The Three Princesses and the Blue Mountain
November 24-26, 2016
Although XYE won't be joining us for this show, we will be inviting men to be part of the production again and we'll also have Jenny Trites (piano), Clare Macdonald (percussion), Matthew Downey (lighting design), Matthew Peach (costumes), and Jeannette White (narrator) back with us! We have been working on the schedule to ensure that things are ready a bit earlier and are excited to add another evening show plus a school performance to the run. Here's a summary of the "Tale":
A young soldier woman sets out to rescue three princesses after they were swept away by a snow drift that left the entire kingdom enshrouded in winter. Competing with her are two other searchers, noted for their strength and bravery, but who are motivated by the promise of riches decreed by the King and Queen. Along the way, the girl wins the trust of a giant flock of birds, traverses a tunnel of water and fire, and defeats three giant trolls who tried to leave her trapped in the Blue Mountain forever. At each turn, she relies on her intuition, on her generous spirit, and on the kindness born from true relationships.
In response to your feedback about the 2015 show, there will be many more named roles to audition for and even if you don't want to take on something with speaking, you will have more defined characters as singers this time around.
April 28-30, 2017
The seeds for this show were sewn by our 2014 production Waiting on the Eastern Line. In the lead-up to the centenary of the Halifax Explosion we will be collaborating with internationally acclaimed Nova Scotian author Ami McKay (The Birth House and The Virgin Cure are her recent books) to tell the story of midwives who traveled to Halifax the day after the great explosion to help in the aftermath. It is a little known piece of history that nearly all women at the epicentre of the explosion were jolted into labour, regardless of their stage of pregnancy. When word of the blast came across the wire, midwives from across the Maritimes and Northeastern USA boarded trains to help.
Working with Ami McKay is going to be an incredible experience for us and will elevate the profile of our show significantly. Inhabiting this beautiful period of history and telling the story of women who were incredibly strong in the face of disaster will be powerful and exciting. The music for this show will be especially beautiful as we will honour the time period through our repertoire.
Following the Halifax premieres we will do a Nova Scotia tour (likely four venues) of the show over the course of May and June. However, we have also slated The Hours Turn To Nothing for a professional remount in early September. Although the details are still being shaped, this will likely be a one-week intensive, paid tour across the Maritimes, similar to Fatty Legs in May 2015.
Connecting with the Community
As has become standard for Xara, we will also have several smaller performances, fundraising events, and gigs that help us connect with other organizations in the area and raise our profile. We strive to give you as much advance notice of these events as possible!
If you have any questions about next season, please feel free to chat with Claire or me. We are super excited about the ways in which these two productions will allow us to make gorgeous music and tell important stories to our audiences!
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