Monday 10 January 2011

A New Era for Canadian Musicals?

January 20th looks to be an auspicious date, at least for Canadian musical theatre.  On that date, Theatre Twenty will be launched in Toronto.  A collective of twenty of Canada's top musical theatre artists, including Louise Pitre and with support from no less a figure than Jean Valjean himself -- Colm Wilkinson, it would appear that Toronto's march toward becoming a major world centre for musicals is taking another bold step.  Of course, we've been here before, and the unfortunate demise of Australia's Kookaburra should serve as a cautionary tale, but I'm hoping they'll get it right this time.  They are beginning with a workshop of a musical based on Michel Tremblay's  Les Belles Soeurs.  Let's hope that it's the first of many, and that it will give me a cause (and a means) to come home at last.