SUNDRE – There wasn’t a seat to spare at the Sundre Arts Centre over the past couple of weekends for a local theatre group’s rendition of Anne of Green Gables The Musical.
With all available tickets sold out well in advance of B.S. Productions’ performances of Anne of Green Gables, The Musical, a waiting list had even begun to accumulate.
That level of enthusiastic interest had prompted the group to put on a special sneak peek prior to the first official performances earlier this month.
Including the preview performance, more than 1,100 theatre-goers will have seen the musical by the time the curtain dropped on the final show.
“We’re immensely grateful to everyone who’s made this possible: our wonderful cast, of course, and their families; also all of our backstage crew, and our musicians, plus many front-of-house volunteers,” said Jamie Syer, the music director who co-founded B.S. Productions alongside his creative collaborator and director Brian Bailey.
“Someone said to me that this event really brings the community together: celebrating the achievements of everyone onstage, and enjoying – maybe for the first time – this classic Canadian story.”
Bailey wrote a brief synopsis in a director’s note included in the show’s program that described the 1956 musical adaptation of the best-selling novel written in 1908 by L. M. Montgomery as a story that at heart tells the tale of “a closed, self-righteous community which is only too quick to judge and reject someone not cast from the same mould.
“Somehow, an indomitable orphan manages to flourish and in the end, benefit the entire community. The deeds and actions of an individual can and do make a difference,” said Bailey.
The performances of Anne of Green Gables is the latest notch in B.S. Productions’ proverbial belt in a continually growing list of successful shows that over the years have included other classics including Matilda as well as a homegrown title called Camp Spartan.
Responding to a question about whether the theatre group might already have set its sights on the next play, Syer said there were no immediate plans but added inquisitive minds had already been inquiring about what’s next.