouraged to watch the Encha"nement Dance Centre website for information in the coming days. Feel free to make email contact at [email protected].
