Tag Archives: A Misfortune

On Stage

Misfortune’s World Premiere

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A Misfortune makes its world premiere tonight at The Charlottetown Festival.Sponsored by Key Murray Law, the bittersweet Canadian musical is playing a short run at the Centre’s cabaret theatre, The Mack until Sept 22.

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Adapted from a short story by Anton Chekhov, the musical starts with two old friends going for a walk in the woods. Their conversation soon takes a turn, revealing hidden depths to their relationship and forcing them to question the lives they’ve chosen.

 “Despite being written over a hundred years ago, the play’s themes are timeless,” says Kevin Michael Shea, scriptwriter and musical co-creator. “We’ve all loved the wrong people, or not loved the right people enough.”

 A Misfortune promises audiences a romantic, bittersweet musical about small moments and momentous decisions. Set at a dinner party among friends, sordid secrets are revealed with every shot of vodka.

Confederation Centre will present only nine performances of A Misfortune, so get your tickets for this must-see show. Please visit: http://www.confederationcentre.com/en/show/350-A-Misfortune

The cast includes Rejean Cournoyer (Andrey), Kelsey Falconer (Sofya), Connor Lucas (Ivan), Melanie Phillipson (Masha), and Brendan Wall (Pavel).

A Misfortune is directed by Eliza-Jane Scott with music by Scott Christian and lyrics by Wade Bogert-O’Brien.

Special thanks are extended to the Government of Canada for their support of Confederation Centre and to The Charlottetown Festival title sponsor, CIBC. Appreciation is extended to media sponsors Ocean 100, Hot 105.5, CTV, and The Guardian.

On Stage

Fortunate Casting Announced for Misfortune

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The Charlottetown Festival is in top gear this month, and producers are already preparing for the next round of productions, including the world premiere of A Misfortune, sponsored by Key Murray Law.

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The bittersweet Canadian musical plays a short run from September 7-22 at Confederation Centre’s cabaret theatre, The Mack. With just nine performances on deck, blink and you may miss it, so this is one theatre event to circle on the calendar.

A Misfortune follows Ivan, a young lawyer (Connor Lucas) and Sofya, a married woman (Kelsey Falconer), in pre-revolutionary Russia on a walk through the woods; their friendship has reached an impasse.

Soon they gather with three friends (Réjean Cournoyer, Brendan Wall, and Melanie Phillipson) for a dinner party in the country. With each drink, more sordid secrets are revealed. Adapted from a short story by Anton Chekhov, one of the world’s most celebrated and enduring writers, A Misfortune is a romantic, darkly comedic musical about small moments and momentous decisions. We follow Sofya’s journey from innocence and youth towards knowledge and self-actualization.

A Misfortune is directed by Festival alumna Eliza-Jane Scott, who wowed audiences in Mamma Mia! last year, and recently landed a lead role in the musical phenomenon, Come From Away, playing this winter with Mirvish.

A Sheridan College graduate, Lucas is currently performing in the Adam Brazier-led revival of Anne of Green Gables–The Musical™ and also appeared in two previous Young Company productions, The Voices of Canada and We Are Canadian. Falconer is playing Josie Pye in Anne™ as well this summer and is a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The Blyth, Ontario native has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as in workshops for the hit Proclaimers musical, Sunshine on Leith.

Cournoyer is a household name at the Festival, having starred in Mamma Mia! last year, as well as memorable roles in Evangeline, Alice Through the Looking-Glass, The Founding Father, and Anne™.

Wall performed here last year in the acclaimed Festival/Soulpepper musical Spoon River. He is currently appearing with Soulpepper’s Festival in New York City, in Of Human Bondage and Spoon River, which is drawing international attention and strong reviews, including from the New York Times. Wall has also performed in the award-winning War Horse (West End and Mirvish) and Once (Mirvish).

Phillipson is also presently performing in Anne™, and made her Festival debut in last year’s Belles Soeurs: The Musical. The Moose Jaw native has appeared across Canada with Mirvish, Tarragon, and seven seasons at the Shaw Festival.

Scott Christian is the musical’s composer, orchestrator, and music director with lyrics from Wade Bogert-O’Brien, and book and additional lyrics by Kevin Michael Shea.

Special thanks are extended to the Government of Canada for their support of Confederation Centre; and to The Charlottetown Festival title sponsor, CIBC. Appreciation is extended to media sponsors Ocean 100, Hot 105.5, CTV, and The Guardian.

 

News Flash

Memo From the Boss

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Canada 150 has arrived! As the national memorial to the founding of Canada, there is no better place to celebrate the sesquicentennial of our Confederation than right here. In the heart of Canada’s Birthplace visitors will find entertaining and expressive ways to honour this important anniversary across the complex, inside and out. Our ‘Centre for all Canadians’ has launched a diverse, accessible, and forward-thinking calendar of local and touring programming, entitled #Centre150. These exciting projects range from commemorative art exhibitions and a new commission in the Confederation Murals series, to expanded heritage programs, and an original touring production from some of Canada’s most gifted emerging performers.

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The Centre’s signature project is The Dream Catchers, a national touring production supported by the Government of Canada’s Canada 150 Fund. This winter, an artistic team travels to each province and territory to facilitate workshops, engaging young people and their dreams for our country, focusing on the environment, inclusion, and reconciliation. Actual dreamcatchers will be created in each workshop and integrated by Indigenous visual artist Nick Huard into a stunning national dreamcatcher, which will exhibited here all summer long. These sessions will be led in collaboration with regional artists, including Fred Penner, Emm Gryner, Paper Lions, City Natives, and more.

Inspired by young people’s visions for a better and brighter Canada, The Dream Catchers creative team will produce a vibrant musical for an expanded 2017 Young Company. Two troupes of emerging artists will present this new show across the country and on P.E.I., premiering here at Confederation Centre on National Aboriginal Day, June 21st.

In 2016 we announced a major sponsorship with CN for the Confederation Players. CN has now extended sponsorship of the Players through 2020 and invited the troupe to perform in Ottawa this June for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference where 2,000 municipal leaders will gather. CN is planning additional events that will engage our heritage troupe, including tree-planting ceremonies across the country. In the earliest days of our nation’s Confederation, the Canadian railway bound this far-reaching country together and I cannot imagine a more ideal partner to aid us in commemorating the dreams of our founders and sharing the nation’s stories.

From May 12-14, we will play host to the 20th annual Canadian Arts Summit, bringing together arts leaders from across the country to imagine the future of Canada’s creative life. As we look ahead, issues around cultural diversity and inclusion, evolving digital technologies, cross-cultural intersections, and reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada are emerging as major drivers of cultural transformation. This event is Canada’s only national, cross-disciplinary gathering of arts leaders and this marks the first time the Summit has been held outside of Banff, Toronto, or Montreal. We are thrilled to welcome these thought leaders to their national memorial complex, many of whom will be enjoying their first-ever Island visit.

In other symposium news, we will present The Charlottetown Festival Conference in September, aligning with the dates of that famous 1864 conference. Celebrating new ideas and industry developments, this national gathering will include keynote lectures, workshops, a concert performance of the Dora-winning musical The House of Martin Guerre, and the world premiere of A Misfortune at The Mack.

On July 28, we will also revisit the classic Kronborg 1582, celebrating of one of our Festival’s most successful musicals. This hit show was produced here in 1975 before heading to Broadway and the Festival ensemble will deliver a concert performance at the world-renowned Indian River Church. This is just one highlight of a glistening summer calendar, which includes Adam Brazier’s debut directing our beloved Anne of Green Gables-The Musical TM, the East Coast premiere of the rollicking rock show Million Dollar Quartet, and the return of our cabaret theatre hits, Bittergirl and Glenda’s Kitchen.

As ever, the Centre is alive and buzzing in all corners. Our long-standing dance umbrella program is currently spearheading the creation of the inaugural DanceWorks Festival for this winter while the Confederation Centre Youth Chorus are preparing for their annual chorus tour, which will take them to Rome, Naples, and beyond this year.

As I commence my sixth year as CEO, I am immensely proud of the many innovations prospering across our departments, and am eager to see our organization embrace the central themes, inspiration, and reflection at the heart of Canada 150.

Jessie Inman is the Chief Executive Officer of the Confederation Centre.

News Flash

Festival Announces 2017 Fare

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Confederation Centre of the Arts has announced a dazzling lineup for next summer’s Charlottetown Festival, presented by CIBC. The 2017 Festival will run June 3 to September 24 and include the 53rd season of the international sensation Anne of Green Gables–The Musical™; the iconic rock ’n’ roll mega-concert Million Dollar Quartet; the return of two beloved Festival-spawned musicals, Bittergirl and Glenda’s Kitchen; and a new Young Company production that will tour the country.

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Million Dollar Quartet is a hit musical inspired by the true story of the famed 1956 recording session in which producer Sam Phillips brought together the “godfathers of rock ‘n’ roll” – Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley – for one unforgettable jam session. Set in a Memphis studio, this story-and-song musical brings to light an extraordinary tale of broken promises, secrets, and a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of four friends that is both poignant and heartwarming. Featured are such hallmark hits as Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, Fever, Great Balls Of Fire, Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues, and many more.

Presented in rep with Quartet is the Island festival’s crown jewel, Anne of Green Gables–The Musical™. For the first time, the internationally acclaimed musical will be directed by Artistic Director Adam Brazier, leading a company of 23 amazing triple threats from across the nation. Having delighted more than 2.5 million people over 3,200 times at the Centre, Anne of Green Gables–The Musical™ remains the quintessential Canadian musical, and Brazier is thrilled to put his creative stamp on the iconic piece.

“2017 is a year to celebrate Canada and being Canadian, and this storied musical rests at the very heart of our national identity,” says Brazier. “Searching for love and belonging in a time of strife and strain, Anne represents all Canadians coming to this country, or those searching for light every day in their own trials.”A Misfortune

He continues, “Million Dollar Quartet is an electrifying true story perfectly built for our Homburg Theatre and our Island audience. Presley, Cash, Lewis, and Perkins — this is one unbelievable studio session that changed rock’n’roll forever.”

Back at The Mack is the howlingly funny cabaret show on getting over getting dumped — Bittergirl: The Musical. This Canadian-made comedy virtually sold out its entire run when first premiering at the Festival in 2015. Having now played Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre and headed for Winnipeg and a tour of British Columbia, it will return in 2017 with new songs and scenes, and the same great soundtrack of doo-wop favourites, including I’m Gonna Make You Love Me, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I Will Survive, and Too Many Fish In The Sea.

Also playing The Mack, will be the world premiere of a new Canadian musical, A Misfortune. The story follows a young lawyer and a married woman in pre-revolutionary Russia on a walk through the woods; their friendship has reached an impasse. Soon they gather with three friends for a night in the country, discussing the inanity of their lives over an evening drink—and with each drink, more sordid secrets are revealed. Adapted from a short story by Anton Chekhov, one of the world’s most celebrated and enduring writers, A Misfortune is a romantic, bittersweet musical about small moments and momentous decisions.

Returning to the intimate Studio 1 theatre is Glenda’s Kitchen offering curious patrons a taste of the Island, literally and culturally! Festival icon, Glenda Landry and The Charlottetown Festival Orchestra lead this charming musical, exploring the many bounties of P.E.I.’s people, deep-seated traditions, and world-famous food. This afternoon cabaret is a must-see for Islanders and travelers alike and will feature new tunes and tales from Glenda and cast.

The Centre has already announced a new national touring production for the Young Company — Dream Catcher. With support from the Canada 150 Fund, the Centre will engage youth from across the country to create a new musical inspired by their dreams for Canada’s future. Around 20 young professional artists, who reflect the country’s cultural diversity, will be cast in two Young Companies – one touring and one on P.E.I., supported by TD. Participants will meet with Indigenous artists who will speak to them about the symbolic importance of dreamcatchers in their cultures. Small dreamcatchers will be created and integrated into an immense visual that will be on display outdoors at the Centre in 2017.

“We are thrilled for the 2017 Young Company to hit the national stage to celebrate the dreams of our nation’s founders, those of our youth, and those of the Indigenous Peoples in Canada, with a Canada-wide tour and original musical theatre project,” says Jessie Inman, CEO.

“Continuing our long history of national touring, Dream Catcher will seize the momentum of Canada’s sesquicentennial and engage young people from every province and territory, channeling their bold hopes and dreams for our nation’s future.”