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MUSICAL WORKS IN CONCERT: PRISON DANCER: THE MUSICAL by Romeo Candido and Carmen DeJesus (August 8 at 10 pm) JONI LOVES MITCHELL by Logan Medland, Jason Chesworth and Kim Odine (August 9 at 10 pm) BIGGISH KIDS by Bram Gielen (August 10 at 10 pm). Lower Ossington Theatre.


Back in high school, Tracy Michailidis quit her arts program to become school president. Why? She wanted to integrate arts into the general curriculum.

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Now a respected performer in musicals (The Light In The Piazza, The Princess And The Handmaiden) and straight theatre (Apple, The Fellini Radio Plays), she’s focused on integrating the two types of performance.

Along with co-producers Derrick Chua and George Masswohl, Michailidis is expanding the SummerWorks music series to include new musical theatre works in concert.

“There’s so little opportunity to develop musicals in Canada,” says the actor, “which is a shame, since the theatrical form is so diverse.”

Canadian writers Leslie Arden, Brian Hill, Neil Bartram and American Jason Robert Brown advised her that public workshopping is the best way to see what’s strong and what’s wrong with a show. That kind of testing fits SummerWorks’ mandate.

A call brought in some 40 scripts, three of which get one-off performances.

Romeo Candido and Carmen DeJesus’s Prison Dancer: The Musical, was inspired by a viral YouTube clip in which Filipino inmates perform in a high-security prison.

“This book musical with a largely Filipino cast has a really contemporary, sexy, infectious quality,” notes Michailidis. “There’s an R&B element to the music, and I can imagine that some of its tunes could be dance club hits.”

Bram Gielen’s Biggish Kids is, in contrast, a song cycle about people in their 20s making the transition from childhood to adulthood.

“Bram, a sophisticated composer and classically trained bass player who’s worked with Owen Pallett, can turn a pop music idiom on its head.”

Michailidis directs the third piece, Logan Medland, Jason Chesworth and Kim Odine’s Joni Loves Mitchell.

“Another book musical, it’s about the relationship between a woman who writes acoustic tunes and a guy who breaks out as a rock star. Blending both types of music, it feels like a throwback to 70s funk and 80s rock.”

It’s worth seeing for its cast alone, which includes Ted Dykstra, Paul Nolan and Nicole Underhay.

“All three shows demonstrate the collaborative effort that defines musical theatre. By its nature, the form brings people together to form a community.”

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