The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

festival which runs from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. Named after its host city

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

and its

Charlottetown Conference The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 thro ...

, since its inception in 1965 the festival has showcased Canada's longest-running musical, ''

Anne of Green Gables – The Musical ''Anne Of Green Gables: The Musical'' is a musical based on the 1908 novel '' Anne of Green Gables'' by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The book was written by Don Harron exclusively, the music by Norman Campbell and the lyrics in a joint venture by Don H ...

'', as well as having sought out and commissioned more than 100 new Canadian musicals. Some highlights include ''Evangeline, Emily, Johnny Belinda, Stories From The Red Dirt Road, On The Road With Ditch Mason, Tell Tale Harbour, Bittergirl--The Musical,'' and ''Kronborg--The Hamlet Rock Musical'', which was the first Canadian musical to play on Broadway. ''

'' debuted in 1965 and holds the Guinness World Record for longest-running annual musical, being performed every summer since except for 2020, due to the pandemic & 2021. The production has been performed more than 2,700 times in Charlottetown, and has also toured to Japan, New York, and across Canada. The Charlottetown Festival – "a Festival of Music and Laughter" – was created in the spirit of the 1864 meetings of the Fathers of Confederation whose deliberations were highlighted by numerous gala balls, social events and one of the few circuses to visit the Island in that era. Hosted in

Confederation Centre of the Arts Confederation Centre of the Arts (french: Centre des arts de la Confédération) is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. History Construction of Confeder ...

, every year, The Charlottetown Festival features some of Canada's finest performers, designers, playwrights, composers, and directors in a showcase of musical theatre and comedy. The Centre includes an 1,100-seat theatre, a national art gallery, arts education programs, and various cabaret theatres. The Festival includes a summer musical theatre training program called the "Confederation Centre Young Company." The Young Company shows are freely available to the public and take place at noon outside Confederation Centre. The shows typically feature Canadian-themed content. In 2011 Indigenous playwright Cathy Elliott wrote and directed "The Talking Stick" featuring an all-Indigenous cast. A piece from the play was performed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their tour of PEI in 2011. As a Canada 150 Signature Project, the Young Company toured from coast to coast to coast in 2017, presenting the original musical ''The Dream Catchers'' and working with youth in each city. This same musical, which carried a strong theme of Truth and Reconciliation, was performed for Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

in October 2017, during Confederation Centre's presentation of the annual Symons Medal and Lecture in Charlottetown. Past Artistic Directors of the Festival include

Mavor Moore James Mavor Moore (March 8, 1919 – December 18, 2006) was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator. He notably appeared as Nero Wolfe in the CBC radio production in 1982. Life and work Moore was born in Tor ...

, Alan Lund, Jacques Lemay, Duncan MacIntosh, Anne Allan, and

Walter Learning Walter John Learning (November 16, 1938 – January 5, 2020) was a Canadian theatre director, actor, and founder of Theatre New Brunswick. Biography Walter Learning was born in 1938 in the small village of Quidi Vidi in the Dominion of Newfound ...

. The current artistic director is Adam Brazier.

References

External links

* {{Charlottetown Music festivals established in 1965 Music festivals in Charlottetown 1965 establishments in Canada Theatre festivals in Prince Edward Island

See also

References

External links