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• in the early 1970's the future of Canadian musical theatre was being shaped at UBC

• people studying there included • Brent Carver (of Stratford, London and Broadway fame)• Richard Ouzounian (an American expat who was working on his Master’s)• John Gray• Eric Peterson• Ann Mortifee, and• Patrick Rose

• Vancouver had been a centre for popular music since the late 1960's – also a centre for Jazz – musical theatrescene didn’t come out of nowhere but it was the result of a group of like-minded people (some listed above)who were in the same place at the same time

• in 1972 Richard Ouzounian launched his professional career by directing a production of Jacques Brel is Aliveand Well and Living in Paris (a musical revue with songs by Jacques Brel, translated into English by Eric Blauand Mort Shuman, who also wrote the book) at the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver

• it ran for eight months – a good run • notable also because it was small-scale professional musical theatre that featured a largely Canadian cast,

including Ann Mortifee (who had already written the music for The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (1967)), PatrickRose, and Ruth Nichol

• alumni from that show, show up all over the place for the next 4 decades or more

• talked about Vancouver being a hotbed for the creation of Canadian musical theatre in the early 1970's – therewere other theatres in the West that also played a vital role

The Manitoba Theatre Centre• Canada’s oldest English-language regional theatre• founded in 1958 by John Hirsch and Tom Hendry as an amalgamation of the Winnipeg Little Theatre and

Theatre 77• focussed on classics, Broadway hits, and new Canadian work• a second stage for experimental work was established in 1960, and an annual provincial tour began in 1961• in the 1970's it was a driving force in the production of Canadian musicals • today it operates two theatre venues – The John Hirsch Mainstage and the Tom Hendry Warehouse – named

for its founders in 2008• in 2009, the Government of Canada designated the Mainstage theatre a National Historic Site• on 26 October 2010 the theatre received a royal designation from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and

officially became the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre• its Artistic Directors have included

• John Hirsch (1958-1966), Len Cariou (1975-1976), Richard Ouzounian (1980-1984), and StevenSchipper (1989-present)

• Come From Away will be playing there for a month beginning on 4 January 2018 – before its Toronto run –much more on that show later

Citadel Theatre – Edmonton• founded in 1965 by Joseph Shoctor and initially located in the Old Salvation Army Citadel – hence the name• in 1976 the Citadel Theatre relocated to a new venue – remains its current location

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• at the time it had three theatre spaces – a fourth was added in 1984• between 1973 and 1978 John Neville was the Artistic Director – he relocated to Edmonton from London

for the position • Neville actively encouraged the production of Canadian plays and musicals• over the years the theatre has produced (and co-produced) numerous Canadian plays and musicals • they include –

• the 1980 try-out for Hey Marilyn! (Cliff Jones) – intended for production in London and New York –limited success

• The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Ryga and Mortifee) in the 1978-79 season• Billy Bishop Goes to War (Gray with Peterson) in the 1979-80 season• the try-out/premiere of Duddy (Leiber and Stoller, with a book by Richler) – 1984 – dir. Brian

Macdonald• Marty Chan’s Chinese/Canadian musical hybrid musical The Forbidden Phoenix in 2008• a new production of Billy Bishop Goes to War in 2010 – this time with John Ullyatt and Ryan Sigurdson

– same year that John Gray and Eric Peterson were touring their own version• a production of Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra’s 2 Pianos, 4 Hands in 2013 – with Greenblatt and

Dykstra reprising their roles• Ted Dykstra’s Evangeline in the 2015-16 season – co-produced with the Charlottetown Festival

• many of its productions are and have been co-productions or touring productions – a fact of life of Canadiantheatre

• an important show of the early 1970's was Jubalay by Patrick Rose (who had acted in Brel) and MervCampone (who had acted in The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (1967))• produced in 1974 by the Manitoba Theatre Centre• before the show opened Rose told the Winnipeg Free Press that “I had always liked musical theatre, but

I couldn’t see what Hello Dolly and Guys and Dolls had to do with me”• his time with Brel opened new doors for him about what a musical could be • used what was essentially a revue format to create a kaleidoscopic view of the world through the eyes

of an innocent child• about an hour in length, it was a mix of styles – traditional musical theatre, swing, French cabaret, folk,

rock, gospel and a little vaudeville• in its original form the show had a simple and naive feel to it – that was its charm• songs dealt with a variety of subjects including Quebec separatism, youth, old age, and Canada’s cultural

identity• Patrick Rose starred in the show, along with Brent Carver, Ruth Nichol, and Diane Stapley – 4-person cast• got good reviews in Winnipeg, went on to a run at the Vancouver Arts Club where it also got good reviews• toured Canada and was made into a TV production – haven’t seen it, but it is said that it didn’t capture the

show well

Musical Example: “Wailing Wall” – a four-part a cappella song that talks about the detrimental effects of theWestern, or Wailing, Wall – performed by Sheridan College Music Theatre students Rachel Delduca, Vanessa Sears,Colin Simmons and Ryan Burda

• hopes that it would make it to Broadway were around from the beginning and four years later it did – welloff-Broadway

• largely re-written – with new lyrics by Richard Ouzounian – and re-titled as A Bistro Car on the CNR itplayed The Playhouse Theatre (the one at 359 W. 48 St – not the famous one further down the street)th

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• Rose stayed with the cast of the show but the others were replaced by Marcia McClain, Henrietta Valor andTom Wopat – Ouzounian directed it

• in their attempt to make it more sophisticated they lost the innocence that made the show work • not well received in NYC – would the original have been? – never know• there is an original cast recording and a recording from the 1979 Vancouver revival • revived in Edmonton (Citadel) and Vancouver in 1979

Richard Ouzounian (b. 1950)• called The Noel Coward of the Pepsi Generation by Max Wymann (critic for the Vancouver Sun) • director, playwright, critic, and artistic director • born in NYC – moved to Vancouver to do Master’s studies• as mentioned, he launched his professional career with Jacque Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris • followed by How the Other Half Loves (Vancouver Playhouse 1972) with Paxton Whitehead• in 1973, he directed Much Ado About Nothing at the Citadel Theatre (Edmonton) – the production starred

John Neville and Brent Carver• his earlier works for the stage also include musical adaptations of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Two

Gentlemen of Verona, Macbeth, and Love’s Labour’s Lost• his plays include Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are, The Chekhov Kids, British Properties, The City

Show, West, and adaptations/translations of Scapin, Tartuffe and Encore Brel • in 2009, he directed the Canadian premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera, at Hart House Theatre, in Toronto• he has served as Artistic Director at Manitoba Theatre Centre (1980-84), Toronto’s CentreStage (1984-85),

Festival Lennoxville (1978-80), Young People’s Theatre (1979), and Neptune Theatre (1986-89)• he was associate director at the Stratford Festival (1986-89)• he was Hal Prince’s assistant for the Canadian production of Phantom of the Opera• he was Creative Head of Arts Programming at TV Ontario (1995-2000)• he was also a cultural reporter for CBC and a theatre critic for Radio 1 from 1991 to 2000• between 1990 to 2004, he hosted Say It With Music on Radio 2• he has also been a theatre critic for The Toronto Star• his musicals include

• Olympiad (1976) – commissioned by John Neville for Citadel, starred Marek Norman• Dracula – A Chamber Musical, 1990, music by Marek Norman, book and lyrics by Ouzounian – talk

more about this later• Emily (based on the Emily of New Moon trilogy by Lucy Maud Montgomery), 1999, music by Marek

Norman, book and lyrics by Ouzounian• Larry’s Party (based on the novel by Carol Shield), 2001, music by Marek Norman, book and lyrics by

Ouzounian – talk more about this later• he has taught at UBC, Simon Fraser University, the University of Winnipeg, Dalhousie University, George

Brown College and Sheridan College• he was made a Doctor of Sacred Letters by Thorneloe University in Sudbury in 2003• lives in Toronto• widely seen as the inspiration for the character of The Man in the Chair in The Drowsy Chaperone

• another show to come out of Western Canada was Beowulf (1974)• music by Victor Davies, book and lyrics by Betty Jane Wylie• curious topic for a show – have been stranger ones though • followed the Superstar model and recorded as a concept album first • in Fall 1976, Davies played it for American director Voigt Kempson, who was directing a production of

Dames at Sea at the Manitoba Theatre Centre

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• Kempson liked the demo but it took until 1977 for Beowulf to get its chance in NY• it played at the AMAS Repertory Theatre – (Latin for to love – second person singular – “Thou lovest”) –

opened on 1 December 1977 and played for 12 performances• people loved it but the producers who saw it said it was “brilliant ... some of the most exciting theatre they

had seen in years – but not commercial” • to the best of my knowledge it has never been staged again• there are short clips of the musical numbers from the show on the composer’s website –

http://victordavies.com

• the West (Vancouver, Edmonton, and Manitoba) had raw energy but Toronto had polish and allure andeventually almost everyone ended up there

• it also had Lehman Engel’s workshop• Lehman Engel (1910-1982) was the musical director for over 100 Broadway shows • in the mid 1960's he began giving workshops on his observations on the work of the Golden Age – one of

his quotes “Hit songs originating from musicals happen automatically when they have the talent and theknow-how behind them”

• began in 1970 in Toronto• selected composers and lyricists would bring their work for monthly critiques• some big names in Canadian musicals (then and now) took part – they included

• Joey Miller, David Warrack, Jim Betts, Leslie Arden – talk more about all of them – some today somenext week

• the workshops were not just about writing commercial hits, they were about writing well crafted shows –they were about basics, about craft

• problem was that Toronto is not NYC – tried/s to be but it isn’t• old joke – How many Torontonians does it take to screw in a light bulb? 2 – one to hold the bulb and

the other to fly to NYC to see how it’s done there• Canadian musical theatre has specific issues and these classes taught how to write American musicals –

granted, the dominant world form at the time• by and large Canadian success (AGG excepted) had been with intimate revues and small scale musicals• in the end the Canadian composers and lyricist who attended his Toronto workshops learned that they had

to apply the approach he taught to what they wanted to do and to what worked here in Canada in the 1970's • Warrack on the Engel experience (had also done Engel BMI workshops in NYC) – “ ... information is

always going to be part fact and part opinion, and sometimes it is difficult to separate the two ... Even anindividual with Lehman’s experience, intelligence, and insight is not always going to be right”

• in the 1970's Toronto had a large number of prosperous dinner theatres and cabarets – e.g. The Limelight DinnerTheatre, Theatre-in-the-Dell, Village by the Grange, and Old Angelo’s

• served both as a place for young performers to learn their craft and be paid (not well but paid) for performing• usually had to serve as waiters as well – not an unknown trade for actors

• and as a venue for young musical writers to try out their shows

• also did American shows in reduced versions – e.g. Cabaret

• nothing like it in NYC at the time – Cabaret there meant night club

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• shows that premiered in these venues included • Love and Maple Syrup (Louis Negin) – a revue that took its name from a Lightfoot song and featured the

music of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Ian Tyson and others• David Warrack’s Tease for Two (1975)• Jim Betts’ I’ll Tell You Mine, If You Tell Me Yours• and later the long-running revues Toronto Toronto (music by Charles Weir, lyrics by Mark Shekter, 1980-

1983), Toronto, Toronto II (still looking for dates)

• the Cabaret/Dinner theatre form came to an end in the mid 1980's with the closing of the venues

• Theatre-in-the-Dell closed in 1986 – The Teller’s Cage and Old Angelo’s closed at about the same time – therewas another game in town now (big time shows)

• loss of a training ground for performers and writers alike -

• one of the stalwart performers of this type of Cabaret musical was Tom Kneebone• New-Zealand-born, British trained actor who settled in Toronto• always believed that the Cabaret form of musical had a place and a following (also known in some parlance

as chamber musicals) • created Smile Theatre – a touring company that did small Canadian musicals on historical subjects, primarily

to Senior Centres • continued from 1987 to his sudden death in 2003

• in the late 1970's we see the arrival of Rudy Webb’s Curtains Up• became a Toronto tradition• uniquely Canadian at the time • free, open-mic late night event• actors came to perform their largely under- or unrehearsed pieces to an audience mostly of their peers• in the early 1990's David Warrack took it over and presented it at The Limelight Dinner Theatre after hours

• later, between 1980 and 1997, Ruth Morawetz ran Classical Cabaret and other projects • a series of informal Sunday afternoon concerts that combined opera and musical theatre • they got more theatrical as time went on• a venue for performers• also commissioned 15 works by composers such as Jim Betts, Joey Miller and Ann Mortifee

Southern Ontario also had and has an impressive number of summer Festivals in cottage country – many of whichdid musicals and some even did Canadian musicals

• Straw Hat Theatre in Port Carling was transformed in the early 1970's into The Port Carling Summer Theatre

• The Blyth Festival (1975) in Huron County produced exclusively Canadian plays and musicals – an outlet forpolishing of craft• it is a community-based professional theatre that endeavours to enrich the lives of its audience by producing

and developing plays that give voice to both the region and the country• began as a summer festival – now the Blyth Centre for the Arts is a year-round centre of cultural activity for

southwestern Ontario

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• too many to go into details for all of them but they include the Muskoka Festival/Huntsville Festival; TheGravenhurst Opera House; Drayton (in its many incarnations – Drayton Festival Theatre, Dunfield Theatre,Cambridge, Huron Country Playhouse, King’s Wharf Theatre, Penetanguishene, Schoolhouse Theatre, St.Jacobs and St. Jacobs Country Playhouse); Globus Theatre, Bobcaygeon (runs a year-round season); HighlandsSummer Festival; Lighthouse Festival; Orillia Opera House; Port Hope Festival Theatre; Port Stanley FestivalTheatre; Shaw Festival (talk more about Shaw and Stratford later); and closer to home, the Thousand IslandsPlayhouse and the Upper Canada Playhouse

• some, like Theatre Orangeville (1994), don’t just run in the summer anymore

• a couple of other early 1970's musicals – now forgotten – from the Toronto scene are • Mary (mentioned it last week in connection with CTF)

• music by Howard Cable, libretto by Christopher Gore• produced at the Charlottetown Festival in 1971 and 1972• based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots

• Gravediggers of 1942 • music by Steven Jacks, book and lyrics Tom Hendry• produced by Toronto Free Theatre in 1973• juxtaposes upbeat wartime tunes with the horrors of the failed raid at Dieppe – recent movie has brought

that subject back into public focus• the topic is a bit of a forerunner to Billy Bishop

• in a tradition it had begun in the early days of radio, CBC radio continued to commission and produce musicalsthrough the 1970's and a large number of them were written by Cliff Jones

Cliff Jones (b. 1943)• Toronto born composer, lyricist, and writer • while working as a scriptwriter for CBC TV (1970-3), he began writing satirical songs for CBC radio• he was music director for children’s and/or variety series produced by TV Ontario and CTV in the 1970• first major work was Hamlet – The Musical (quickly re-titled to Kronborg: 1582 (1973) – talk more about

this in a bit – the original title starts to sound a bit like “Omelette” in Something Rotten • a CBC-commissioned rock musical – obviously based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet

• his next CBC commission was Hey, Marilyn! – based on the life of Marilyn Monroe• premiered 16 Feb 1975 on CBC radio’s The Entertainers• reworked as a stage musical, it was produced in 1980 at the Citadel Theatre

• The Rowdyman – based on the story from the film (later, novel) by Gordon Pinsent, was staged in 1976 atthe Charlottetown Festival – life in Newfoundland

• there were three more CBC commissions• Some of My Best Rats are Friends (broadcast in 1979)• For the Love of Howard (1984)

• about millionaire recluse Howard Hughes• Alexandra: The Last Empress (1988)

• also produced for the Charlottetown Festival in 1988• Babies (1986)

• performed in Charlottetown in 1986 and 1987 and at the Centrepointe Theatre in Ottawa in 1991• his most enduring musical – a number of revivals both at home and abroad

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• from 2000 to 2005, he was the director of the Show Choir for the Yorkminstrels (a community theatre groupin Toronto)

• commissioned by them to write a musical – Dogs was completed in 2005.• over the years he wrote scripts for variety specials for such stars as Frank Mills and Anne Murray, and produced

CTV specials for Rita MacNeil• from that impressive list let’s look at

Hamlet – The Musical AKA Kronborg: 1582 (1973) • first broadcast as Hamlet – The Musical on an episode of the CBC radio series The Entertainers on 1

December 1973 • with a name change, it was staged by the Charlottetown Festival the following summer (1974) and again in

1975• it then toured eastern Canada with Brent Carver (Hamlet) and Beverly D’Angelo (Ophelia – pre film of

Hair) – tour stops included Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa

Rockabye Hamlet (1976)• Jones revised the show and re-titled it Rockabye Hamlet for a Broadway production• staged as an all-out rock concert• directed and choreographed by Gower Champion (1919-1980)

• famous dancer (Broadway and Hollywood) and director • credits include Bye Bye Birdie (1960), Hello Dolly (1964), and 42 Street (1980)nd

• a flop – opened at the Minskoff Theatre on 17 February 1976 after 21 previews and closed after 7performances

• D’Angelo reprised her role of Ophelia – Meat Loaf was also in the cast • a studio cast recording featuring ten songs from the score was released on the Rising label – Jones provided

a number of the vocals• in May 2014 the first full revival of Rockabye Hamlet was produced in Queens

• its next incarnation was as

Somethin’ Rockin’ in Denmark (1981)• in 1981, Jones revised the show once again – this time it was a success• played Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles for an 18-month runAudio Example: “That it should come to this” – sung by Sterling Jarvis, piano by Bob Ashley • Somethin’ Rockin’ in Denmark was produced again in 2003 by the Tapestry Education Initiatives for touring

in Canadian schools • in the summer of 2008, with a revised script and score by Jones, it was presented at the St. Lawrence Centre

for the Arts in downtown Toronto• in July 2014, the Bizarre Noir Theatre Company staged the first Manhattan revival at The Player’s Theatre

in Greenwich Village• small company which began in 2007 – focus is on performers and entertainment • a darker version of the piece, using a combination of the original score, unused songs from the concept

album, and newer compositions by Jones

CBC continued to commission musicals until the mid-1980's

• one of the last was Thin Ice (Jim Betts and Doug Ellis)

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• tells a story about a Russia-Canada Stanley Cup Final and the “evil” forces that try to throw the game so thatsports programming can be replaced with cultural programming

• aired on CBC-TV on 31 March 1985• Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretsky, and Don Cherry featured in the first performance

• but the CBC was not the only source of Canadian musicals

• popular theatre – not commercial theatre – theatre based on the people, their issues in a given area, was moreor less what alternative theatre in Canada in the early 1970's was doing

• that alternative theatre was another place where musical theatre was nurtured

Toronto Workshop Productions – photo of George Luscombe• founded in 1959 by George Luscombe• one of the first important Alternative and Experimental Theatre troupes• its first production, Hey, Rube!, was an immediate success and established the group's penchant for

exploration and collective creation• performed in a 90-seat factory basement before moving in 1967 to a new 300-seat auditorium built in a

converted tram-shed off Yonge Street• under Luscombe, the emphasis of the company was on training and ensemble performing – talk more abut

training later today • plays evolved with each production, with contributions from everyone involve• produced until 1988 • where Victor Garber got much of his early experience • might be best known for its 1974 production of The Lost Years

• music by Cedric Smith, words by Jack Winter, based on Barry Broadfoot’s oral history of the GreatDepression

• juxtaposed present day prosperity with the hardship of the depression – lays the blame at the feet ofgreedy capitalists

• these collective creations made heroes out of types

Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon) • another important regional theatre company• founded in 1974 by sisters Janet Wright and Susan Wright• named after the Greek goddess Persephone• the first few seasons were held in various locations• in 1983 they moved to the empty Westgate Alliance Church• in 2007, Persephone Theatre moved to the Remai Arts Centre at River Landing

produced Cruel Tears (1975)• a resetting of Othello among Saskatchewan truck drivers• book and lyrics by Ken Mitchell, music by the bluegrass group Humphrey and the Dumptrucks• opened 15 March 1975• toured – cities included Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal• unusual in that it got a revival in 1999 at the Globe Theatre in Regina

• heightened the racial aspect of the show by making Johnny (Othello) native – had been Ukrainianin the original production

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• a cast recording was made of the original production and the script is published by Talonbooks

25th Street Theatre Centre (originally 25th Street Theatre) • founded in 1971 as an artists’ collective by University of Saskatchewan drama students• began production in 1972 with Gardens, Sketch #1 by Andras Tahn• reorganized over 1974-75 into a professional theatre company• it developed primarily as a populist grassroots company, producing plays and collective creations on Prairie

subjects• produced many collective works over the decades but ongoing artistic, space and financial issues led to the

theatre’s decision to move out of active production in 2000• now it largely fulfills its mission “to promote and present artist-driven professional theatre” by continuing

to run the Saskatoon Fringe Festival every summer• best known for its production of Paper Wheat (1977)

• a collective documentary collage about the hard lives of early Saskatchewan settlers and the foundationof the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and the Co-op movement on the Canadian Prairies

• multiple writers• mixed skits with songs• mentioned that these collective creations made heroes out of types – in this case the heroes were the

pioneer men and women • well received• toured nationally in 1978 and 1979• was the subject of a National Film Board documentary (1978)

Sex Tips for Modern Girls (1985)• this form – the Canadian collective musical – made it to Broadway but only once – with Sex Tips for Modern

Girls (1985)• collectively created by Edward Astley, Susan Astley, Kim Seary, John Sereda, Hilary Strang, Christine

Willes and Peter Eliot Weiss• produced in Vancouver by Touchstone Theatre

• a professional theatre company in Vancouver founded in 1976 by a group of University of BritishColumbia theatre graduates

• its focus is on the development and production of Canadian works• still in operation • opened in February 1985 and ran for more than a year

• played at the Susan Bloch Theatre – off-Broadway – AKA The Actor’s Theatre • opened in NYC on 7 October 1985• billed it as “Canada’s longest running musical smash hit” – stretched the truth but you can say anything

in an ad• not really a hit

• gets the occasions revival – with re-writs to keep it modern

• Collective/Popular musicals were a phase – very much of their time, not much real lasting power

• disadvantage to the shows was that there was no one person’s creative stamp on most of them – as a result theywere often a mishmash

• but the form influenced John Gray

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John MacLachlan Gray (b. 1946)• Canadian writer, composer and performer for stage, TV, film, radio and print• born here (in Ottawa), he was raised in Truro, Nova Scotia• played piano there with a local rock band called the Lincolns – drew on that when he wrote Rock and Roll • graduated from Mount Allison University • graduated from UBC with a MA in Theatre (directing)• was part of the group of soon-to-be-noteworthy Canadian musical artists at UBC in the early 1970's • co-founded Tamahnous Theatre (Vancouver) in 1971 and served as its director from 1971 to 1974

• specialized in experimental theatre, particularly collective creation• Billy Bishop Goes to War was developed there

• he moved to Toronto in 1975 and joined Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto where he began writing andcomposing for the stage, and also did some directing for the company

• 18 Wheels (1977) was his first musical• his next was Billy Bishop Goes to War in 1978 with Eric Peterson• other plays and musicals include

• Rock and Roll (1981 – musical) National Arts Centre/Vancouver East Cultural Centre, • won a Dora Mavor Moore Award (1982), and became an award-winning feature video entitled King

of Friday Night • Don Messer’s Jubilee (1984) – heard “Plain Girls in Love” from that show on the first lecture • Health (1989)• Amelia: The Girl Who Wants to Fly (1994), and• The Tree. The Tower. The Flood (three Bible stories for the age of information, commissioned by CBC

Radio Drama – 1995)• has worked as a newspaper columnist, beginning in the late 1990's, contributing weekly pieces on cultural

politics to the Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail• in the early 2000's he contributed a column to Western Living Magazine called “O For the Love of Dog”,

in which he wrote about his dog Gus• he has written a number of stage plays and novels• they include

• Dazzled! (1984), Local Boy Makes Good (1987), I Love Mom: An Irreverent History of the Tattoo(1994), Lost in North America: The Imaginary Canadian in the American Dream (1994), A Gift for theLittle Master (2000), The Fiend in Human (2003), White Stone Day (2005), and Not Quite Dead (2007)

• he is the recipient of a Golden Globe• in 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for “his contribution to Canada’s cultural landscape”• granted honorary doctorates from Dalhousie University and Mount Allison University• he lives in Vancouver

18 Wheels (1977) • Gray’s first full-length musical, although he had contributed songs for shows• opened at Theatre Passe Muraille – directed there by Paul Thompson• another show about truckers (Cruel Tears)• revived by Tarragon in 1978 (previews began on 23 November, it opened on the 29 of November and ranth

until 23 December• directed by Timothy Bond, starred Stephen E. Miller, Frank Moore, and Shelley Sommers• the production transferred to Bathurst Street Theatre, Toronto in January 1979• then toured for eight weeks in Canada, September-November 1979 with Ian Gillespie, Terry Harford,

and Jessie Thomson

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• can’t talk about musical theatre in Toronto and Canada without talking about

David Warrack (1945)• Calgary-born composer, arranger, lyricist, librettist, musical director, conductor, pianist, and producer• one of Canada’s most prolific writers of shows – he has created or collaborated on 63 professionally

produced musicals• they include some of the longest-running productions in Canadian theatrical history• written or co-written some 2,000 songs• graduated from the University of Calgary and did graduate work in Music Composition at the University of

Toronto• he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and then moved to New York to take part in Lehman

Engel’s BMI Workshops there – mentioned him earlier in the context of the Toronto workshops • his first major show – Oops! – opened in Toronto in 1972 • that same year he established Warrack Productions (1972) – a production house for commercial theatre,

television, recordings, concerts, and industrials – not really done any more but they were the musicalnumbers for trade shows

• Men, Women and Why It Won’t Work played off-Broadway at the theatre at Mama Gail’s in l975• master of the mini or Cabaret musical – a form that emerged in the 1970's• many of his shows fall into that category• example from Counter Melody (1976) –

• book, music and lyrics by David Warrack • first produced in Old Angelo’s• set in the first class lounge of a 747• 3 characters – two men and a woman • Audio Example: “Entertain” – performed by Avery Saltzman, piano by David Warrack

• Windsor (about Edward and Wallis Simpson) played at the Charlottetown Festival in 1978 (dir. Alan Lund)• in 1985 he won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for the revue On Tap• other shows include

• Neighbours (1975)• Tease for Two (1975)• The Vaudevillians (1977)• Tut Tut (1979) – ran for the length of the Tutankhamun Exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario• Drummer (1980) – book by Michael Bawtree – originally produced at the Banff Festival of the Arts• Two In Tune (1984)• Oh Susanna (1988) • All Stressed up (And Nowhere to Go) (1994) – Jeff Hyslop won a Gemini for his performance of “I Just

Dance”• Interpretations of a Life from the early 1990's is a cabaret-style song cycle with Maureen Forrester and

Warrack at the piano – CD available • written some 17 musicals for children – beginning with A Snowflake for Elmo (1985) • has also written hundreds of non-theatrical compositions• another alumni of the Lehman Engel workshops in Toronto was

Joey Miller • originally based out of Montreal, he attended the Engel workshops in Toronto, where he is now based• his works include

• Eight to the Bar (book by Stephen Witkin) – 1978 – produced at Charlottetown• Audio example: “Home Away from Home” – sung by Teresa Tova, piano by David Warrack

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• Ye Gods (book by Stephen Witkin) – premiered at CTF• The Return of the Curse of the Mummy's Revenge – (book and lyrics by James Saar) – 1983 – premiere

at the Huron Country Playhouse• The Growing Season (book and lyrics by James Saar) – 1986 – more next week• Outrageous (book by Brad Fraser)

• base on Margaret Gibson’s short story Butterfly Ward about the freindship between a schizophrenic girland a femail impersonator

• The Prince and The Pauper (with Leslie Arden) • Flying a revue written with Stephen Witkin and John Hirsch• Musical Chairs for Gryphon Theatre • A Gift To Last (book by Graeme Woods)• War Brides (book by Graeme Woods) – 1998 – more next week • Playground (The Great Unproduced Canadian Musical!) • Rio (with Mitch Magonet) – most recent project – more next week

• the late 1970's were blockbuster years for Canadian musicals

• in addition to what we have already looked at there were many others including

• Stagefright (1978) – music and lyrics by Jim Betts, book by Betts, Miriam Fond and Catherine Knights• On A Summer’s Night (1979) – also by Betts (music, lyrics, and book) based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer

Night’s Dream – played “Starlight” from this show last week, and• Nostalgia (1978) – music by Bob Ashley, lyrics by Nancy Phillips

• Bob Ashley’s name comes up all the time as the pianist on the musical examples I am playing (on Field of Stars1 and 2)

Bob Ashley • Winnipeg native, studied piano (classical music) but he had a love of pop . • original keyboard player for The Guess Who• left in December 1965 – didn’t like the road• moved to Toronto in 1968 and built a career as a composer, arranger, musical director and dance

accompanist – associated with both the National Ballet School and the National Ballet of Canada for decades• he was one of the most significant musical theatre and cabaret music directors in Toronto for many years• Ashley has served as musical director and accompanist for more than 50 professional musical theatre

productions across Canada, including • Eight to the Bar (Joey Miller) for the Charlottetown Festival, where he served as musical director for

two years• the National Arts Centre’s production of the musical A History of the American Film (music by Mel

Marvin, book and lyrics by Christopher Durang)• I’ll Tell You Mine If You Tell Me Yours (Jim Betts) • Has Anyone Here Found Love and Tonight at 8:30, 9:00 in Newfoundland for Toronto’s Teller’s Cage• America We Hear You Calling for Theatre-in-the-Dell • Puttin’ on the Ritz for the Firehall Theater

• in addition to acting as MD on I’ll Tell You Mine If You Tell Me Yours he collaborated with Jim Betts onthree Cole Porter productions, On a Summer’s Night, and A Matter of Heart (2009), based on the life andmusic of legendary musician Stan Rogers

• other shows include• Cocktails for Two Hundred (music by Bob Ashley, book and lyrics by James Saar, 1984) – Charlottetone

Lecture 3 – the 1970's Page 13 of 16

1981 – directed by Saar• Lies and Other Lyrics (music by Bob Ashley, lyrics by Nancy Phillips) • Audio Example – “Nostalgia” – sung by Charlotte Moore, piano by Bob Ashley• The Family Way (music by Bob Ashley, lyrics by Janelle Hutchinson)• Aimee! inspired by the life of Aimee Semple McPherson (music by Bob Ashley, book and lyrics by Patrick

Young) – Charlottetown 1981• won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for musical direction on Piaf – Her Songs, Her Loves• he has been on the faculty at the Randolph Academy, Sheridan College Musical Theatre Programs, the Cardinal

Carter Academy for the Arts, Queen Street’s Dance Teq and as a member of the artistic staff for Canada’sNational Ballet School

• now in his 70s, he is a founding partner in Well Seasoned Productions, dedicated to creating works focused onthe joys, challenges and celebration of life over 50

• provides musical direction for PAL (Performing Arts Lodge)• partnered with singer/comedienne Carolyn Scott in the cabaret-style topical revue duo Cheap & Cheerful – not

sure who is who

• talked about a number of shows for the 1970's but the one with the most staying power was Billy Bishop Goesto War (music and lyrics by John Gray, book by Gray with Eric Peterson)

• remains an icon Canadian of musical theatre

Eric Peterson (b. 1946)• Canadian stage and television actor• born in Indian Head, Saskatchewan• part of the group of people at UBC• began his acting career in 1971 when he helped found the collective theatre company Tamahnous Theatre

in Vancouver• in 1974, he moved to Toronto and joined Theatre Passe Muraille where he had main roles in a number of

productions• he has been a constantly employed actor since the early days of his career• in addition to his extensive performing career on stage he has appeared in over 50 his TV and Movie

production – including • Leon Robinovitch on Street Legal (1987-1994) – for which he won 3 Gemini Awards for Best

Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Dramatic Role (1987. 1989, 1992)• Oscar Leroy on Corner Gas (2004-2009) – for which he won a Gemini award for Best Performance by

an Actor in a Continuing Dramatic Role (2007) – and Corner Gas – The Movie (2014)• Judge Malone in This Is Wonderland (2004-2005)• guested on many CBC and CTV TV series including Murdoch Mysteries (2010) and Dan for Mayor

• on 21 May 1996 he received an honorary Doctor of Letters in drama from the University of Saskatchewan• in 1999, the 20th Anniversary edition of his play Billy Bishop Goes To War won him Dora Awards for Best

Play, Best Direction and Best Performance• in 2008 he was awarded the ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence for a significant body of work and union

activism• in 2013 he received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for his lifetime contributions to

Canadian theatre• his fourth Gemini Award came in 2001 for Best Performance in a Pre-School Program• in 2010 he was named a member of the Order of Canada• he lives in Toronto with his wife Annie Kidder (the sister of Canadian actress Margot Kidder)

Lecture 3 – the 1970's Page 14 of 16

Billy Bishop Goes to War (1978)• written by John MacLachlan Gray in collaboration with Eric Peterson• they began working on it in 1976• it premiered on 3 November 1978 at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre• Audio Example: “In The Sky” – piano and vocals by John Gray • Peterson played 18 different characters, and Gray accompanied on piano and vocals• the original production toured across Canada, including a stop at Theatre Passe Muraille (where both Gray

and Peterson had worked in Toronto)• all the while there had been talk about the show being “Broadway bound”• it had its Broadway try-out at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C.• from there it moved to NYC• it began previews at the Morosco Theatre on 22 May 1980, opened on 29 May and closed on 7 June for a

total of 7 previews and 12 performances • got generally good reviews and the opening night audience was star-studded but the tickets didn’t sell• they didn’t give up, and moved off-Broadway to the 300 seat Theatre de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theatre)

and had a respectable run from 17 June to 24 August for 78 performances• Peterson won the Clarence Derwent Award for most promising performer for these performances• went on to The Edinburgh Festival (where Peterson was nominated for Best Actor at the Edinburgh Festival

Mainstage) • followed by an 8 week run in LA’s Mark Taper Forum• followed by one more try for the big-time – • The Comedy Theatre in London – large theatre – not an ideal space for this show – that had been the

problem with The Moresco• received mostly good reviews but it didn’t have a long run • toured twice across Canada with Peterson and Gray • a recording starring Peterson and Gray was released in 1979 • the libretto was published in 1981 by Talonbooks• the play itself won the Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award in 1981, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play

Award in 1982 and the Governor General’s Award for English Drama in 1982• in 1998, Gray and Peterson revised the show, adding one new song and presenting events through the eyes

of a much older Bishop recalling his wartime exploits• they toured the new production across Canada• a recording of this revised version of the show was released in 1999• clip with Peterson and Gray – https://youtu.be/0LCcka7r_AQ

• between 8 and 29 August 2009 Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto presented the show with Petersonand Gray in its newly revised form

• a major revival / production • directed by Ted Dykstra (2 Pianos, 4 Hands, Evangeline)• in this production the pajama-clad and elderly Bishop wanders around his relic-filled attic reminiscing

about his battle years as a flying ace in WW I• the production received rave reviews• in an interview prior to that production, Eric Peterson stated:

“We’ve gone through radical recasting! From a 32 year old to a 62 year old as the actor who’sgoing to be narrating the show. In a two man play like this, it has incredibly different resonancedepending on who’s telling that story. In many cases, we’ve taken some minor rewriting for theproduction we did when we were 52 and updated them and changed the ending. Now at 62 we’reolder than Bishop ever was in the play before.”

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• it played Soulpepper Theatre again in 2010 (22 January - 27 February) – slightly revised from the previous year’sproduction – Peterson and Gray kept tweaking it

• seen again at Theatre Calgary in 2011 and The Segal Centre in Montreal• video clip from Segal Centre (interview and performance bit) – https://youtu.be/mk6T7qCkMbo • it is estimated that Billy Bishop Goes to War has been performed in over 150 independent productions in Canada

and the United States – both this version and the original (with the younger Billy Bishop) continue to beperformed

• in 2010 the Soulpepper production (more or less) was shot for CBC Television (at CBC studios in Toronto) inpartnership with Strada Productions• directed by Barbara Willis-Sweete• starred Peterson and Gray• premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010 and was aired on CBC TV

• CBC Television and the BBC also co-produced a television adaptation• the production was reproduced for WDR Television in Germany – starred Hans Peter Korf, with Gray on piano

and vocals• plays differently in Germany – Bishop isn’t the good guy

• it was done at The Gladstone in 2013 with Chris Ralph (Bishop) and James Caswell (piano and vocal)

• the shape of musical theatre in Canada didn’t change much until the middle of the 1980's and then only in part• basically mainstream meant foreign (AKA US) and Canadian meant regional or alternative where new material

was being done• not a bad thing, just what was

• a number of training programmes popped up in the 1970's and early 1980's • there had been the Engel workshop for writers, now it was the performers’ turn – although a lot of new works

were also commissioned by the companies I am going to talk a little bit about• about the same time the term Music Theatre became popular in the mid-1970's • defined by Stephen McNeff (COMUS and BANFF (MUTSE or Music Theatre Studio Ensemble)) as “any kind

of lyric stage activity that has music and where the dramatic component is as important as the musicalcomponent”, so very vague – like the definition I put up at the beginning, and besides hadn’t that already beendefined in the early 1940's as “musical play” by Hammerstein?

• a couple of them were –

COMUS Music Theatre of Canada • founded in Toronto in 1975 by Michael Bawtree, Gabriel Charpentier, and Maureen Forrester• operated until 1987 when it had to close for financial reasons • followed on from an experiment at Stratford• its aim was to develop and present music theatre works of all kinds in all media• multi-pronged approach • in 1979 it initiated a series of classes, workshops and seminars in the basics of music theatre production,

performance and dance• the COMUS Opera Reading series allowed composers and librettists an opportunity to workshop their pieces• score for Space Opera (1985) by composer Howard Gerhard and poet bpNichol – combined music (fairly

conventionally written) with sound poetry

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The MUTSE (Music Theatre Studio Ensemble)• programme at Banff (of which I am an alumna) was another of Michael Bawtree’s babies• Michael Bawtree was its Artistic Director and often stage director and for a number of years its musical

director was Stephen McNeff (who also worked with COMUS) • again the word Music Theatre was used• the goal was to combine the virtuosity of opera with the vitality of Broadway • aimed at training a generation of performers who were versatile – as good at the theatre side of things as they

were at the singing side and vice versa• and it put new works at the centre of its programme• in addition to performers there were writers, composers, designers and directors in the programme – all

doing new work • had the distinction of being the first of its kind in the Western world• score to Killing Time (composed by Stephen McNeff with libretto by Ken Jones – both Brits by the way)

• futuristic piece about a group of people in the Superintendent’s office – none of them know why theyare there and they are almost paranoid, with the exception of Sally (the role I eventually played) – sheis the rebel and spends much of the show questioning things

• it was a made-for-TV musical and that came with its own huge set of problems – firstly someone hadbeen wrong about the size of the set so when it came down to it the cameras couldn’t truck (get aroundthe corner)

Tapestry Opera• founded in 1979 by Wayne Strongman as Tapestry Singers• morphed into Tapestry Music Theatre in 1986 to reflect the direction the company was taking (then Tapestry

New Opera Works and now Tapestry Opera) • defines itself as “a professional theatre and opera producer that creates and produces for the heart of the here

and now”• its current director is the amazing Tom Diamond• new small works – maybe more opera than musical theatre – but hard to tell – certainly not Broadway but

then is Canadian musical theatre always aiming at that? – no • in addition to being a producer it is also a learning centre – one of its most interesting programmes is the

Composer-Librettist Laboratory (LibLab), where eight writers and composers are introduced and producesixteen opera shorts under intense conditions

• these works are then performed in-house for assessment• some of Tapestry’s most critically acclaimed works include

• Rocking Horse Winner (G. Williams, A. Chatterton)• M’dea Undone (J. Harris, M. Chan)• Nigredo Hotel (N. Gotham, A. MacDonald)• Sanctuary Song (A. Richardson, M. Chan)• Still the Night (T. Tova)• Iron Road (Chan Ka Nin, M. Brownell)

• they have worked and continue to work in collaboration with such partners as The Griffin Trio, The ElmerEisler Singers, The Canadian Opera Company, Theatre Direct, Scottish Opera, American Opera Projects,Edmonton Opera, and Tarragon Theatre