Auditions now open for Anne of Green Gables

Calling all redheads! - The Rural Arts Project is taking on a slice of Canadiana with exciting plans to tour a live production of the Anne of Green Gables musical throughout the Haut-Saint-Laurent this summer. A general meeting to explain the scope of this adventurous project will take place on March 24 at Grove Hall. All those interested in hearing more about the production or auditioning are invited to attend to learn about tentative locations, the script based on the beloved novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the music, and available roles for musicians, actors and dancers. Official auditions will take place on April 7 with the start of rehearsals scheduled for April 21 with a full group read-through. “We wanted to do a big community show that was as inclusive as possible,” says Tina Bye, one of the masterminds behind Grove Hall and the Rural Arts Project. Originally, the plan had been to try touring last year’s smash hit, On The Line, however a number of the original cast were unavailable and it made sense to try something fresh and new, “but with a high recognizability factor,” she notes. “Anne of Green Gables was the first novel I read,” recalls Bye, who fondly remembers travelling to P.E.I. when she was 8-years-old and the pilgrimage down ‘Lover’s Lane’. “It was something on my bucket list,” she admits. The nostalgia of Anne of Green Gables and its rural setting in Prince Edward Island also plays well with the landscape and heritage of the Chateauguay Valley. This, coupled with last year’s acquisition of a tent large enough for full-scale outdoor productions, offered the perfect opportunity for The Rural Arts Project to recruit new audience members while touring the show over five weeks in July and August. The auditions are open to anyone with an interest in community theatre, with no previous experience required. More information concerning roles and tips for a successful audition is available online at www.grovehall.ca.