Stage Door News
Stage Door News
In 1940s Quebec, a kid’s life centred around school, church, and the hockey rink. Nothing was more important than the Saturday night game as they huddled around the radio to hear their hero, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, score the winning goal.
It’s Habs country and young Roch proudly wears his number 9 hockey sweater day and night, until it is too small and threadbare to last another season. But a new sweater, sent by Mr. Eaton himself, inadvertently puts young Roch in enemy colours and having to fight on and off the ice to maintain his sense of belonging.
Roch Carrier’s timeless tale has charmed generations of children and adults with its themes of loyalty, acceptance, and hockey glory.
“I took my six-year old to see The Hockey Sweater in Montreal, and for a good while afterwards she was still bouncing with excitement, even though it was well past her bedtime. When I stopped to congratulate the producers, my girl couldn’t resist immediately asking them ‘When is it playing at the NAC?!’ ” – Jillian Keiley, NAC English Theatre Artistic Director.
Produced by the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, The Hockey Sweater: A Musical features a cast of 17, including a company of eight actors between the ages of 11 and 13 years old who sing, dance, act, and skate their way through the production.
Buoyed by overwhelmingly positive audience and critical response after its premiere at the Segal Centre, the show has been further developed for its run at the NAC and includes exciting new songs and production numbers. Standing on the shoulders of that most Canadian of stories, The Hockey Sweater: A Musical is a magical and energetic addition to the growing canon of Canadian musical theatre.
Featuring Wyatt Moss (Roch Carrier (10)), Claire Lautier (Anna Carrier), Ian Simpson (Father Delisle), Richard Jutras (Roch Carrier (80) Mr Eaton), Scott Beaudin (Gaétan Ouellette), Kate Blackburn (Mlle Louise Therrien), Andréane Bouladier (Yvette Gélineau, Ensemble), Omar Forrest (Réjean Langille, Ensemble), Evangelia Kambites (Manon Tremblay, Ensemble), Brandon Howard Roy (Dr Robitaille, Ensemble), Jaime Maclean (Ginette Beauchamps), Oliver Neudorf (Sylvain Langille), Zoë Brown (Estelle Tremblay), Lucas Kalechstein (André Robitaille), Shechinah Mpumlwana (Marie Sirois), Isabella Stuebing (Francine Tremblay/Claudette Carrier) and Liam Wignall (Olivier Gélineau). They are joined on stage by musicians Jonathan Monro, Nick Burgess, Vanessa Marcoux, Beth McKenna, Frédéric Bourgeault, Jason Field, and Peter Colantonio.
The creative team includes Musical Director Jonathan Monro; Orchestrator Oran Eldor; Set and Costume Designer Michael Gianfranceso; Costume Co-Designer Louise Bourret; Lighting Designer Luc Prairie; Projection Designer Normal Studio; Head of Sound Peter Balov; Assistant Director Ann Baggley; Associate Musical Director Nick Burgess; Assistant Choreographer Tina Desrochers; Stage Manager Krista Blackwood; Assistant Stage Manager Victoria Wang; Apprentice Stage Manager Brandon Hepworth; and casting by Dayton/Walters Casting, CSA, CDC, and Rachelle Glait.
THE HOCKEY SWEATER: A MUSICAL
BOOK AND LYRICS BY EMIL SHER
MUSIC AND LYRICS BY JONATHAN MONRO
BASED ON THE SHORT STORY “THE HOCKEY SWEATER”
BY ROCH CARRIER, TRANSLATED BY SHEILA FISCHMAN AND PUBLISHED BY HOUSE OF ANANSI PRESS
DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY DONNA FEORE
December 5 - 23, 2018
Babs Asper Theatre
Previews:
Wednesday, December 5 and Thursday, December 6
Opens:
Friday, December 7
The Hockey Sweater: A Musical Points of View:
Saturday, December 8 at 12:45 p.m. in Peter A. Herrndorf Place
A chance to more deeply experience this production through an encounter with two special guests, each offering their own unique perspective on the piece.
Talkbacks:
Wednesdays, December 12 and Thursday, December 13.
Stay in your seats for a post-show question-and-answer session with cast members of The Hockey Sweater: A Musical.
American Sign Language (A.S.L.) Presentation:
Saturday, December 22 at 2 p.m.
The NAC is continually striving to make theatre accessible to all audiences. In order to do so for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, English Theatre presents an A.S.L. interpretation performance.
Performance Schedule:
7:30 p.m. nightly Wednesday, December 5 through Saturday, December 8,
Tuesday, December 11 through Saturday, December 15,
and Tuesday, December 18 through Saturday, December 22.
2 p.m. matinées Saturdays December 8, 15, and 22,
and Sundays, December 16 and 23.
(no performance Mondays)
Tickets:
From $29 to $99
Tickets are available:
· Online on the NAC’s website: www.nac-cna.ca
· In person at the NAC Box Office at 1 Elgin Street
· At all Ticketmaster outlets**
· By telephone 1-888-991-2787**
**A service charge applies to all purchases made through Ticketmaster.
Groups of 10 or more contact grp@nac-cna.ca or visit www.nac-cna.ca
Find out more about the NAC English Theatre on Facebook and YouTube. To discover some fascinating facts about The Hockey Sweater: A Musical, visit nac-cna.ca/englishtheatre.
Illustration: Cover of the Penguin edition of The Hockey Sweater, 1985.
2018-11-19
Ottawa: The NAC English Theatre presents the new musical "The Hockey Sweater" December 5-23