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Our Time - A Broadway Celebration - Célébrons Broadway

from Our Time - A Broadway Celebration / Célébrons Broadway

by thelyrictheatresingers

Welcome • Bienvenue

Welcome to “Our Time - A Broadway Celebration! Get ready for a wonderful blend of classic and contemporary Broadway songs. Together with composers, such as George Gershwin and Jerry Herman, this eclectic musical review will also feature an homage to the work of legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim. I have always found his work to be witty, thought-provoking, and often extremely moving. The Lyric Theatre Singers have been hard at work since January, rehearsing for what we hope will be our most exciting Broadway revue to date! In their first post-pandemic Broadway live performance since 2019, The Lyric Theatre Singers will demonstrate once again that their commitment to musical excellence, combined with a lot of positive energy will create an incredible show that combines music and theatre, and will delight our audiences. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

Bob Bachelor - Artistic Director / Directeur artistique

**Bob Bachelor's photo by Jacques Lebleu**

In Loving Memory of Doris Brown

As all of us at Lyric celebrate our return to the stage to present this long-awaited Broadway revue, we can’t help but think of Doris Brown who we lost earlier this year. Doris was a longtime Lyric board member and the voice and face of our box office for many years. A good number of our audience members were introduced to our company by Doris, as she was their first point of contact. We miss her very much and wish she could be celebrating with us this week. On behalf of her husband Jim and daughters Allison and Andrea, as well as the Lyric family, thank you for your support and kind words of sympathy.

Artistic Team • Concepteurs

Bob Bachelor - Musical Director & Co-Director

Across decades of a storied career in the arts and education, Bob Bachelor has become synonymous with Broadway and choral singing in Montreal. After his early musical training at the renowned St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto, Bob continued his studies at McGill University, where he completed both his Bachelor of Music and his Diploma in Music Education. In addition to founding The Lyric Theatre Singers in 1990, Bob has directed several Lyric Theatre stage productions. His choral and ensemble direction have received high praise in such shows as Company, Evita, The Music Man, Guys and Dolls, Oliver! and the 2012 production of Curtains. L’éducation a toujours occupé une place importante dans la vie de Bob. Il a passé plusieurs années au sein du personnel de l’école secondaire St. George’s de Montréal, en tant que qu’enseignant de musique et de théâtre. Il a également enseigné au prestigieux collège Vincent D’Indy et au Cégep John Abbott.

Cathy Burns - Stage Director / Metteuse en scène

Cathy is overjoyed to be back co-directing this year’s production of “Our Time”. It is especially meaningful this year after three long years of absence due to the pandemic. Cathy has been singing and dancing in musicals from a young age. She has worked with professional, community andschool groups in many capacities, including as an actor, singer, educator, choreographer, and director. Cathy has a long connection with The Lyric Theatre and The Singers as a performer and director since 1984. Cathy is a graduate of Concordia’s Theatre Department and has a Master’s in Education. She taught full-time at Vanier College for 32 years. As a teacher of early childhood education, her fields of expertise are language and literacy, and music and movement.

Thanks to Our Sponsor BMO Private Wealth

Martin Kaller - Assistant Musical Director/ Directeur musical adjoint

Since his introduction to music when he joined his church's choir at age 12, Martin Kaller has expressed his passion for musicianship in dynamic ways. Wanting to explore and develop his natural talents, he took piano lessons with concert organist Suzanne Ozorak. and eventually taught himself to play the organ., During his courses at CEGEP Saint-Laurent, Martin increased his knowledge of music theory, solfege, and choral singing. In 2013, Martin joined and fell in love with the Lyric Theatre Singers after having attended numerous concerts as an audience member. A year later he took on the position of Music Librarian. In 2020, Bob Bachelor asked Martin if he would like to take on more responsibility as Assistant Musical Director. Martin couldn't say no. Martin completed an intensive week of choral conducting workshops during the summer of 2021 with the Alliance Chorale du Quebec. Having received many compliments on his musicality from instructors and attendees alike, he is delighted to continue his development with the group he's fallen in love with, and which loves him back!

Chad Linsley - Accompanist/Pianiste accompagnateur

Pianist Chad Linsley has distinguished himself as a “wide-open musical partner” on the stage with Grammy award winner Jennifer Gasoi; Juno award-winners Deborah Cox, Lorraine Klaasen, and the legendary Ranee Lee; Félix award winner Natalie Choquette; and flautist Carolyn Christie of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In the studio, he appears on Sophie Day’s 2021 Juno-nominated Clémence and Mike Rud’s Notes on Montreal with vocalist Sienna Dahlen, winner of the 2014 Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. As an accomplished arranger, Chad has contributed well over a hundred pieces for Musicnotes.com, the world’s leading digital sheet music retailer. As an educator, he received a teaching award from McGill’s Schulich School of Music where he studied with Jan Jarczyk, Tilden Webb, Wray Downes, André White, and Tom Plaunt. Originally from Outlook, Saskatchewan, he is now based in Montreal with his wife, Marie-Claire Saindon, an award-winning composer.

Jonathan Patterson - Guest Choreographer/Chorégraphe invité

Based in Montréal, Jonathan is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans from theatre to opera to musicals. Some recent credits include: The World Goes ‘Round, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Opera McGill, director/choreographer); 9 to 5: The Musical (Capitol Theatre, Dwayne/Mr. Tinsworthy); Million Dollar Quartet (Sudbury Theatre Centre/Thousand Islands Playhouse, Sam Phillips/music dir.); The Producers (Segal Centre/CSLDS, Roger de Bris/chor.); Bluenose (Black Theatre Workshop, chor.); Schwartz’s the musical (Centaur Theatre, dir.), The Last Wife (Centaur Theatre, coach to M. Gabrielli). A performing-arts educator, Jonathan has been on the faculty of Opera McGill at the Schulich School of Music since 2010, serving as Acting Director of Opera Studies in 2015 and 2017. Jonathan is also the Head of Music at the National Theatre School of Canada, provides choreography for the award-winning Lyric Theatre Singers, and has a very busy private voice studio.

OUR TIME - A BROADWAY CELEBRATION!

Our Time • Act 1 / 1re partie

Our Time • Act 2 / 2e partie

Read the ''Setting the Scene'' section below to learn more about each song / Consultez la section "En quelques mots" ci-dessous pour en savoir plus au sujet des chansons.

The Performers • Les artistes

Musicians / Musiciens

The Lyric Theatre Singers

**Soprano 1: Katherine Fournier, Gillian Johnston, Elaine Salvail, Nathalie Beaudoin, Muriel Bernard Browman, Laurie-Anne Jean-Baptiste, Anastasia Tsai.**

**Soprano 2: Frédérique Gagnier, Jacqueline Levitan, Isobel Lupien, Karine Philippot, Kristina Cummings.**

**Alto 1: Shauna Reimer, Nathalie Thermil, Hélène Charbonneau, Renée Gagnon, Amélie Bélanger, Laurence St-Denis, Lilly Demers.**

**Alto 2: Yamila Scarone Azzi, Gloria Aronoff, Charlotte Clement, Julia Morin, Beth Mount, Calla Tait.**

**Tenor 1/Ténor 1: Richard Kallos, Tarik Azgui, Éric Bolduc, Robert Pilon, Kingsley Sherwood.**

**Tenor 2/Ténor 2: David Chhiv, Matthew Ho, Serge Danis, Patrick Knowlton, Joe Lilek.**

**Baritone/Baryton: Shawn Coverini, Martin Kaller, Jean-Philippe Leclair, Bryan Zimmerman.**

**Bass/Basse: Will Fech, Alessandro Mercurio, Marlene Schwartz, Jonathan Weldon.**

Thanks to The Suburban for their support

Claire Thornton, Stage Manager

Claire Thornton is a recent graduate of the Master’s in Opera and Voice at McGill University after previously earning a Music Education degree at Western University. She is working towards having a portfolio career in stage management and performance. Select previous management credits include Opera McGill’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Good Mess Opera Theatre’s Cosi fan Tutte, and Opera NUOVA’s The Consul. Onstage, Claire has recently been in Opera McGill’s productions of And the World Goes Round, Don Giovanni, and Les mamelles de Tirésias. She has also performed in the new work of Il giudizio di Pigmalione and in the workshop of Sophie Kastner and Alice Abracen’s All Things Lovely as Vita Sackville-West. Claire is excited to be joining the Lyric Theatre Singer’s for a musical revue that contains some of her favourite music.

Amber Hood, Lighting Designer

Working with The Lyric Theatre always brings me so much joy, it is truly a privilege to be a part of this fantastic company again! Congrats to the entire company on your triumphant return to the mainstage!

The last time Amber worked with us was 2018’s Journey to Broadway. Since then, she has lent her talents to the likes of The Stratford Festival, Just for Laughs Festival, Cirque du Soleil, and will be making her Shaw Festival debut this summer. Recent Design Credits Include: Gloria: A Life (Harold Green Jewish Theatre), Hand to God (Magnus Theatre), Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (The Segal Centre), Boy Falls from the Sky (Mirvish Productions).

Rob Denton, Sound Designer

Rob Denton is a Montreal bred and based sound mixer, designer and composer. Highlights include a META (Montreal English Theatre Award) for sound design for Another Home Invasion in 2016. Since the inception of the METAs in 2013, Rob has been nominated for 9 awards over7 years. In 2007, he was awarded Best Sound MECCA (Montreal English Critic’s Circle Award)for his work on the Montreal presentation of Satchmo’ Suite at the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts. His design for Small Mouth Sounds was named “Sound Design of the Decade” by Broadway World Magazine - Montreal. This season (2022-2023) Rob has contributed to: Meet Me - Live Action Theatre Project, English - Segal Centre / Soul Pepper.

Thanks to Our Sponsor MNP

Our Time - En quelques mots - 1re partie

A Musical (Something Rotten, 2015)

Avouez qu’une pièce de théâtre, ça peut parfois manquer… de musique… de danseurs… de paillettes! Une comédie musicale regroupe tout cela, et même plus! Laissez-nous vous expliquer.

Back in Business (Putting It Together, 1999)

Originellement écrite pour le film Dick Tracy, ce quintette festif respire la joie d’être à nouveau réuni ensemble!

People (Funny Girl, 1964)

Popularisée par la formidable Barbra Streisand, cette chanson d’amour a bien failli ne pas faire partie de Funny Girl! Face à l’entêtement du parolier Bob Merrill, les producteurs acceptèrent d’intégrer la chanson, qui fit un malheur dès le premier soir.

I Could Write a Book (Pal Joey, 1940)

Cet air, qui a été interprété par Gene Kelly et Frank Sinatra, est tiré de Pal Joey, une comédie musicale considérée comme révolutionnaire par son désir de présenter des personnages loin des stéréotypes romantiques de l’époque.

A Gershwin Portrait – Gershwin In Love

Un savoureux medley de pièces dépeignant les différentes facettes de l’amour par le légendaire compositeur George Gershwin. Love is Here to Stay (Goldwyn Follies, 1938) Si l’idée de cet air revient à George Gershwin, c’est à son frère Ira que nous devons cette œuvre, qu’il a tenu à compléter après la mort de son frère. The Man I Love (Strike Up the Band, 1930) Un standard de jazz toujours aussi populaire, cette chanson a été considérée pour deux autres pièces de théâtre musical. I’ve Got a Crush on You (Strike Up the Band, 1930) D’un standard de jazz à un autre, celui-ci popularisé par, entre autres, la grande Ella Fitzgerald.

Tom, Dick or Harry (Kiss Me Kate, 1948)

Bianca, qui désespère de se marier un jour, reçoit coup sur coup trois demandes en mariage. Sera-t-elle séduite par l’un de ses trois prétendants?

Found/Tonight (Dear Evan Hansen, 2016 & Hamilton, 2015)

Hamilton rejoint Evan Hansen pour ce combiné de deux chansons, spécialement créé en 2018 afin de recueillir des fonds pour l’initiative américaine March for our lives.

38 Planes/Somewhere (Come From Away, 2017)

Dans le sillage des événements du 11 septembre 2001 et après avoir vécu un séjour obligé de cinq jours dans la petite ville de Gander, à Terre-Neuve, les passagers des 38 avions rentrent à la maison.

Sisters (White Christmas, 2008)

Avoir une sœur, c’est avoir une meilleure amie pour la vie… mais aussi, parfois, une rivale!

Run Freedom Run (Urinetown, 2001)

Une sécheresse force la mise en place d’un système de toilettes payantes. Les personnes incapables de payer sont déportés à Urinetown. L’arrivée d’un héros provoquera une rébellion pour le droit d’uriner librement!

Sunday (Sunday in the Park With George, 1984)

La description, tout en musique, de la célèbre toile Un dimanche après-midi sur l’île de la Grande Jatte, du peintre Georges Seurat.

Our Time - Setting the Scene - Act 1

A Musical (Something Rotten, 2015)

A play might be nice, but sometimes it's missing a little something … like a song and dance… or glitter and glitz! But a musical? It's got all that and more! Let us explain.

Back in Business (Putting It Together, 1999)

Originally written for the film Dick Tracy, this festive quintet radiates joy. Doesn't it just feel great to get the gang back together?

People (Funny Girl, 1964)

This love song from Funny Girl was almost cut from the show! Lyricist Bob Merrill fought to keep it in, the producers agreed, Barbra Streisand stepped onto the stage… and the rest was history.

I Could Write a Book (Pal Joey, 1940)

This song, which has been sung by Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, is from Pal Joey, a musical that broke new ground by introducing characters that defied the romantic stereotypes of the times.

A Gershwin Portrait – Gershwin in Love

A juicy medley with songs from legendary composer George Gershwin, each depicting a different aspect of love: Love is Here to Stay (Goldwyn Follies, 1938) - George Gershwin had the original idea for this tune, but it was ultimately completed after his death by his brother Ira. The Man I Love (Strike Up the Band, 1930) - This jazz standard, originally considered for two other musicals, is just as popular today as it ever was. I’ve Got a Crush on You (Strike Up the Band, 1930) - Another jazz standard, sung by many, including the great Ella Fitzgerald.

Tom, Dick or Harry (Kiss Me Kate, 1948)

Bianca, who despairs of ever becoming a bride, receives three proposals in a row. Will one of her suitors win her heart?

Found/Tonight (Dear Evan Hansen, 2016 & Hamilton, 2015)

Alexander Hamilton and Evan Hansen share the stage in this special number, created in 2018 to raise funds for the March for Our Lives movement in the United States.

38 Planes/Somewhere (Come from Away, 2017)

After spending five days stuck in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland after the events of September 11, 2001, the passengers from 38 planes return home.

Sisters (White Christmas, 2008)

When you've got a sister, you've got a best friend for life… and sometimes, a rival!

Run Freedom Run (Urinetown, 2001)

A terrible drought has forced everyone to use pay toilets. Anyone who can't pay the toll is deported to Urinetown. But one day, a hero arrives and sparks a rebellion: Let the people pee for free!

Sunday (Sunday in the Park with George, 1984)

A musical depiction of Georges Seurat's most famous work, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

Thanks to Our Sponsor Red Dream Studios

Thank you for helping us support The Depot! As food donations are not being accepted for the time being, our community food centre is requesting we support them with donations of money. If you would like to help, click the link below to make your gift through CanadaHelps’ fundraising page. We are also accepting your donations at the Lyric ticket table during the concert.

Merci de nous aider à soutenir Le Dépôt ! Comme les dons de nourriture ne sont pas acceptés pour le moment, notre centre alimentaire communautaire nous demande de les soutenir avec des dons en argent. Si vous souhaitez les soutenir, cliquez le lien ci-dessous pour faire votre don via la pagede collecte de fonds CanadaDon de Lyric. Nous acceptons également vos dons à la billeterie Lyric pendant le concert. Thank you / Merci!

Donate here: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/friends-of-lyric-supporting-the-depot-amies-du-lyr/

Thanks to our sponsor Groupe Montclair

Our Time - En quelques mots - 2e partie

Company (Company, 1970)

Bobby a un réseau d’amis mariés bien garni, qui lui demande beaucoup, beaucoup d’attention… sans compter ses nombreuses copines !

It Only Takes a Moment (Hello, Dolly!, 1964)

Parfois, dès le premier instant, dès le premier regard, les cœurs se reconnaissent et s’interpellent. Voilà l’essence de cette très belle chanson d’amour.

God Help the Outcasts (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1996)

Moment charnière du film Le bossu de Notre-Dame, Esmeralda adresse cette prière universelle afin que justice soit rendue à tous ces exclus, ces âmes mal-aimées.

9 to 5 (9 to 5, 2009)

Cette chanson, tirée du film du même nom, composée par l’unique Dolly Parton et devenue depuis comédie musicale, dépeint la réalité de plusieurs d’entre nous, qui devons travailler !

Losing my Mind / Not a Day Goes by (Sondheim on Sondheim, 2010)

Bien qu’elles proviennent de comédies musicales différentes, ces deux chansons mettent en scène deux femmes brisées par le même sentiment : l’amour.

The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, Reprise (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 1979)

Laissez-nous vous parler de Sweeney Todd, ce barbier sanguinaire assoiffé de vengeance de la rue Fleet, dont les clients disparaissent mystérieusement… Peut-être même avez-vous croisé son regard dans la rue, aujourd’hui!

Broadway Baby (Follies, 1971)

Se présenter à une audition est un exercice périlleux. Encore plus quand un rôle est convoité par plusieurs candidates toutes plus avides les unes que les autres d’attirer l’œil du producteur.

Buddy’s Blues (Follies, 1971)

Buddy a le cafard : il aime Sally, qui en aime un autre, mais il est aimé en retour par Margie. Le voilà qui vous confie ses émotions et ses peurs à propos de l’amour, ce sentiment si complexe!

I Wanna Be a Producer (The Producers, 2001)

Ils sont comptables, et très, très malheureux. Leur désir secret ? Devenir des producteurs de spectacles à succès sur Broadway, et mener la vie dure aux choristes!

Into the Woods - Finale (Into the Woods, 1987)

Into the Woods explore les conséquences reliées aux gestes posés par certains personnages des contes des frères Grimm. Dans cet air, les personnages viennent livrer la morale de leurs histoires et leurs apprentissages.

Thanks to our sponsor David Forest Insurance Solutions