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.
Shields is known for her feminist reworking of classics such as Paradise Lost and the recent Ransacking Troy, and here, as director Rachel Peake says in her press release, “demonstrates yet again her ability to reach into the heart of a story to show us something we didn’t understand until now. We see how the real friendship of these two incredible women (Édith Piaf, the ‘French sparrow’ and the glamorous Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich) helps them survive under the heat of the spotlight in a post-WWII world.”
Filled with iconic songs, this production of Piaf/Dietrich is also a wonderful chance to see Deborah Hay, who thrilled audiences last summer with her versatility as singer and musician as well as actor in the world premiere of After the Rain, take on the role of Piaf, which demands the skills of a powerful singer/actor.
Feb 17-March 7. www.grandtheatre.com
Drowsy Chaperone
Also in March, one of the most successful Canadian musicals in recent history will be remounted by young powerhouse company Shifting Ground Collective. Although only founded in 2022 this young company, dedicated to showcasing emerging Canadian musical theatre talent, is already a success story. Their 2023 production, Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, was extraordinary for its professional polish, impressive staging and exciting young cast and last season they won three Dora awards for their production of The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee.
This spring, they will present a new production of The Drowsy Chaperone by Bob Martin & Don McKellar (book) and Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison (music and lyrics), which famously began its life in 1998 as a wedding gift for Bob Martin and his bride, Janet van de Graaf. An expanded version then played a sold-out run at the Toronto Fringe in 1999 before moving successfully a few months later to Theatre Passe Muraille (TPM). By 2006, this wonderfully funny pastiche of 1920s musicals took Broadway by storm, winning three Tony awards, including best book and best score. Now Drowsy returns to TPM, directed by Shifting Ground Collective co-founder Joshua Kilimnik with a young company of emerging artists and Martin Julien as “Man in Chair.”
March 7-21. www.shiftinggroundcollective.com
Coincidentally, Theatre Sheridan will also be presenting a student production of Drowsy Chaperone in their spring season, March 30 - April 11. www.sheridancollege.ca/theatre/whats-on/drowsy-chaperone
In Real Life
In late March/early April, a new musical that I have been following in development over the past seven years will be presented for the first time in full. In Real Life, a musical created by composer Kevin Wong (UnCovered) and playwright Nick Green (Casey and Diana) grabbed me immediately with its premise and setting — students caught in a claustrophobically dystopian future, yet with a window opening on hope if they have the courage to take a leap of faith. I have seen the first act of it at least three times, most recently at a public workshop at Canadian Stage last spring. So, when I saw that Theatre Sheridan (one of the country’s top university musical theatre programs) was going to be presenting the world premiere of the complete show in association with the Musical Stage Company, I reached out to composer Kevin Wong for some more details of both the inspiration behind the show and the development process to date:
WN: Where did the original idea come from?
KW: Nick Green and I were introduced to one another at the 2017 Dora Awards! Soon after, we talked about collaborating on a project. Nick brought me a number of ideas, one of which was a dystopian story about a world of people in physical isolation, able to connect to others only via digital screens (note that this was 2017, three years before it happened to us all in real life!).
With Recommender Grant support from Musical Stage, which allowed us to generate an initial song prototype, we brought the idea to Michael Rubinoff, who was then the Artistic Producer of the Canadian Music Theatre Project (CMTP) at Sheridan College. At CMTP, we wrote and developed a first draft of the first act and presented it in the fall of 2018. A Musical Stage Company commission followed soon after.
Am I right in thinking that the upcoming production at Sheridan will be the first public showing of the second half?
You are correct! This is the first time Act II will be publicly presented/staged. The first act has been workshopped and rewritten quite a bit over the last seven or so years. “Realer Life,” Max’s Act I solo, is the fifth song I’ve written for that spot in the show. Act II was partially staged (without a public showcase) in Sudbury in an October 2022 workshop that was jointly supported by MSC and Sudbury’s Yes Theatre.
Where would you say you are in the journey to a full professional production of In Real Life? Will you have further workshops after witnessing the reception by audiences of the complete story?
Ah, the age old adage: “Musicals don’t get written, they get rewritten.” Even with all the workshops we’ve been generously supported with (particularly through the pandemic period, with thanks to MSC, Sheridan, fu-GEN, and Yes Theatre), we’re continuing to make small tweaks, cuts, and rewrites through this process (particularly with Act II).
We’ll be paying very close attention to how the audience receives Act II, and how the piece’s ending comes across, and that information will be invaluable for future adjustments. That said, after this student production, I do think In Real Life will be ready for a developmental professional production.
The student cast of In Real Life will be working with a professional creative team: director Gregory Prest, music director Chris Barillaro, and choreographer Barbara Johnston. The world premiere plays March 31- April 11. https://www.sheridancollege.ca/theatre/whats-on/in-real-life
It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
At Theatre Aquarius (in association with Thousand Island Playhouse), another new Canadian musical is taking the step from workshop to main stage production in late April.
Inspired by an idea from prolific producer Michael Rubinoff, It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken takes its name from a popular song by one of the most beloved Canadian bands: The Tragically Hip — and not only its name: the score will be made up of an as yet undisclosed mix of Hip songs written by late frontman Gord Downie and fellow band members guitarists Paul Langlois and Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay.
This world premiere will be directed by Theatre Aquarius Artistic Director Mary Francis Moore who is known for developing new work, including Canadian musicals Bitter Girl and Maggie, and will have orchestrations and music supervision by well-known music director Bob Foster. The book is being written by Ahmed Moneka and Jesse LaVercombe, best known, perhaps, for their creation (with Seth Bockley) of (and performance in) the Dora award-winning exciting “theatre-music production” King Gilgamesh & the Man of the Wild – in which a contemporary story of the unlikely friendship between two men of wildly different backgrounds is woven together with the ancient Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh, underpinned by a live score performed by Moneka Arabic Jazz.
Set in 2002, their book for It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken tells the story of Waleed – an exiled journalist – who finds himself stranded in small-town Canada, where he unexpectedly falls for Kate, the owner of a local music store. When he’s called back to Baghdad, Iraq, their love is tested across continents. Together, they discover what it truly means to belong – and what it means to call someplace home.
It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken promises another powerfully original story, with the timeless hits of the Tragically Hip as its emotional glue. Alive with raw energy, heartfelt lyrics, and unmistakable spirit, the music that shaped a nation becomes the soundtrack to a deeply human journey of love, identity, and home.
April 22 - May 16. www.theatreaquarius.org/events/its-a-good-life-if-you-dont-weaken
Jennifer Parr is a Toronto-based director, dramaturg, fight director and acting coach, brought up from a young age on a rich mix of musicals, Shakespeare and new Canadian plays.
