About the Play:
Awarded the Guinness World Records title for Longest Running
Annual Musical Theatre Production
Anne of Green Gables is a
full-length musical comedy
based on L.M. Montgomery's
beloved Canadian novel about the orphan Anne who changes the lives of
those around her. Donald Harron adapted
the book for Norman Campbell's score, with
lyrics by Don Harron,
Norman Campbell, Elaine Campbell and Mavor Moore.
Anne of Green Gables: The Musical is
the classic tale of an orphan girl, Anne
Shirley who, by mistake, comes to live with Marilla and Matthew
Cuthbert on their farm on Prince Edward Island. Ageing Matthew
Cuthbert suffers a heart attack during harvest, 1903, and his
grim-visaged sister determines to adopt an orphanage boy to help with
the farm work at Green Gables. By mistake, a girl arrives,
red-haired, freckled and over-talkative. Her vivid imagination and
entertaining flow of chatter endear her to Matthew, but sister
Marilla is set on packing her back as soon as possible. (They Clearly
Requested a Boy!) For once, Matthew wins, and this enchanting musical
tells how young Anne Shirley finally overcomes the hostilities of her
companions at the local school, charms the
gossiping inhabitants of a close-knit Canadian community, and the way
in which she eventually wins a rather reluctant Marilla over to her
side, make a story which has warmed the hearts of countless people
all over the world. The original Anne of Green Gables novel is the
first in a prized series by writer Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Anne of Green Gables - The Musical
started life as a TV musical adaptation, originally broadcast
on "CBC Folio" in 1956. A stage version was then written
and premiered in 1965
at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island as part of the inaugural Charlottetown
Festival; and it has been performed to capacity audiences every year
since, making it Canada's longest-running musical. The
musical has also toured toured across Canada and to Tokyo,
off-Broadway in New York, and London's West End, where it opened to
acclaim and ran for 300 performances. This
Canadian classic is ideal
for school shows and community music societies.
Cast: 12 female, 17 male
What people say:
"A Piece of Canadian history
that is absolutely beautiful." — Broadway World
"Anne of Green Gables
is light-hearted and fiercely wholesome." — New York
Times
"Harron and Campbell fashioned
a show that has a heart as big as its red-pigtailed title character."
— Toronto Star
"This is a show theatre lovers
should not miss and one that newcomers, children and adults alike,
will enjoy completely." — London Free Press
"... Anne of Green
Gables ...comes laden with pig tails, a brilliant smile
and astonishing leaps of imagination." — Calgary
Herald
"The book Anne of
Green Gables has been made into a neatly packaged family
show, sentimental, tuneful and blending gentle bucolic humour
with old world pathos... A pleasant atmosphere is created from the
start; the songs are in neat harmony." — The Stage
(London)
About the Playwright:
Donald Harron (1924-2015) was a Canadian comedian, actor,
director, journalist, author, playwright and composer. As
an actor, he shared the stage with the likes of Lorne Greene, William
Shatner, Maggie Smith, and Christopher Plummer. He was named a member
of the Order of Canada in 1980 and the Order of Ontario in 2000. He
was given the Gemini Award for Lifetime Achievement in Radio and
Television in 2007 and inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall
of Fame in 2010. He was also appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, OBE
(1874-1942), published as L.M. Montgomery,
was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in
1908 with Anne of Green Gables.
The book was an immediate success. The central character, Anne
Shirley, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and
gave her an international following.