The Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown will workshop a new musical called The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery in the Studio Theatre on Friday, September 21, at 2 p.m.
Performed by members of the Charlottetown Festival cast and eight local young actors, the workshop is open to the public. This is the first time the musical has been workshopped since it was written by Leo Marchildon and Adam-Michael James in 2006.
“We encourage people to attend our workshop and explore the Island’s most famous author, L.M. Montgomery, through her own creations,” says Anne Allan, artistic director of The Charlottetown Festival. “This new musical celebrates the imagination and power of the amazing woman who created Anne Shirley and other fascinating characters.”
With music by Marchildon and words by James, this musical biography covers Montgomery’s life from the composition of her first poem at age nine to being declared a Canadian of National Importance six years after her death.
Montgomery’s eight fictional characters come to life and interact with her, serving as extensions of herself and demonstrating how she used the power of the imagination to cope with the increasingly difficult circumstances of her life. Her primary characters are Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon, Pat of Silver Bush, Jane of Lantern Hill, Kilmeny of the Orchard, Sara Stanley (The Story Girl), Marigold (Magic for Marigold) and Valancy Stirling (The Blue Castle).
The songs cover the popular styles from Maud’s lifetime, from Scottish reels to the Big Band era. The story, which is performed in vignettes, is also told through the entertaining music.
The most unique element of the musical is its use of visuals. A screen will be positioned behind the actors to display interior settings and exterior ones demonstrating Montgomery’s love of nature. The screen also sets mood, and establishes time and place.
Originally from Alaska, James is an actor, novelist, broadcaster and screenplay writer. He has published two novels, Undo the Deed (2002) and Extra Extra!: Memoirs From A Piece of Human Furniture (2005), and plans to write a third. He has worked in radio and has recorded dozens of his own songs.
A native of Toronto, Marchildon is a noted composer, music editor pianist and conductor. Some of his credits include Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Sunset Boulevard. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his documentary Cellblock Scholars. James and Marchildon recently moved from Los Angeles to Prince Edward Island.
For more information about the creation of the musical, please visit http://www.adammichaeljames.com/lmm.html.
-30-
About the writers
Adam-Michael James
Adam-Michael James (née Michael Rietzel) originally hails from Fairbanks, Alaska, but has also lived in Hawaii, Florida, and California. His love affair with writing sparked as soon as he taught himself to write at age 3. Undo the Deed, a deeply personal time travel story with a child abuse theme, became his first published novel in 2002. A broadcasting school graduate, Adam-Michael James enjoyed a two-year stint as a deejay in Fort Pierce, Florida, and a three-year stint writing, producing, and performing for “IMRU”, a weekly radio show in Los Angeles; the latter earned him the 1999 Golden Mike Award for Best Entertainment Reporting (Radio, Division B). Adam-Michael James worked as a background actor in over 100 television shows and movies, forming the basis for his 2005 book, Extra Extra!: Memoirs From A Piece of Human Furniture; additionally, he produced both a CD maxi-single and a music video DVD based on it. He has also done theatre and recorded dozens of his own songs. The 38-year-old is currently working with Emmy-nominated composer Leo Marchildon on The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery, a musical biography of the famed Canadian author. Other goals include resuming his third book, a past-life/Old West epic, and getting his screenplay adaptation of Undo the Deed produced. All this in his inimitable do-it-in-a-way-that-hasn’t-been-done-before style that's become his trademark! The long-time Los Angeles resident now lives in Prince Edward Island. For more on Adam-Michael James and The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery, visit www.adammichaeljames.com.
Leo Marchildon
Emmy-nominated composer Leo Marchildon originally hails from Toronto, Ontario, where he studied music composition at the University of Toronto before moving to Los Angeles to study scoring for motion pictures at the University of Southern California. He has worked as music editor for shows such as “The Adventures of Sinbad” and Gene Roddenberry’s “Andromeda.” His composing credits include the TVO series “Wexford” and the feature film “Gabriela.” As a performer, he has worked throughout the world as keyboardist for such productions as “Phantom of the Opera”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman”, and “Sunset Boulevard.” He has toured with “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” for the past 18 years as pianist and associate conductor; his personal highlight was conducting the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 2001. “The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery” is his most ambitious musical work to date, featuring over two hours of original music.
-30-
Media contact: Anna MacDonald, Publicist, (902) 628-6135, confederationcentre.com, www.confederationcentre.com