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The Confederation Centre of the Arts is gearing up for the 2007 Charlottetown Festival season. Cast members from across Canada begin rehearsals on May 24 for the Festival’s Mainstage productions, Anne of Green Gables—The Musical™, and The British Invasion: A Musical Revue. Anne™, back for its 43rd consecutive year at the Charlottetown Festival, features newcomers Louie Rossetti and Alison Smyth in two important roles—Gilbert Blythe, Anne’s rival-cum-friend, and Diana Barry, Anne’s kindred spirit, respectively. Principal actors returning for their second year in the production are Amy Wallis as Anne Shirley, Sandy Winsby and Janet MacEwen as Anne’s adoptive parents Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, and Charlotte Moore as Mrs. Rachel Lynde. Other new faces in Anne™ include Islander Joey Kitson as Cecil, the Farmer; Michelle Truman as Prissy Andrews; Gerrad Everard as The Minister; former Confederation Centre Young Company member Josh Epstein as Mr. Phillips, the Schoolmaster; Danielle Benton as Ruby Gillis; Laura Nason as Gertie Pye, Andrew Barley as Charlie Sloane; and another former Young Company member Kyle Young as Tommy Sloane. Matt Wagman, a member of the 2006 Young Company, and returning cast member Robin Calvert are the male and female swings. Returning to the production are Gabriel Antonacci as Moody MacPherson; Terry Hatty as Earl, the Mailman and The Stationmaster; Zak Kearns as Willie Boulter; Glenda Landry as Mrs. Sloane and Mrs. Spencer; Lindsey Frazier as Tillie Boulter; Julain Molnar as Mrs. Gillis and schoolteacher Miss Stacy; Catherine O’Brien as Lucilla and Mrs. MacPherson; Kristen Peace as Mrs. Barry and Mrs. Blewett; and Shawna van Omme as Mrs. Pye, a new role for her. Based on L.M. Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables, the show is written by Don Harron and composed by late Norman Campbell, with lyrics by Elaine Campbell and Mavor Moore. British music invades the Mainstage in a production called The British Invasion: A Musical Revue, playing on selected dates from June 19 to August 31. This production, written by Anne Allan, Nevin Grant and Howard Pechet, features popular British music from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s—from The Beatles, Dusty Springfield and Tom Jones to Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John and more. Playing the Beatles are Rossetti as Paul McCartney, Epstein as John Lennon, Antonacci as Ringo Starr and Young as George Harrison. Gerrad Everard takes the stage as Mick Jagger accompanied by Terry Hatty as Keith Richards. Epstein also plays the flamboyant Elton John. Anne Allan, artistic director for The Charlottetown Festival, is director and choreographer, and Donald Fraser music director, for both Mainstage productions. A half-price preview performance of Anne™ takes place on June 18. Half-price previews for The British Invasion are on June 19, 20 and 21. |