[PHOTO] The Guild, 115 Richmond Street

The Guild, an old Royal Bank of Canada building in Charlottetown two decades ago to a community art space including a theatre, is located at 115 Richmond Street. This location is placed in the middle of the downtown, perfectly placed to serve as the venue for the musical Anne and Gilbert.

[REVIEW] Anne & Gilbert

I first heard of Anne & Gilbert in the national media, through a MacLean's report claiming that the Charlottetown Festival was upset that a rival Anne musical was performing literally just down the street. The Festival, operating out of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, has been running the musical Anne of Green Gables since 1964. It's not far wrong to say that the musical helps define modern Prince Edward Island's identity, and it's certainly correct to say that it helps sustain the economy. I was a bit dubious of this argument even before I saw the older musical being advertised on the back of the handout I received turning up at the newer on the last day of my August visit to Prince Edward Island, never mind when I saw the tickets being offered for sale at one of the adjacent Anne-themed stores. I really wanted to see this musical at least once, and I wasn't disappointed. As it turns out, Anne & Gilbert perfectly supplements Anne of Green Gables, being a worthy sequel to the musical beloved by millions.

Anne & Gilbert is a two-act musical adapting Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island, the second and third books in the Anne series. Anne of Avonlea follows Anne and Gilbert as they teach school in neighbouring North Shore communities, while Anne of the Island chronicles their adventures on the mainland attending Redmond University (modeled on Halifax's Dalhousie). All the while the two are working through their complex relationship, as others do theirs and everyone, it seems, is waiting for Anne to acknowledge how she feels about her long-time rival and friend.



In 2013, Anne & Gilbert was staged in the theatrical space of The Guild, an old Royal Bank of Canada building in Charlottetown converted two decades ago to a community art space. Located at 115 Richmond Street, the Guild is in the middle of the downtown, perfectly placed to serve as the venue for the musical Anne and Gilbert.

The theatre space itself is long and narrow, the 144-seat tiered seating facing a shallow stage. Sitting in the front row, I was on the same level as the actors, just a few metres away. It's to the credit of the director and designer that they made this space work.

Anne & Gilbert is a well-written musical. Composed by Jeff Hochhauser, Nancy White, and Bob Johnston, it does a good job of adapting the source material, each novel getting its own act. I was pleased to see that Anne & Gilbert passes the Bechdel test, too, with Marilla Cuthbert and Rachel Lynde developing their relationship at length, even sharing the song "Our Duty". The music is quite good. YouTube has playlists, here and here; embedded below is a recording of "Gilbert Loves Anne of Green Gables".

"" (Watch on YouTube)

(My favourite songs were the coy "Polishing Silver", "You're Island Through and Through", "A Jonah Day", "Seesaw Girl", and "Just When I'd Given Up Hope".)



The actors, too, were good. The above photo by Alanna Jankov (originally found at Arts East) shows a scene from the 2013 production of Anne & Gilbert at The Guild in Charlottetown, as Anne Shirley (played by Emily Denny) and Gilbert Blythe (played by Patrick Cook) converse. Denny and Cook are very convincing leads. Additional standouts for me were Morgan Wagner, who did a very good job with her role as wealthy debutante student Philippa Gordon, and Brieonna Locche, who made Anne's sometime-rival Josie Pye a very sympathetic character. (The Guild's website has more performance photos here.)

I definitely recommend Anne & Gilbert for theatre-goers on Prince Edward Island. The musical will be staged again this year at The Guild, tickets being available individually as well as offered as part of a package ($C57.97 per person including the musical as well as tickets to different Anne and Montgomery-related sites on the North Shore).

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• BlogTO notes that the old Carnegie library at Queen and Lisgar, in my old neighbourhood of West Queen West or Parkdale, is going to become a theatre centre.


• Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait is glad there isn't a star as spectacularly unstable as EZ Canis Majoris in our neighbourhood.


• Patrick Cain links to his Global News debunking of the myth that American citizens living in Canada are often wealthy expatriates.


• Centauri Dreams examines the concept of superhabitable planets, noting among other things that K-class orange dwarfs like Alpha Centauri B would be great.


• D-Brief notes the sad mechanical problems of China's Yutu moon rover.


• The Dragon's Tales observes evidence that the migratory Sea Peoples of ancient Egypt came from Europe.


• At Halfway Down the Danube, Douglas Muir writes about his experiences hiking in Kosovo, with the Prizren mountaineers club.


• Joe. My. God., Lawyers, Guns and Money, and the New APPS Blog all mourn the death of politically active folk singer Peter Seeger.


• Language Log's Victor Mair analyzes the evocative Chinese-language name of a Vancouver restaurant.


• The Numerati's Stephen Baker responds to Godwin's Law as evoking the thoughts of people who can't express themselves.


• Registan links to anthropologist Sarah Kendzior's argument that Central Asia studies, once dynamic and vital, have gone into decay as people have stopped paying attention to the region.


• Savage Minds shares Haitian-American anthropologist Gina Athena Ulysse's writing about her creative process.


• Window on Eurasia notes a report that Tajikistan's government is unhappy with Tajiks who add Russian endings ("ov", et cetera) to their names.

[LINK] "The Coming Holocaust"

Wonkman has noted the rapid proliferation of Anne of Green Gables-themed musicals on Prince Edward Island.

The first musical opened in 1965. The second in 2005. If this rate of growth is maintained, there will be:

- 3 competing musicals by 2029
- 4 by 2045
- 5 by 2058
- 10 by 2098
- 50 by 2191
- 100 by 2231
- 250 by 2284
- 1000 by 2364
- 2500 by 2416

The year 2718 will be pivotal, because in that year the number of productions of “Anne of Green Gables” will outstrip the population of the Island, even accounting for population growth. (Assuming the current rate of 1.7% per annum can be maintained.)

Shortly thereafter, in 2762, there will be two productions running for every man, woman and child in PEI.

By 2865, there will be ten.

He looks forward to a great proliferation of Anne musicals, making use of all sorts of avant-garde tricks to sustain an Anne musical-based economy. Remarkable!