Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Grand Theatre wraps up its 2016/17 season with Colours in the Storm, the story of one of Canada’s most iconic artists, Tom Thomson. This musical drama tells the story of Thomson tracing the emergence of his creative passion during his time in Algonquin Park. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death. Colours in the Storm, sponsored by 3M, is on the Spriet Stage from April 18 through May 6, 2017.
“Jim Betts’ Colours in the Storm is about the life and mysterious death of Tom Thomson; his artistic growth while in Algonquin, the connections he made with the community and the art world’s discovery of his talent. Through scenes and songs inspired by the artist’s work, we follow Thomson from his arrival in Algonquin Park in 1912 to his death on Canoe Lake in 1917,” said Colours in the Storm Director, Heather Davies.
It was Algonquin Park, a place of rugged beauty, where Thomson created such iconic paintings as Northern River and The Jack Pine that would spark a revolution in Canadian art. After Thomson’s death, journalist H. Mortimer-Lamb wrote in Studio-Talk Magazine, “During his brief but brilliant career as a landscape-painter, he produced hundreds of sketches and many finished pictures of extraordinary individuality, charm, and power, but remarkable chiefly in that they express a typically Canadian spirit, in a degree never before so concentrated and consistently maintained.” A.Y. Jackson once said that Thomson “blazed a trail where others may follow and we will never go back to the old days again.” Algonquin became Thomson’s muse, his home, and ultimately his end.
“While there is much to Tom’s story – his sexiness, the mysterious circumstances of his death, the macabre and perplexing happenings around the excavation, and the findings of the gravesite at Canoe Lake - those aspects contribute to the interest in Tom but those circumstances alone would not account for the continued, intense interest in all things Tom. That comes about because of the artist he was and what he contributed to our understanding of who we were, of who we are as a nation,” wrote Virginia Eichhorn, Director & Chief Curator, Tom Thomson Art Gallery. A selection of reproductions and photographs from the Tom Thomson Art Gallery will be on display in the theatre during the run of the show.
Colours in the Storm features, in their Grand Theatre debuts: Jay Davis (Tom Thomson), Ma-Anne Dionisio (Winnie Trainor), Binaeshee-Quae Couchie-Nabigon (Wild Mary), Gab Desmond (Shannon Fraser), Michael Dufays (Larry Dixon), and Tim Funnell (Martin Bletcher). Returning to the Grand are J.D. Nicholsen (Dr. James McCallum) and Seana-Lee Wood (Marie Trainor). Heather Davies directs and Marek Norman is the musical director.
The folk and roots-infused music, composed by Jim Betts, underscores the epic tale of the artist’s self-discovery. A visual story evoking a Northern Ontario landscape is conveyed by the combination of the set design by Shawn Kerwin, the lighting design by Renée Brode, and the projection design by Rory Leydier. Costumes, capturing the styles of the early 1900s era, are designed by Jessica Poirier-Chang.
Colours in the Storm is on the Spriet Stage at the Grand from April 18 to May 6, 2017. Tickets range from $29.95 to $82.50 (includes HST and CIF – prices subject to change), and are available at www.grandtheatre.com, by phone at 519-672-8800, or at the Box Office, 471 Richmond Street.
The Grand Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of Season Sponsor BMO Financial Group and Title Sponsor, 3M.
About the Grand Theatre
The Grand Theatre, a community hub of creativity, culture, and imagination, stages award-winning work from around the world and Canada under Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum and Executive Director Deb Harvey. This stunning historic theatre, with one of the last remaining proscenium arches in Canada, features two stages, the Spriet Stage (839 seats) and the McManus Stage (144 seats). The Grand has developed several new innovative programs: COMPASS, a New Play Development Program designed to put world premieres on stage; 100 Schools, a school outreach program in which a production tours throughout the region at no cost to the school; 1000 Seats which offers complimentary tickets to first-time theatre goers; and the High School Project. The Grand Theatre season runs from September to May. The 2017/18 Season is now on sale.
CAST
Binaeshee-Quae Couchie-Nabigon WILD MARY/ ANNIE FRASER
Jay Davis TOM THOMSON
Gab Desmond SHANNON FRASER/ LAWREN HARRIS
Ma-Anne Dionisio WINNIE TRAINOR
Michael Dufays LARRY DIXON/ HUGH TRAINOR
Tim Funnell MARTIN BLETCHER/ MARK ROBINSON
J.D. Nicholsen DR JAMES MCCALLUM
Seana-Lee Wood MARIE TRAINOR/ FRANCES MCGILLVRAY
Creative team
Heather Davies DIRECTOR
Marek Norman MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Shawn Kerwin SET DESIGNER
Jessica Poirier-Chang COSTUME DESIGNER
Renée Brode LIGHTING DESIGNER
Rory Leydier PROJECTION DESIGNER
Jim Neil SOUND DESIGNER
Megan Alfano MOVEMENT COACH
Gerry Egan STAGE MANAGER
2017-04-10
London: Grand Theatre presents the musical "Colours in the Storm" April 18-May 6