''Anne Of Green Gables – The Musical'' is a musical based on the 1908 novel ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' by

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. Sh ...

. The book was written by

Don Harron Donald Hugh Harron, (September 19, 1924 – January 17, 2015) was a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author, playwright, and composer. Harron is best remembered by American audiences as a member of the cast of the long-running co ...

exclusively, the music by Norman Campbell and the lyrics in a joint venture by Harron, Norman Campbell, Elaine Campbell and Mavor Moore. It has been Canada's longest-running musical, performed annually from its opening in 1965 until 2019, with the planned 2020 and 2021 productions cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In March 2014, it was officially recognised as the longest running annual musical theatre production in the world by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

''. ''Anne'' returned to the Charlottetown Festival stage for the 2022 season, however organisers announced late in the year that the show would be produced only in alternating years from then on. The musical is planned to return in 2024, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Montgomery's birth.

Productions and background

Background

In 1956, Don Harron, Norman Campbell, and Elaine Campbell adapted ''Anne of Green Gables'' into a live musical special for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. In 1958, a second production of their musical was broadcast. Mavor Moore, the founding artistic director of Charlottetown's

Confederation Centre of the Arts Confederation Centre of the Arts () is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual arts, visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. History Construction of Confederation Centre, as it is commonly ...

, used the title song from that special in the inaugural variety performance in 1964, which was attended by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Following the concert, the Queen, declaring ''Anne of Green Gables'' as one of her favourite books, enquired about the rest of the show, sparking the collaboration of Don Harron, Norman Campbell, and Elaine Campbell with Moore in adapting the beloved novel into a stage musical. It premiered in 1965 at the

Charlottetown Festival The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal Canadian musical theatre festival which has run from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. The Charlottetown Festival is hosted in Confederation Centre of the Arts every year. Named after its host c ...

Productions

The musical was originally directed and choreographed by Alan Lund. It was performed every summer beginning in 1965, headlining the Charlottetown Festival at the

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, making this Canada's longest-running mainstage musical. Just before its 50th season, in 2014, it was announced that this production of ''Anne of Green Gables: The Musical'' had been named by

as the "longest-running annual musical theatre production" in the world. Its 2500th performance was given on August 23, 2017. A song from the musical was part of the feature performance at the opening of the Confederation Centre of the Arts on October 6, 1964, playing to Her Majesty

and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh as well as Prime Minister

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

. The production was not performed in 2020 as the Charlottetown Festival was cancelled due to the

, and was excluded from the Charlottetown Festival lineup for 2021 as public health restrictions in effect at the time made producing the show impossible. The production returned in 2022, and it was then announced that the show would be performed only in alternating years from then on. The musical has also toured outside of Prince Edward Island. Its first tour was in 1967, visiting the major Canadian cities. In 1970 the musical represented Canada at the World's Fair in Osaka, Japan. The second national tour took place in 1974, at 34 venues; the third national tour was in 1982 with 9 stops. In 1969 it opened in London's West End and won that year's Drama Critics Award for Best New Musical of that year with Canadian Barbara Hamilton playing Marilla."Anne of Green Gables, The Musical"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', accessed April 7, 2009
Archived
at the Wayback Machine. It played

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in New York from December 21, 1971, to January 2, 1972, at the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...

. During the 1980s and 1990s the musical was produced in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Gekidan Shiki is one of Japan's best-known and largest theatre companies. Shiki Theatre Company employs around 1,400 actors and staff, and stages more than 3,000 performances to around 3 million audience members a year. It operates seven theaters for their ex ...

. An independent production opened on April 16, 1969, at the New Theatre, London, running for nine months and starring

Polly James Pauline James (formerly Devaney; born 8 July 1941) is an English former actress who had a career in theatre, film, television, and radio. Early life Pauline James was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, as Pauline Devaney. Her father had managed a ...

as Anne. In 1991, The Charlottetown Festival toured the musical to Japan on a 2-month, 8 city tour. The tour was organized by director Walter Learning, and starred Leisa Way as "Anne", Denise Ferguson as "Marilla" and David Hughes as "Matthew". In May 2009,

Dancap Productions Dancap Productions was a Canadian theatrical production company, based in Toronto, Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2007 by Aubrey Dan, the company presented large-scale musicals and plays in Toronto. The company initially found succ ...

brought the original Charlottetown Festival production starring Amy Wallis to Toronto for a limited run at the Elgin Theatre. In May 2013,

Theatre Calgary Theatre Calgary, is a theatre company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, established as a professional company in 1968. It was preceded by Workshop 14, a theatre study group founded in 1944 by Betty Mitchell. Calgary's ''Betty Mitchell'' awards are nam ...

produced a new production with new arrangements and orchestrations by Dave Pierce. In December 2019, EK Productions staged an immersive version in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

starring Issy Darwent and directed by Benjamin Maio Mackay.

Musical numbers

The musical numbers vary with the production, but this is the list as it appears on the cast recording. ;Act One * Overture/Great Workers For the Cause/Where is Matthew Going? – Full Company * Gee I'm Glad I'm No One Else But Me – Anne Shirley and Matthew Cuthbert * We Clearly Requested a Boy – Marilla Cuthbert, Anne Shirley and Matthew Cuthbert * The Facts – Anne Shirley, Mrs Spencer, Marilla Cuthbert and Mrs Blewett * Humble Pie – Matthew Cuthbert and Anne Shirley * Apology – Anne Shirley * Back to School – Mr Phillips and Students * Wondrin' – Gilbert Blythe * Did you Hear? – Josie Pye, Mrs Pye, Lucilla, Mrs Barry, Rachel Lynde and Marilla Cuthbert * Ice Cream – Diana Barry, Anne Shirley and Ensemble ;Act Two * Summer – The Students * Kindred Spirits – Anne Shirley & Diana Barry * Open The Window – Miss Stacy and the Students * Kindred Spirits (reprise) - Diana Barry * Open The Window (reprise) - Miss Stacy * I'll Show Him – Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe * General Store – Lucilla, Matthew and the Townspeople * If It Hadn't Been For Me – Full Company * Anne of Green Gables – Matthew Cuthbert * The Words (reprise) – Marilla Cuthbert * Wondrin' (reprise) – Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley For the showings in the year 2008 in Charlottetown, commemorating the 100th "ANNE"iversary, a portrayal of L.M. Montgomery and the students sang a reprise of "Anne of Green Gables" in the beginning, following a bit of history of how Montgomery arrived at the plot of "Anne". School productions typically either cut out a few tracks (Humble Pie, I'll Show Him, to name a couple) or change the key to better suit some of the more inexperienced student vocalists' ranges, as well as keep the plot fast-paced.

Actors in the role of Anne

Charlottetown Festival

* Jamie Ray (1965–67) * Gracie Finley (1968–74, 1984–85) * Malorie-Ann Spiller (1975–78) * Susan Cuthbert (1979–80) * Thea MacNeil (1981–83) * Tracey Moore (1986) * Leisa Way (1987–90, 1993) * Glynis Ranney (1991–92) * Tracy Michailidis (1994–96) * Samantha Winstanley (1997) * Sharmaine Ryan (1998–99) *

Chilina Kennedy Chilina Kennedy is a Canadian musical theatre actress and singer. She is best known for having starred as Carole King in '' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical'', having played the role for over 1,200 performances. On Broadway, Kennedy played ...

(2000–01) * Jennifer Toulmin (2002–05, 2010) with Lisa Messina as an alternate in 2003 and Allyson Pratt as an alternate in 2010 * Amy Wallis (2006–09) * Tess Benger (2011–12) * Katie Kerr (2013–14) * Jessica Gallant (2015–16) *

AJ Bridel Amanda Jeannette Bridel (born March 26, 1994), known as AJ Bridel, is a Canadian actress and singer. She first rose to prominence as a finalist on ''Over the Rainbow'', where she finished in third-place. Since then, Bridel originated the role of ...

(2017–2018) * Emma Rudy (2019), was scheduled to perform the role in 2020 * Kelsey Verzotti (2022, 2024)

Film adaptation

In 2013, Canadian indie film producers The Film Farm and Side Road Media announced plans to turn the long-running musical into a feature film, written by actor and playwright Kristen Thomson. The film was cancelled, due to the ''

Anne with an E ''Anne with an E'' (initially titled ''Anne'' for its first season within Canada) is a Canadian period drama television series loosely adapted from Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 classic work of children's literature, '' Anne of Green Gables''. It ...

'' CBC/Netflix television series.

Disambiguation

''Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical'', a new adaptation of the story with original songs by Matt Vinson and Matte O'Brien, premiered at Finger Lakes Music Theatre Festival in 2018 before releasing a concept recording in November 2020. A follow-up production is set for

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. Its landmark Goodspeed Opera House is a distinctive feature of ...

in 2022.

References

External links

*
Anne of Green Gables: The Musical
, official website *
Anne of Green Gables
', Confederation Centre of the Arts *

, on ''Musical Theatre Audition'', includes audition advice and show information *
Behind Anne of Green Gables: The Musical
, The Charlottetown Festival/Confederation Centre of the Arts, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anne Of Green Gables - The Musical Anne of Green Gables Musicals set in Prince Edward Island Musicals based on novels 1965 musicals Canadian musicals