Watershed Festival Presents The World Premiere Of THE LANCASHIRE LASS

See the much-anticipated world-premiere of The Lancashire Lass, a major new musical by award-winning Canadian music theatre creator Leslie Arden.

The new musical tells the tumultuous story of the British suffragette movement through the eyes of the dynamic yet conflicted Annie Kenney. It is the sweeping and poignant exploration of a century-old struggle that still has such a massive impact on the world today.

Directed by Tim Fort with an 8-piece orchestra musically directed by Darrell Christie, The Lancashire Lass features a cast of twenty-three including students of the DAN School of Drama and Music and members of the community as well as outstanding alumni and other professionals. It truly will be an epic evening at the theatre.

Friday, May 26th at 7:00PM & Saturday, May 27th at 7:00PM at the Kingston Grand Theatre (218 Princess St, Kingston, ON K7L 1B2)

Tickets: https://www.kingstongrand.ca/events/the-lancashire-lass-0

More information: https://www.watershedmusictheatre.com/2023-the-lancashire-lass

Cast & Crew

Melissa Morris - Annie Kenney

Brayah Pickard - Christabel Pankhurst

Susan Henley - Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst

Michelle Kasaboski - Sylvia Pankhurst

Grahame Renyk - Keir Hardie

Grace Delamere - Adela Pankhurst

Jessica Rosales - Alice Hurst, others

Serena Ferzli - Jane Ogden, Colette, others

Mallory Brumm - Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence

Madelena Byrnell-Grubert - Teresa Billington-Greig, others

Kaylee Simoes - Emily Davison, others

Thomas Cherney - Reginald McKenna, others

Justin Dubuc - Chief of Police, Churchill, others

Bailey Bieganek - Mary, others

Maysaa Alikhan - Newsboy 1, Silvia cover

Gareth Davies - Newsboy 2, Fred

Megan McDowell - Newsboy 3, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence cover

Greg Wanless - Atherton, Asquith, others

Jaiden French - Flora, others

Caue Garcia - Reporter, Watson, others

Sabrina Marques - Warden, Maid, others

Connor Williams-McArthur - Heckler, Police, others

Murdock McFarlane - Judge, Bannerman, others

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Leslie Arden - Composer, Lyricist, Librettist

Tim Fort - Director

Victoria Marmulak - Assistant Director

Darrell Christie - Music Director

Darcie Watson-Laird - Asst. Music Director

Sue Del-Mei - Choreographer

Mike Cassells - Sound Design

Lucas Ruddell - Sound Design

Marianna Thomlison - Costume Design

Kevin Tanner - Lighting Design

Brian Frommer - Set & Projection Design, Production Manager

Katelyn Luoma - Asst. Production Manager

Kristen Leboeuf - Stage Manager

Isabel Livie, Chanel Sheridan - Asst. Stage Managers

Duncan Gould - Technical Director

Bethany Schaufler-Biback - Asst. Technical Director

Since it's debut season in 2021, the DAN School of Drama and Music's Watershed Festival has sought to shine a light on the phenomenal Canadian and international work being create in the fields of musical theatre, opera, everything in between and everything beyond. A "watershed moment" is defined as an important event that changes the course of history, and there is no better time for us to re-imagine and re-invent the possibilities and future of music theatre.

In the fall of 2019, award-winning Canadian composer and lyricist Leslie Arden was commissioned to create a brand-new musical for the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen's University. This was the first commission of this scale for the Watershed Festival. A global pandemic isn't the easiest time to create a major new musical but our students, faculty and guests have been carefully developing the work all the way! First seen in "sneak peak" form at the 2021 festival, and in-concert at the 2022 festival, we couldn't be more happy to bring the fully-staged world-premiere to Kingston's beautiful Grand Theatre on May 26, 2023.

The Lancashire Lass is a massive project for everyone involved but this year's festival will also include our New Works Showcase which seeks to highlight ground-breaking and genre-expanding work taking place in the music theatre community throughout Canada. This year's line-up includes Before the Last Meter by Saman Shahi and Isabella Dawis, The Lindworm's Cabaret by Haley Sarfeld, Lauren Thomas, Rogan Gowan, Alison Gowan and Arden Rogalsky, Caezus by Nam Nguyen and Maksym Chipov-Rybtsev and a new work of ancestral discovery by Sarah Rossy.

For children and families, we welcome Queen's Barefoot Players to the Baby Grand stage for a free fun-filled an interactive musical theatre experience sure to delight.

On behalf of the whole festival staff, I want to express my gratitude to the DAN Foundation, the City of Kingston and the George Taylor Richardson Fund (Queen's University) for their support and engagement with Watershed. There isn't a better place to celebrate the arts then right here in Kingston and we hope to see you at this year's Watershed Festival!

- Dean Burry, Artistic Director

Watershed Leadership

Dean Burry - Artistic Director

Greg Wanless - Managing Director

Colleen Renihan - Symposium Director

Yvette Nolan - Artistic Associate

Kristen Leboeuf - Marketing Coordinator

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