Exclusive: Charlottetown Festival to Present Re-Imagined MAMMA MIA in 2016

BroadwayWorld has exclusive details on what productions Artistic Director Adam Brazier is bringing to the Charlottetown Festival next year.

Along with perennial favourite Anne of Green Gables - The Musical, the main stage line up kicks off with Mamma Mia! - which just recently closed on Broadway.

Prince Edward Island audiences will be whisked away to the Greek isles to laugh and sing along with ABBA's greatest hits in this beloved show. This is not a Broadway tour or knock-off, but a brand new Canadian production, which will be cross-cast with Anne.

Anne of Green Gables continues to be the world's longest running musical in repertory.

The season continues with the award-wining musical Spoon River. Marking the first collaboration between Toronto's Soulpepper and The Charlottetown Festival, this lively 11-person ensemble show is being re-imagined specifically for The Mack - the festival's 200 seat Cabaret type space.

The season closes with a refreshed and tightened version of the acclaimed new show Belles Soeurs: The Musical - which premiered at the English language Segal Centre in Montreal last season. This hysterical and heartwarming look at what happens to family and friends when one of them wins a million trading stamps is based on Michel Tremblay's iconic play and has been adapted for this new English version by Canadian jewels Neil Bartram and Brian Hill.

"Our 2016 season explores community for all its joy, hardship, laughter, and tears. What are the pains and the comforts of staying in one place or journeying outward in search of one's self?" says Brazier. "A mother's approval, a father's protection, a frightened young girl searching for belonging. These themes are exposed in each of our four wonderful productions to be staged next summer."

Brazier continues, "Sing and dance along with us as we take you from an island wedding in Greece to the shores of Avonlea, from the rustic village of Spoon River to urban Montreal in 1965. I invite our audiences to come and celebrate the human spirit with us."

Tickets go on sale October 19, and the 2016 season has a special ticket offer with three shows for $129.

Visit charlottetownfestival.com or contact the box office, toll-free, at 1-(800)-565-0278.

Photo: P.E.I.'s own Mike Ross (on crate) and the ensemble perform a scene from Spoon River. By Cylla von Tiedemann, 2014 Soulpepper Production.

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