Anne of Green Gables: The Musical™ is a musical that was first performed in 1965. It has two acts, and has been continuously running every year since its beginning. The book is by Don Harron, the music is by Norman Campbell and the lyrics by Don Harron, Norman Campbell, Elaine Campbell and Mavor Moore.
In March 2014, the production was officially recognized as the longest running annual musical theatre production in the world by Guinness World Records.
Synopsis[]
Plot[]
Songs[]
Act 1
- "Anne of Green Gables" (Full company)
- "Great Workers for the Cause" (Rachel Lynde and the Ladies)
- "Where is Matthew Going?" (The Townspeople)
- "Gee I'm Glad I'm No One Else but Me" (Anne)
- "We Clearly Requested a Boy" (Marilla, Anne and Matthew)
- "The Facts" (Anne, Mrs. Spencer, Mrs. Blewett and Marilla)
- "Where'd Marilla Come From?" (The Townspeople)
- "Humble Pie" (Matthew and Anne)
- "The Apology" (Anne)
- "Back to School Ballet" (The Pupils)
- "Avonlea We Love Thee" (Mr. Phillips and the Pupils)
- "Wond'rin'" (Gilbert)
- "Did You Hear?" (Josie and the Townspeople)
- "Ice Cream" (Diana and Company)
- "The Picnic" (The Company)
Act 2
- "Where Did the Summer Go To?" (Gilbert and the Pupils)
- "Kindred Spirits" (Anne and Diana)
- "Open the Window" (Miss Stacy and the Pupils)
- "The Words" (Matthew)
- "Open the Window" (reprise) (Miss Stacy and the Pupils)
- "Nature Hunt Ballet" (The Pupils)
- "I'll Show Him" (Anne and Gilbert)
- "General Store" (Lucilla, Matthew and the Townspeople)
- "Pageant Song" (The Pupils)
- "If It Hadn't Been for Me" (The Company)
- "There is a Golden Summer" (Gilbert and the Pupils)
- "Anne of Green Gables" (Matthew)
- "The Words" (reprise) (Marilla)
- "Wondrin'" (reprise) (Anne and Gilbert)
Cast[]
- Main article: Anne of Green Gables: The Musical/Cast
Behind the scenes[]
Casting
- The first actress who portrayed Anne at the Confederation Centre Theatre was Jamie Ray, who played the part from 1965 to 1967.
- Gracie Finley was the first actress from Prince Edward Island to play the titular character. The second one was Jessica Gallant, who portrayed Anne from 2015 to 2016.
- During the first season, only 24 characters appeared in the musical, all of them (except for Gerry Buote) are part of the musical up to the present.
- Since 1965, new characters have been added from time to time. Some of them made an appearance only in several seasons, however, many of them appear in the show to this day.
- 1966 – Ebenezer Blair (last appearance in 1969), Tommy Sloane
- 1967 – Ruby Gillis, Mrs. Sloane
- 1969 – Gertie Pye
- 1970 – Rev. Smythe Hankinson (last appearance in 1972)
- 1971 – Malcolm Andrews (last appearance in 1978)
- 1972 – Mrs. Andrews (only appearance)
- 1973 – Flora Andrews (only appearance)
- 1981 – Willie Boulter (1981–1984, TBA–present)
- 1985 – Millie Boulter, Jerry Gillis, Nicky MacPherson, Cora Pye, Malcolm Sloane (only appearances)
- 1987 – Blewett Foster Child
- 1989 – Jane Andrews (last appearance in TBA)
- 1998 – Townsman (only appearance)
- 1999 – Mrs. Boulter (last appearance in 2000)
- 2000 – Mrs. Gillis
- Maud Whitmore and Barbara Hamilton, who portrayed Rachel Lynde and Marilla Cuthbert respectively in the early seasons of the musical, had both appeared in the 1958 TV musical created by Don Harron. Whitmore played Mrs. Spencer and Hamilton appeared as Shop Assistant.
- Barbara Hamilton would later play Marilla Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables (1972) and Anne of Avonlea (1975) and Eulalie Bugle in Road to Avonlea (1990–1996).
- Marilyn Lightstone played Mrs. Blewett and Mrs. Pye in the 1972 season of the musical. Thirteen years later, she was cast as Miss Stacey in Anne of Green Gables (1985). Lightstone also played the part in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987) and Road to Avonlea (1990–1996).
- Moira Walley, who played Prissy Andrews in the 1982 season of the musical, became the showrunner, writer and executive producer of the Canadian TV series Anne with an E (2017–2019).
- Kate Hennig, who portrayed Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Sloane in 1986 and Mrs. Blewett and Lucilla in 1987, was later cast as Rachel Lynde in L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (2016), L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables: The Good Stars (2017) and L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables: Fire & Dew (2017).
- Hank Stinson, who portrayed various characters (most notably Matthew Cuthbert in the 1990s and 2010s), is the creator of musicals based on L.M. Montgomery's work – Rainbow Valley, The Blue Castle and Emily of New Moon.
- Mari Trainor, who played Diana Barry (1974–1975) and Mrs. Blewett/Mrs. Pye (1999), portrayed Molly Lester in seven episodes of Road to Avonlea (1990–1996).
- Tracey Moore, who played Anne Shirley, provided the voices of Dryad (Toad), Helen, Wildflower and Snapdragon in Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series (2000–2001).
- Before the premiere, Don Harron balked at the idea of Barbara Hamilton playing Marilla as he thought she would be too funny. However, Alan Lund stood behind her and insisted on his decision.
Trivia
- This musical was preceded by two TV musicals, broadcast in 1956 and 1958 on CBC. The 1956 film starred Toby Tarnow as Anne Shirley. She was later replaced by Kathy Willard in the 1958 reprise.
- Norman Campbell came up with the idea to adapt Anne of Green Gables, a book he was reading to his kids, into a television musical when he was given 90 minutes to fill on CBC.
- Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II heard one of the songs during the opening ceremony of new Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1964. When Mavor Moore, the director general of the centre, explained that it was from Anne of Green Gables, she replied she'd like to hear the rest of it. As a result, the musical was created.
- In 1967, the musical toured across the country as part of the Confederation centennial celebrations.
- In 1970, the musical travelled to Japan to represent Canada at the Osaka World's Fair.
- In the 1980s, Norman Campbell and Don Harron planned to make a movie of Anne, with Campbell being the director. They wanted to film it in Prince Edward Island with an all-Canadian cast, however, people criticized their decision claiming films are international and cross borders. The preparations stopped when Kevin Sullivan's TV miniseries came out in 1985.
- The 53rd season of the musical marked a significant achievement, the 2500th performance of the show, which took place on August 23, 2017.[1]
Gallery[]
Anne of Green Gables Wiki has 5 images of Anne of Green Gables: The Musical (view gallery). |
Anne of Green Gables Wiki has 167 images from Anne of Green Gables: The Musical (view gallery). |