Anne of Green Gables is based on the best selling novel by author Lucy Maud about a Canadian couple on Prince Edward Island who decided to adopt a boy, but were sent an orphan girl by mistake, which they decided to keep. The novel inspired a play which opened in 1964 and is now the longest running play in Canadian history.

    The performance included a mix of adults and teens, some of whom were new to the stage and others more practiced. The first person I ran into was Ben Ellis, an English teacher and new to acting, who took on the role of Mr. Phillips, the schoolmaster, perhaps not the greatest artistic leap, but more of ambition. “I am a teacher at the school and I have a pretty scandalous role if I must say,” he said,  with what seemed to be a trace of pride.

    “Really,” I said. “And just how did you prepare for a scandalous role?”

    “How did I prepare? Oh boy! That’s… Jeez. I don’t know how to answer that without putting my foot in my mouth.”

    “I play Marilla Cuthbert,” said Mary Dietrich. “This is my first time acting, period.”

    I can tell that I can’t lay any easy traps for this one, the challenge of interviewing teachers who have had decades — well, years — of dealing with scandalous students tend to be well prepared for my gotcha questions. “So how did you decide to take on this role?” I said.

    “I have worked on school musicals for twenty years, but I have always worked backstage before” said Mary. “How did it happen, that I got the part? Kim (Weems) was always going to cast an adult in the role. One of the seniors suggested me. After I thought it over, I said OK, I’ll give it a try. My husband Dean helped me. Before we’d go to bed at night, we’d run through the lines. Actually memorizing the lines came pretty easy. It was delivering them the way Kim wanted them delivered that was difficult. This is really an exceptional cast of kids. There has never been a cast of kids that gets along better than this group. They worked hard. I am scared to death, but it was so much fun to work with them that I know it will work out OK.”

    “Kim and I first saw this show when we visited Prince Edward Island fifteen years ago,” said Tom Dodd. “We thought at the time this would be great for the kids to do. It was already the longest running play in Canadian history, sort of a national treasure. I really enjoy the mix of adults and children with adults playing adult roles and children playing children’s roles. It makes the musical more authentic. This is our first time producing a show at the arts center. The sets are larger, so we needed more space. The best part has been seeing the student reaction to being on a professional stage. I took my tech crew up to the booth and they were so excited to be able to touch and use professional equipment.”

    “This stage is bigger than the high school’s,” said veteran actor Lucy Mitchell, who plays the lead, Ann Shirley, the orphan adopted by the Cuthberts. “There is a lot more space to spread out. I think that working with the adults makes us all work a lot harder because we want to impress them. I want to be an author of creative fiction. I feel that acting helps with my narrative skills.”

    “This has been my third play, but it will be my last one because I am a senior,” said Chelsea Silver. “It is kind of sad because I am going to miss everybody, especially Ms. Weems and Mr. Dodd.”

    “Are you worried,” I said to Kim Weems?”

    “Worried?” she said. “If it was just me, no, with everybody else doing their parts, yes. There are a lot of people involved. We have seven adults involved, many for the first time. Katherine Mulderig, who is the assistant principal in charge of discipline, is a horrible, horrible woman in the show. It’s a fun and perfect role for her as it plays off her job. This has been an extraordinary cast and a really nice crew. I checked the dressing rooms after the dress rehearsal. They were clean. That was a first.”

    “Well, what did you think?” I asked Rickie Canny after the curtain came down.

    “They were very good. Lucy was very, very good, wasn’t she? Jon (Fremente) is getting better and better. The choreography was wonderful. What did you think?”

    “When Mary Dietrich said the line, ‘I don’t believe in concerts. It is just a chance for boys and girls to stay up late and carry on. They’d be better off at home in bed.’ I knew she was really acting.  That had to be a hard line for her to deliver.”

    “I loved it,” said John Rickard. “I loved the whole thing. I loved the sets. The choreography was wonderful. I think it is a great thing that they were able to do it at the art’s center. It gives everyone so much more exposure, shows off the talent we have and brings many new people to the arts center.”

    “I liked Anne the best,” said Gloria Volz. “She was really powerful. They spoil children for everyday life.”

    “The play and performances were terrific,” said Jon Prime. “The lead, Lucy Mitchell, who knew she had it in her. The show was fun, there was so much energy. It was very professional – really very well done.”

    “We are so proud of her,” said Glenda Mitchell of her daughter Lucy. “She worked so hard and it was such a wonderful cast.”

    “We were very surprised that she got the role,” said Lucy’s dad, Tom. “I had no idea how good she was. She never sang the songs at home, never rehearsed the moves. She just practiced the words, so we were just as surprised as everyone. We didn’t watch the rehearsals. The first time we saw it was last night. We are very proud of her.”

    “Mary, you were terrific,” I said to Mary Dietrich.

    “Thanks,” Mary said. “If I did anything right on stage tonight it was because of Kim Weems and her dedication, direction and incredible patience with me, that, more than anything else. She deserves so much praise and a big thank you.”