Musical Theatre and Dance

Ten furlongs to glory: Dancer, the musical

At the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2023 a new Canadian musical playing at the Al Green Theatre sold out its entire run on the morning of the second day. Dancer: A Musical in Ten Furlongs written by Canadian musical theatre veterans Jim Betts (book & lyrics) and Marek Norman (music) is the story of Northern Dancer, the “horse nobody wanted” — the too-small, too-ungainly, too-willful thoroughbred who, in 1964, overcame doubt, injury and history to become the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and capture the heart of a nation.

I still remember the chagrin so many of us Fringe-goers felt at not getting to see this show that everyone was raving about, so when I heard that Dancer was going to make its MainStage debut in October at Toronto’s Terminal Theatre (formerly the Premiere Dance Theatre) I reached out to the creators to find out more about the show and their journey to the Fringe and beyond.

NURTURING THE NEW

The new theatre season is about to get started in September and October with some wonderful premieres and new stages of evolving Canadian productions.

Summer’s bounty

A burgeoning spring of non-stop creation and reinvention is leading into what looks like being an equally flourishing summer season across Ontario.

New creation will be continuing at the Toronto Fringe Festival with the Alliance for Canadian Musicals taking over Theatre Passe Muraille once again for a slate of eight Canadian musicals, with at least 12 more musical and dance shows around the Fringe including CAMP! at Soulpepper from Ben Kopp and Margot Greve, the team behind last year’s hit Iris (says goodbye), and an interactive musical mystery meets scavenger hunt Many Happy Returns at Society Clubhouse. June 30-July 12. www.fringetoronto.com. More new musicals and more will follow by the Hamilton Fringe later in July https://hftco.ca/.

It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken “Beyond the Jukebox”

The “jukebox musical,” for those not familiar with the term, builds a story around the music of some iconic band or artist. – Abba’s music in Mamma Mia, for example. So when I first found out that a new musical, soon to receive its world premiere, was being built around the songs of iconic Canadian band The Tragically Hip, I knew I had to know more.

New Creations & Happy Returns

The musical Piaf/Dietrich is about to open in a new production at the Grand Theatre in London (Ontario). It was a hit in Europe in 2013 when it was first produced (performed in German). The original book by Daniel Große Boymann and Thomas Kahry was subsequently adapted in 2018 for Montreal’s Segal Centre by decorated Canadian playwright Erin Shields, whose new play You, Always is currently wowing audiences at Canadian Stage.