June In
Los Angeles, Leo Marchildon first mentions the idea of visiting Prince
Edward Island to Adam-Michael James.
21-22 August Visiting
Prince Edward Island, Leo and AMJ see Anne of Green Gables - The Musical and
visit Cavendish Beach, where Leo suggests writing a sequel to the
Anne musical.
|
10 June
Leo
suggests revisiting the musical sequel idea.
8-11 August
AMJ and Leo return
to PEI only to discover their idea has already been done in the
form of Anne and Gilbert. Jim
Culbert suggests they write a musical on the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery
and puts them in touch with Ruth Macdonald - LMM's daughter-in-law.September
AMJ starts reading Maud's journals and books, taking copious notes
and compiling ideas. |
20-24 February Leo
and AMJ visit Maud's three Ontario homes in Leaskdale (1911-1926),
Norval (1926-1935), and Toronto (1935-1942). They conduct research
at the University of Guelph and have their first meeting with the Heirs
of L.M. Montgomery, who give them permission to proceed with their idea.
28 February AMJ
writes a preliminary part of the libretto's first scene.
7 March-13 June AMJ
writes the treatment of the entire musical, with input from Leo.
14-22 June AMJ
and Leo return to PEI for a research trip, including taking "The
Literature of L.M. Montgomery" course with Elizabeth Waterston and
Jennifer Litster at UPEI. They conduct interviews with Fr. Frances
Bolger, Robert Montgomery, Carolyn Strom Collins, Beth Cavert, and Elizabeth
Epperly. During a stopover in Toronto, Leo's mother, Annabel Marchildon,
suggests the title The Nine Lives
of Lucy Maud Montgomery at a Tim Horton's!
20 July After
compiling and combining the interview research with all the previous
research, AMJ officially begins writing the libretto, starting with
the first song, Blank Verse/The Alpine
Path.
21 July-12 September AMJ
writes Act I of the libretto, sharing and exchanging ideas with
Leo. They nix an idea for a song called A Book Is Just the Thing.
25 September After
taking a two-week break, AMJ revises Act I and adds to the song
An Epoch In My Life.
3 October-28 December AMJ
writes Act II and officially finishes the first draft.
|
January
The Heirs of L.M.
Montgomery approves the first draft, asking for minimal changes. Leo
begins putting music to AMJ's lyrics on the 100-year-old piano at
his parents' house in North York, Ontario. February-April
Leo continues writing
music - even while performing music director duties at his church
and travelling to San Antonio and Spokane to perform with Bugs Bunny
on Broadway. Once Leo finishes the score and revises lyrics with
AMJ, he begins recording instrumental tracks at his home studio.10
May-4 June
Leo, AMJ, sound engineer Johnny Kubelka, and many of Leo's friends and
choir members at St. Robert Bellarmine Church in Burbank, California
record a full demo for 9LoLMM.27 July
After The Confederation Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
confirms interest in workshopping the show, Leo and AMJ trade L.A.
for PEI!August
AMJ gets to work on a major revision, while Leo records character themes
for Anne, Emily, etc. AMJ's former radio cohort, Christopher David
Trentham, shoots the show's first video footage for the screen along
the same train route L.M. Montgomery travelled in 1890. Leo and AMJ
audition performers from Anne
of Green Gables - The Musical for the workshop.21 September
After three hectic weeks of rehearsals, a scaled-down, quasi-staged
reading of 9LoLMM is performed
to a receptive audience!October-December
AMJ and Leo's business trip to Toronto is sidetracked by serious illnesses
in both their families, but they do get a chance to meet Mary Rubio,
as well as Jack and Linda Hutton, proprietors of The Bala Museum in
Muskoka, Ontario, where Maud vacationed in 1922. AMJ spends four weeks
on a massive revision, some writing being done at his father's in Florida.
The Confederation Centre passes on putting 9LoLMM on for the
2008-09 season. |
January The
libretto still too long, AMJ does the most substantial rewrite to date.
9LoLMM is featured in
the Kindred Spirits on-line
newsletter, reaching Maud fans worldwide, as well as in an article for
The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society. After some debate, the show's title
is amended from The Nine Lives of Lucy Maud Montgomery to
The Nine Lives of L.M. Montgomery.
10 March At
a press conference, it is announced that the The Nine Lives
of L.M. Montgomery will have its world premiere at the Kings Playhouse
in Georgetown, Prince Edward Island!
8 April
Auditions begin in person with local actors, following those
who sent audition clips through YouTube.
10 May
Rehearsals begin amid technical upgrade to Kings Playhouse,
with AMJ and Leo stepping in as co-directors; AMJ also becomes part
of the cast.
20 June The
Nine Lives of L.M. Montgomery premieres on the exact 100th anniversary
of the publication of Anne of Green Gables; former
PEI Premier Alexander B. Campbell steps into the role of his father
Thane Campbell (normally played by Paul Whelan) to deliver the speech
where Maud is declared a Canadian of National Importance.
25-28 June
Veer Productions includes 9LoLMM in its upcoming
L.M. Montgomery documentary. AMJ presents a paper called Lucy
Maud Montgomery: The Power of the Imagination at the 2008 L.M.
Montgomery Conference, where he joins fellow cast members to perform
An Epoch In My Life and Maud Meets Her Public.
July
AMJ, with cast members Samantha Saunders and Jacob Hemphill,
take part in a Canada Day parade for 9LoLMM. In an effort
to shorten the show and lighten it up given the darker subject matter
of Maud's later life, Fugue for Ewan is cut, along with
Mistress of the Manse, and Where Is My Happy Ending?
is reinvented. Japan's NHK network airs its segment about
9LoLMM on 2 July. The show is spoofed in an editorial cartoon.
As the show nears the end of its run, the cast begins work on an original
cast album.
3 August A
full house and streams of confetti mark closing night.
August-October
Vocal recording completed, Leo and AMJ work with Virtual
Studios' Perry Williams to mix and master the cast album. The release
date is set for 4 November. The 9LoLMM site moves
to its new domain, www.ninelivesoflmm.com.
4 November The
Nine Lives of L.M. Montgomery: Original Cast Album is released, with
an official album launch thrown by the Best of PEI Store in Charlottetown.
|
27
January
Leo and AMJ announce that the
second season of The Nine Lives of L.M. Montgomery will be hosted
by the Carrefour Theatre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with opening
night scheduled for 11 July.March-April
Auditions
were held, ultimately resulting in a cast comprised of the old and the
new. AMJ got back to work on reinventing the libretto and making it even
more concise and kinetic.9
May
Tickets
go on sale for the 2009 production, which now includes the new song Oh,
How Things Change.13
June
Rehearsals
begin for the two thousand nine season, first at The Guild and
then at Our Lady of Assumption Church in Stratford before moving into
the Carrefour.11
July
Opening night
at the Carrefour Theatre in Charlottetown! Many note the show's improvements
over the 2008 version.July-August
The 2009 cast
gives back to the community by performing at several seniors homes. Half
of the proceeds from the 14 August performance are set aside as a donation
to the Canadian Mental Health Association, whose Reid Burke opens the show
with AMJ.21
August
Closing night
for two thousand nine! |
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