Anne of Green Gables hits the boards

Anne of Green Gables: The Musical is one of those plays that rarely receives poor reviews. It is a touching story with well-crafted songs that evoke characters we’ve all met. It’s a Canadian classic.

No wonder back in high school, St. Albert actor Lucy Haines auditioned for the role of the red haired spitfire, but lost out.

Instead Haines landed the role of Marilla Cuthbert, the bristly middle-aged woman with a soft heart who along with her brother Matthew adopts 12-year-old Anne Shirley.

“My best friend got cast as Matthew so it seemed right. We were stage buddies and I’ve had a sentimental attachment since then,” said Haines.

Thirty-five years later, Haines reprises the beloved role in Festival Players version of Anne of Green Gables running at Festival Place in Sherwood Park from Dec. 16 to 30.

“I feel very akin. I know her and love her and I’m like her,” added Haines, a working mother of four.

“This time around, I understand fully her deep love for a child. For me, finding Marilla’s arc going from a practical, no-nonsense woman to embracing and loving a dramatic, wild child not-by-the-book is challenging. The hard-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside feelings are more intense this time.”

Haines credits director Dawn Sadoway for raising the acting bar. Sadoway has an uncanny connection to the musical. She spent eight years in Prince Edward Island serving the theatre scene and holding a teaching post at the University of Prince Edward Island.

“The show is very wholesome. It’s very much a reflection of the island. The story is very true to books, but also to rural Canada. You could go anywhere in rural Canada and understand the story deeply and personally, the sense of community, everybody knows everybody. There’s the joy of knowing everybody, but also everybody has their nose in your business,” chuckles Sadoway.

Lucy Maud Montgomery depicted a caring community and Sadoway sees this in Marilla and Matthew’s warmth in adopting the girl that was mistakenly sent to them instead of a boy.

“We see that reflected today in immigrant families. We see that spirit alive and well.”

Sadoway’s vision was to create a setting that illustrated the sense of friendliness found in a small town.

“I wanted the audience to feel as if they’ve landed in a small rural village and what that might feel like in the 1900s from raising someone to bringing them in the fold from some place far away – the challenge and the joy of opening doors to someone not raised in the community.”

The musical, performed continuously since 1965 makes it Canada’s longest running production.

“We see ourselves really clearly in it. It feels Canadian. We see rural Canada, but we also see our humanity and we see people that illustrate that in a charming way.”

Sadoway surrounded herself with an impressive group of artists including choreographer Shelley Tookey and music director Michael Clark and members of the Edmonton Pops Orchestra.

Haines closes by saying, “The music is lyrical and pretty. It’s a sweet Christmas show, touching, funny and not too long.”