Noelle Hannibal - Page 3

Helena Levitt was born and raised in Montreal. She graduated from Dawson College's Professional Theatre Program, where she says she fell in love with her craft. Upon graduation, she moved to Toronto to seek out more opportunities. After two years in Toronto, and missing her family, she returned to Montreal where stepped away from acting and went back to school, obtaining a BFA in Drama and Education. She dabbled in Drama Therapy, which she found fascinating. She knew there was a strong connection between Drama and therapeutic practices, so she continued her studies, obtaining a Bachelor of Social Work from McGill University. She married and raised a family before realizing how much she missed performing. She began taking classes, which feels every actor should continue to do throughout their career. She started auditioning and is now a critically acclaimed, well respected member of the Montreal theatre community. I had the immense pleasure to chat with Levitt about her career and d² productions upcoming remount of the award winning play, LATE COMPANY, which opens December 10, 2019 at The Segal Centre Studio.

Andrew Samonsky was born and raised about an hour north of Los Angeles in the coastal town of Ventura, CA. He majored in Music at California State University, Northridge, which just so happens my Alma Mater. Part of the Opera Program, Samonsky started taking drama classes from two professors, Peter Grego and Linda de Vries, who were the first theatre professors to direct operas in the music department. It was a huge educational opportunity for Samonsky to get acting training, which prior to this, the opera students never got. Samonsky says Grego and de Vries were instrumental in helping him prep and get into Grad School at UC Irvine. He shifted into theatre/musical theatre and hasn't looked back. A veteran of several Broadway and off-Broadway shows, along with several national tours and a Drama Desk Award nomination, I had the incredible good fortune to have a long chat with him about his career and his role in the National Tour of COME FROM AWAY, which lands in Montreal on Tuesday, November 26, 2019.

The Segal Centre has another hit on it's hands with the North American Premiere of the pop/rock musical, MYTHIC. Directed by Brian Hill, this energetic production has already been extended through November 24, 2019.

Amy Blackmore was born and raised in Greenfield Park, QC. Growing up, most of her family was involved or worked at Greenfield Park United Church. When she was very young, she began going with her mom to work. There were dance classes being taught by the Cameron School of Dance in the basement of the church. After about a year of 'hiding in the corner, trying to copy the older dancers,' the owner of the school encouraged her mother to put her in dance classes. Her journey into the arts began with taking dance at the school, which evolved into performing in the church Christmas Pageant and more. With that kind of community environment, she was able to quickly find that she loved the arts. She says, 'I feel like the arts were always calling me. I couldn't run away from it.' I had the chance to chat with Blackmore about her evolution into Artistic/Executive Director at the MainLine Theatre, which continues with her current production of RICHARD O'BRIEN'S THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, along with the her role at The St-Ambroise Fringe Festival and her time as President of the Quebec Drama Federation (QDF).

The anticipated remount of BONNIE & CLYDE from emerging theatre company, Contact Theatre opens this Friday, September 6. The remount of their sold- out, critically acclaimed debut production runs through September 8, 2019 at the MainLine Theatre.

Fresh from Off-JFL, in time for Montréal Pride - An outrageously devilish comedy-horror romp Having had a successful run with Off-JFL, LESBIAN SPEED DATE FROM HELL! now takes the stage for Montréal Pride Festival, bringing a queer-centric show with a cast and crew from all colours of the rainbow. It is a unique piece that has garnered attention from CBC Radio's Daybreak, CTV News, Cult MTL, and CJAD's Dan Laxer. This pertinent show, which evolved out of a need to see more female and queer driven content, sparks debate and open conversations about the future of queer content.

Exhilarating. Feral. Thoughtful. These are just a few choice words from The Guardian's five-star review of Rachel Bloom's recent London show. Bloom will be bringing that energy on stage for a five-night run of What Am I Going To Do With My Life Now? at this years' Just For Laughs Festival.

'...There was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany and it was the end of the world...' The Cote Saint-Luc Dramatic Society has another hit on their hands with a perfectly marvelous production of CABARET. The show is both highly entertaining and brutally tragic; sadly fitting to the world we currently find ourselves living in.

Montreal theatre fans, take a memo: WISTA's upcoming production, 9 to 5 The Musical is headed to the West Island. The show will run for 6 performances from June 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30 PM, as well as June 15 at 1:30 PM at the Louise Chalmers Theatre (501 Boulevard St. Jeans, Pointe-Claire, QC).

Emerging Montreal Theatre Company, Rentrobuff Productions will present its exciting inaugural production of 'tick, tick...BOOM!' from May 15-25, 2019 at the MainLine Theatre. 

Emerging theatre company, Contact Theatre, announces remount of their sold- out, critically acclaimed debut production, BONNIE & CLYDE, September 6 - 8 2019 at the MainLine Theatre.

There's a theory that we are all connected via six degrees or less. This past summer, Full Circle Productions was fortunate to have the opportunity to perform in New York City at the iconic Feinstein's/54 Below with their original cabaret called SIX DEGREES OF BROADWAY SEPARATION. The concept was so well received, it has been evolved and developed into a full two-hour Broadway musical revue that will demonstrate through musical numbers, how five of the leading shows currently on Broadway, are all connected via six degrees or less!

Brand new musical theatre company, Contact Theatre has made it's debut with a bang! Their inaugural production BONNIE & CLYDE opened last night at the MainLine Theatre to a sold out crowd.

Roger and Lynn Neal, Founder and Chairman of the annual Oscar night event, will be hosting, along with their partners Maryanne and Thomas Lai , the 4th Annual ROGER NEAL OSCAR VIEWING DINNER, SUITE AND AFTER PARTY which will take place on Oscar Sunday Feb 24th, 2019 at the World Famous Hollywood Palladium.

Alison Whitehurst was born in Sugar Land, Texas. The daughter of a professional pianist, she was exposed to music at a very early age, tagging along and watching her father play gigs from backstage. She would often sit and experiment with him at the piano and played herself for nine years. After her parents divorce, Whitehurst transferred to a new middle school. Her mother recommended she sign up for a theatre class to help her make friends. She was cast in her first musical in eighth grade, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and thought to herself, 'wait a second! I'm going to sing AND do this fun new theatre thing at the same time?!' She continued on through high school and never looked back, earning a BFA in Theatre Performance from Texas Christian University. Whitehurst is currently on tour as Cynthia Weil in BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL. I had the chance to chat with her just prior to the tour's stop in Montreal.

ONCE is a perfect gem of a musical that has found a home at The Segal Centre for Performing Arts. In 2006, writer and director John Carney recruited his long time friend and former bandmate Glen Hansard to write songs for his indie film, which was being produced on a shoestring budget. Due to a series of what could have been perceived as unfortunate events, Hansard took over the male lead opposite Markéta Irglovà, who was also composing songs for the film. The resulting film is both true to life and magical and easily one of the best romantic comedies of a generation. ONCE took home the Audience Award at Sundance before going on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Hansard and Irglovà's Falling Slowly.

Canada's oldest professional black theatre company, Black Theatre Workshop are all set to launch their 48th season this October. The first production of the season is SOUND OF THE BEAST (SOTB), a one-woman show that uses spoken word, story-telling and hip-hop to spit rhymes from the underground and relentlessly challenge poverty, oppression, and bad dancing. SOTB is the latest instalment of writer / star Donna-Michelle St. Bernard's marathon project of writing 54 plays - one for every African nation. This one is inspired by Tunisian emcee Weld-El 15 who was jailed for 2 years in 2013 for his song Boulicia Kleb (The Police Are Dogs). Currently the Artistic Director of New Harlem Productions, Donna-Michelle is a multi-award winning, two-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, and, alongside Black Theatre Workshop is bringing Sound of the Beast to Montreal for the very first time.

Matt Manuel was born and raised in Detroit, MI, 'the heart of Motown.' He got his start as a competitive gymnast. When he was 13, he had to quit gymnastics, which he says broke his heart. His mother convinced him to try a piano lesson while his brother took a voice lesson. The teacher accidentally switched their lessons, which made Manuel realize he could sing. He studied theatre in high school, but once in college, focused more on vocal performance, so he would be classically trained. He was a contestant on season 13 of AMERICAN IDOL, which jump started his career. Since then, he has never stopped working. Manuel plays Marvin Gaye in MOTOWN THE MUSICAL. I had the chance to speak with him while MOTOWN recently had a tour stop in Boston, MA.

Laurie-Anne Jean-Baptiste was born and raised in the West Island area of Montreal. She studied Cinema and Communications at Vanier College and Creative Writing at Concordia. She first delved into theatre in the 6th grade. Discovering how much she enjoyed it, she continued to be involved in theatre through CEGEP. Whenever she got the chance to take a theatre class, she did. She has always loved writing. She started writing stories at the age of 8 and would stay up all night in her teens writing about characters from Young Adult novels. She still writes short stories whenever inspiration strikes. She became very interested in photography in her teens and began to develop her skills in her early 20s with Laurel Grace Photography, her photography company. At that stage, she began taking on clients and shooting events. What she'd love to do is a marriage of writing and photography. 'Photo Fiction,' as she calls it. This month, Laurie-Anne will be performing in JOURNEY TO BROADWAY, with the Lyric Theatre Singers, a group she has been with for 11 years. I had the chance to sit down with Laurie-Anne to discuss her past, future and all things Broadway.

Sam Boucher was born and raised in Montreal. He developed his passion for musical theatre at a young age, really beginning to focus on it in high school. He studied classical voice for two years at Vanier College, has just finished his first year at Concordia University and next year, he heads off to Sheridan College in Toronto, renowned for its Musical Theatre Program. I had the chance to chat with Sam about his life leading into starring as Joseph is JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with the Cote St-Luc Dramatic Society.