The Hamlet of Rosebud is ‘abuzz’ with the much anticipated arrival of Anne of Green Gables - Rosebud Theatre’s summer musical production that runs from May 25 to August 25 at the Rosebud Opera House.
Artistic Director Morris Ertman says there is something synchronistic about Rosebud Theatre including Anne of Green Gables in its 2012 season.
“The story of Anne of Green Gables is not just about a lively girl who brings life to Avonlea. It’s about an idyllic setting in Prince Edward Island that inspires her in turn. It’s about small town life in a time when everyone knew everybody,” he said. “The Rosebud valley is an idyllic gem of a surprise nestled in a coulee in the Alberta prairie landscape. It’s a hamlet of 100 people where everyone knows everybody else. On a two-show day (matinee & evening), the population explodes to more than 500 people - all of them coming to experience Rosebud, the hamlet, the people, and the plays. Why do they come? I think they come because they are drawn to our small pastoral setting, the intimacy of the community, and the emotional impact of stories with characters like Anne who turn their worlds upside down, giving them a new lease on life.”
Adds Ertman, “And that’s what happens to the people of Avonlea when Anne steps into their lives. This play belongs in Rosebud, because in so many ways, Rosebud is in this play. We’re a company of artists who live and work together in this idyllic valley with the expressed intent of sharing stories that we believe in with our audiences. The spirit of Anne is in all of us, just like it is in the people of Avonlea - a community transformed by the presence of a wildly creative and imaginative life force.”
The entire community of Rosebud is getting into the act for Anne of Green Gables with ice cream, beverage carts, and PEI inspired menu items on the Rosebud Mercantile buffet.
“The village is stepping out to celebrate what it means to be small at a time when most every place wants to get bigger,” says Ertman “We want families to gather at our four-way stop signs, receive our warm ‘hello’, and wander the streets with ice cream cones that foster the anticipation or memory of the song in Anne of Green Gables titled “Ice Cream”. In Rosebud, the play inside the theatre inevitably spills out into the street in some way each and every season, and this summer we’re fully embracing that connection.”
Anne of Green Gables, the musical, tells the story of the orphan Anne Shirley and how she changes the lives of the community of Avonlea. Among the lives changed by her are Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, the elderly brother and sister who adopt her even though they “clearly requested a boy” from the orphanage. The musical was adapted by Donald Harron, who best known his creation of the iconic Canadian comedic character Charlie Farquharson. (His version of Anne of Green Gables is the one performed at the Charlottetown Festival annually.) With music by Norman Campbell, from the Novel by L.M. Montgomery. (Lyrics by Donald Harron and Norman Campbell, and additional lyrics by Mavor Moore and Elaine Campbell). Anne of Green Gables runs May 25 - August 25.