The Next Wave Festival of New Musicals Runs This Weekend at Calixa-Lavallée and Lion d'Or

CETM (The Centre for Education and Theatre in Montreal) presents the 7th annual Next Wave Festival of New Musicals, a unique showcase for new musicals in development from Montreal and around the globe. Montreal-based artists are featured, including emerging writers and composers, as well as international guest performers. The Next Wave Festival is a world-class collection of performances, educational presentations and special events for musical theatre lovers and practitioners, as well as newbies to this incomparable artistic discipline. This year's exciting line-up will be presented at Calixa-Lavallée (in Parc Lafontaine) and Lion d'Or (at the Lionceau Room) from today, September 25 to 28. Various presentations are offered in French, in English, or in both languages. Audiences are also invited to enjoy three free events during the Festival.

According to Festival director and co-founder Stephen Pietrantoni, The Next Wave has many facets, "We are proud of the Festival's educational side, but mostly it's a whole lot of fun, with great stories, powerful emotions, tuneful new music and truly memorable performances." He continues, "If you love musicals, you'll enjoy discovering these promising new shows, and if you don't know much about the field, it's a great chance to learn about the fantastic potential of musical theatre in Montreal." Audiences will appreciate that the most expensive ticket at the festival is just $22, and some events are free. This bilingual festival dedicated to new musical theatre in Canada, is the only one of its kind.

In English, The Next Wave includes a customized preview of Danny Boy; an original Irish-Canadian love story with music, authentic Irish dancing, and backstage stories by Montreal writers Lisa Forget and Chris Barillaro. Merton of the Movies, based on the classic novel, will also be presented. This delightful, full-length musical show was developed at CETM with New York based creators, including author Donald Brenner and Emmy winner Doug Katsaros. It's the story of Merton Gill, an obscure clerk at a general store who dreams of a career making serious art films. He gets discovered by a beguiling actress and becomes a movie star, but not exactly in the genre he expected...

In French, Marguerite et les mauvaises herbes will be featured in a special preview concert. The show, by Montreal's Jean-Elliott Manning, was originally presented as Daisy and the Wonder Weeds. The French adaptation was translated by Yves Morin, who also translated the big Just for Laughs musicals My Fair Lady and Hairspray.

The Next Wave's free events include: Nuits d'Art - Sixties Follies, a special surprise bilingual 'poperetta' that combines classic pop hits from the 1960's with a musical theatre-style storyline. It also features a free exhibition of decorative woodworking arts as part of the presentation. My Personal Best, a marathon video filming session of musical theatre clips featuring Montreal's emerging artists, will wind up the Festival. "This is an opportunity to cheer on your favourite new artists and help them get their own professional HD multi-camera demo clip in front of a live audience.", said Pietrantoni. The video clip filming will be immediately followed by the Festival closing party, where people can enjoy 46 fun and inspiring newly unveiled clips from the six previous editions of The Next Wave Festival.

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