Canadian Music Theatre Project
| Canadian Music Theatre Project | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mission statement | "Canada’s first incubator for the development of new musical theatre works" |
| Location | Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario |
| Founder | Michael Rubinoff |
| Country | Canada |
| Established | 2011 |
| Website | http://cmtp.sheridancollege.ca/ |
The Canadian Music Theatre Project (CMTP) is an international incubator dedicated to creating new music theatre based out of Oakville, Ontario, in association with Sheridan College. It serves as the capstone project for graduating students in the Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance program. It was founded by Michael Rubinoff, Producing Artistic Director of the CMTP, as his cornerstone project during his early days as Associate Dean of Visual and Performing Arts at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario[1]. The CMTP hosts the CMTP Festival of New Musicals annually, where upwards of four different creative teams present 45 minute staged readings of their newly developed music theatre works. Notable works originating at the CMTP include Come From Away, The Theory of Relativity, and Brantwood.[2][3]
History[edit]
In 2011, when Michael Rubinoff became the associate dean of the department of visual and performing arts at Sheridan College, he made it his cornerstone project to demonstrate the capability of Canadian artists in the creation of commercially and artistically successful music theatre. Modelling NWU's American Music Theatre Project, Rubinoff created the CMTP and later its annual festival of new works. [1]
For its first season, based on an idea of his own, Rubinoff commissioned a musical about the events that occurred in Gander, Newfoundland on the day of and days following the September 11 attacks. He pitched the idea to many writing teams in Canada, gaining the interest of Irene Sankhoff and David Hein, a Canadian writing team previously known for the Toronto Fringe and Mirvish Productions hit, My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding.[4][5] Rubinoff, Sankhoff and Hein used the new material generated from several interviews with the people who were in Gander on 9/11 to produce a 45-minute piece performed for a live audience.[6] Come From Away was performed alongside Central Park Tango, with book by Robert Gontier, music by Nicky Phillips, and lyrics shared between both partners, as part of the 2011-2012 Theatre Sheridan season.
For the following season, Come From Away returned to the CMTP for a fully staged studio theatre production, this time alongside Neil Bartram and Brian Hill's The Theory of Relativity. Both shows, with direction by Hill, were featured in the 2012-2013 Theatre Sheridan Season.
Marathon of Hope, a musical written about Terry Fox's famous fundraising journey from St. John's to Thunder Bay[7], workshopped in the fall of the 2013-2014 Theatre Sheridan season, was the last show to be workshopped prior to the commencement of the CMTP Festival of New Musicals.
The first CMTP Festival of New Musicals took place in the fall of 2014, featuring an updated Marathon of Hope, as well as the musicals Moll, Prom Queen (now known as The Louder We Get) and The Enlightenment of Percival von Shmootz[8]. Since then the festival has run annually each fall, featuring three or four new musicals each year.
In 2015, the CMTP produced its first immersive piece. Brantwood, created by Mitchell Cushman and Julie Tepperman, picked up audience members at Sheridan College's Trafalgar campus, escorting them to the old Brantwood Public School. Audience members had the chance to follow around actors throughout Brantwood portraying students of the school from different periods of time between 1920-2020[9][10]. Brantwood gained recognition throughout the Toronto theatre community, winning the Dora Mavor Moore Audience Choice Award for Outstanding Production in 2015[11].
Productions[edit]
- COME FROM AWAY (2012, 2013) book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein
- CENTRAL PARK TANGO (2012) book and lyrics by Robert Gontier; music and lyrics by Nicky Phillips
- THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY (2013) music and lyrics by Neil Bartram; book by Brian Hill
- MARATHON OF HOPE (2013, 2014) music and lyrics by John Connolly; book by Jim Betts[12]
- The 2014 production saw Ralph Small take over as book writer.
- MOLL (2014) music and lyrics by Leslie Arden; book by Leslie Arden and Cathy Elliott with Anna Theresa Cascio
- THE LOUDER WE GET (formerly known as Prom Queen) (2014) music by Colleen Dauncey; lyrics by Akiva Romer-Segal; and book by Kent Staines
- THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF PERCIVAL VON SCHMOOTZ (2014/2015) music by Michael Kooman; book and lyrics by Chris Dimond
- BRANTWOOD (2015) created by Mitchell Cushman and Julie Tepperman; music and lyrics by Bram Gielen; Anika Johnson & Britta Johnson; original music by Christopher Thornborrow
- 33 1/3 (2015) music, lyrics and book by Jay Turvey and Paul Sportelli
- ATLANTIS (2015) music, lyrics, and book by Matthew Lee Robinson
- LEADING LADY (2015) music by Anthony Bastianon; lyrics and book by John Wimbs
- SENZA LUCE (2015) music and lyrics by Neil Bartram; book by Brian Hill
- TRAP DOOR (formerly known as Small Wonder) (2016) music by Anika Johnson and Britta Johnson; lyrics by Morris Panych, Anika Johnson and Britta Johnson; book by Morris Panych
- GROW (formerly known as Rumspringa Break! An Am-ish Musical) (2016, 2019) music by Colleen Dauncey; lyrics by Akiva Romer-Segal; and book by Matt Murray
- THE JOURNEY THAT SAVED CURIOUS GEORGE (2016) music and lyrics by Nicky Philips; book by Jen Shuber, based on the book by Louise Borden
- BETHUNE (2017) music and lyrics by Neil Bartram; book by Brian Hill
- STARLIGHT TOURS (2017) music and lyrics by Leslie Arden, book by Cathy Elliot
- MY BONNIE LASS (2017) book, music and lyrics by Johnny Reid and Matt Murray
- CHELSEA SUNRISE (formerly known as Cocksure Lads) (2017) book, music and lyrics by Murray Foster; music and lyrics by Mike Ford
- STARS OF MARS (2018) book and lyrics by Ashley Botting; music and lyrics by Daniel Abrahamson [13]
- IN REAL LIFE (2018) book and lyrics by Nick Green; music and Lyrics by Kevin Wong [13]
- KELLY V. KELLY (2018) book by Sara Farb; music and lyrics by Britta Johnson [13]
- ERIK WITH A K (2018) book, music and lyrics by Jay Turvey and Paul Sportelli [13]
- PUMP UP THE VOLUME (2019) music by Jeff Thomson; book and lyrics by Jeremy Desmon
- HOARDERS (2019) music and lyrics by Rob Green and Nic Harvey; book by Esther Coles
Significance[edit]
As a producer of Come From Away, Sheridan College has been recognized with a Tony Nomination for Best Musical, and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical[14][15].
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "How to write a Canadian musical". www.macleans.ca. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ Wiens, Mary (March 9, 2017). "Sheridan music theatre program hopes for more hits to follow Come From Away". CBC. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
- ↑ Desk, BWW News. "Canadian Music Theatre Project to Present BRANTWOOD: 1920-2020". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ↑ "How Come From Away made it to Broadway | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ Jones, Kenneth (August 11, 2009). "My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, the Musical Fringe Hit, Gets Legit Toronto Run". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ "How Come From Away made it to Broadway | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
- ↑ "Marathon of Hope: The Musical undermines Terry Fox's inspiring story". Retrieved 2019-08-12.
- ↑ "Theatre Sheridan hosts inaugural Canadian Music Theatre Project Festival". Sheridan Arts Blog. 2014-11-18. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
- ↑ Rouse, Ted (2015-04-30). "10 Reasons the new musical Brantwood is a knockout". The Musical Stage Company. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ↑ Desk, BWW News. "Canadian Music Theatre Project to Present BRANTWOOD: 1920-2020". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ↑ Bkila, John (2015-07-03). "Sheridan Oakville shines at Dora Awards". InsideHalton.com. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ↑ "The Canadian Music Theatre Project presents Marathon of Hope" Sheridancollege.ca, November 21, 2013
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Desk, BWW News. "Sheridan's Canadian Music Theatre Project To Debut Four New Musicals In 2018". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ correspondent, Mark Brown Arts (2019-04-07). "The Inheritance, Company and Come from Away win big at Olivier awards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- ↑ "'Come From Away' Steals Hearts (And An Award!) At The Tonys". HuffPost Canada. 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
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