GLACE BAY, N.S. — A beloved icon of Cape Breton music will be celebrated in a new show that will be staged both in Charlottetown and Glace Bay later this year.
Tickets will go on sale this morning at the Savoy for “Dear Rita,” a musical that celebrates the life of Cape Breton singer Rita MacNeil, who died in 2013 after a trailblazing career in music. The show will be premiered during the 2020 Charlottetown Festival from June 25 to Sept. 25 at The Mack and then move to the Savoy where it will run from Oct. 1-4.
Savoy executive director Pam Leader was ecstatic about today’s announcement.
“I find it exciting that we’re doing something to honour Rita because Rita, The Savoy and Cape Breton, they’re all so intertwined and we know how much Rita loved Cape Breton,” said Leader. “I am also excited to be in on the ground floor working with the Charlottetown Festival on this project. To me it’s a coup for the Savoy.”
Leader admits she and the Savoy’s board of directors have known about the show for some time but had to wait before making the formal announcement.
“Now it’s finally happening,” she said. “We originally thought that the show would open here and then go to P.E.I. but the dates just weren’t possible for both the cast and both theatre companies so it will open in P.E.I. and then come here.”
It will be a co-production with the Charlottetown Festival and the Savoy and Charlottetown officials says they’re pleased to be working with the Savoy on this.
“We are so excited to be sharing this work with The Savoy Theatre,” said Adam Brazier, artistic director of The Charlottetown Festival. “Rita’s home and heart were in Cape Breton and the Savoy was one of her favourite theatres. It is so very appropriate for this production to be shared on Cape Breton Island.”
“Dear Rita” was written by Cape Breton playwright Lindsay Kyte with music arranged by Prince Edward Islander Mike Ross. Kyte may be best known for her play “Tompkinsville” which told the story of Cape Breton miners and their quest to become masters of their own destiny through the co-operative movement.
“Dear Rita” will feature a cast of five. It was developed with Rita’s son, Wade Langham, and includes traditional and new arrangements of her songs. Those performing in the musical will be singing and playing instruments, channeling MacNeil’s stories through their own identities as opposed to depicting MacNeil herself. The show will be workshopped in Toronto in late February and it is expected that the cast will be announced at that time.
The show was commissioned by the Savoy and the Charlottetown Festival and Leader expects it to be good for the Savoy.
“The shows are on sale this morning and I think they’re going to sell out,” says Leader. “It’s a good thing to happen.”
IF YOU GO...
- WHAT: “Dear Rita”
- WHERE: The Savoy Theatre, Glace Bay
- WHEN: Oct. 1-4, 2020.
- TICKETS: Tickets are $54.50 and will go on sale this morning at the Savoy.
RELATED: