Artistic producer Martin Bragg said in statement, "We are thrilled to be presenting another season rich with premieres. The entire Berkeley season is made up of brand new plays. This is a testament to CanStage's commitment to developing new works and encouraging Canada's emerging talent."
The slate begins with The Comedy of Errors in High Park June 27-Sept. 3, followed by John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Oct. 16-Nov. 11 at the CanStage Bluma space, in a co-production with Theatre Calgary.
A world premiere musical in one act, The Story of My Life, written by Neil Bartram and Brian Hill and directed by Manhattan Theatre Club's Michael Bush, play Oct. 30-Dec. 9 at CanStage Berkeley/Downstairs. Bush is director of artistic production at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
"Alvin and Thomas met in grade one," according to CanStage notes about the new musical. "They shared the battlefields of childhood and adolescence and, in the end, adulthood. A tender, musical celebration of lifelong friends by the gifted duo that brought us Not Wanted on the Voyage."
Glorious!, the Peter Quilter play about off-pitch singer Florence Foster Jenkins, featuring Nicola Cavendish, plays Nov. 20-Dec. 16, CanStage Bluma, in a co-production with Theatre Calgary. The play was nominated for a 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy and is not to be confused with Broadway's Souvenir, about the same diva. "Florence Foster Jenkins can't sing a note," CanStage notes. "In 1944 she played Carnegie Hall to a sold-out, adoring audience. The true, hilarious story of a gloriously tone-deaf diva and a moving tribute to the innocence and purity of belief."
CanStage will present Necessary Angel's production of John Mighton's Half Life Jan. 8-Feb. 3, 2007. Daniel Brook directs at CanStage Bluma. The revival stars Eric Peterson, Randy Hughson and Diego Matamoros. The play won the 2005 Governor General's Award for Drama.
In it, "Nursing home residents Clara and Patrick fall in love. But their children are wary of this unconventional affair. A poetic and compassionate portrait of the nature of memory, aging and true love."
Next, CanStage presents the Crow's Theatre world premiere production of Morris Panych's What Lies Before Us Jan. 15-Feb. 24, 2007. Jim Millan directs at CanStage Berkeley/Downstairs.
"Ambrose and Keating have been workin' on the railroad," according to CanStage. "They are lost in the Rockies but still fight about everything. A darkly comic look at man, mountains and the meaning of life."
The Overcoat the internationally embraced work created by Morris Panych and Wendy Gorling, plays Feb. 12-March 10, 2007 at CanStage Bluma. Peter Anderson stars in the co-production with the Citadel Theatre (Edmonton) and Theatre Calgary. In it, "An ordinary man acquires a beautiful coat. His identity is transformed, his society is lifted and his life is shattered by this simple acquisition. A Toronto homecoming for this fascinating weave of movement, dance, Shostakovich and Gogol."
It's produced by CanStage, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts (Hartford, CT), Glynis Henderson Productions and the Commercial Theatre Development Fund.
The world premiere of Lucy by Damien Atkins and starring Seana McKenna plays CanStage Berkeley/Downstairs March 5-April 14, 2007. In it, "Lucy is almost twelve. She sees her mom for the first time in years. A play about newfound love between mother and her autistic daughter and the provocative theory of evolution it triggers."
Lucy was developed in the CanStage Play Development Program.
The Rocky Horror Show, the pop musical by Richard O'Brien, plays March 26-April 21, 2007, at CanStage Bluma in a co-production with the Manitoba Theatre Centre.
CanStage's Play Development Department will host the RAW! RAW! RAW! Readings, "an exciting play reading series featuring three plays in development at CanStage." RAW! RAW! RAW! will take place on Friday and Saturday evenings over three weekends (December 1 & 2, 8 & 9 and 15 & 16).
For more information about the resident Toronto theatre, visit www.canstage.com.
