On the heels of recently capping off its 2018-2019 season on
a triumphant note with the brilliant documentary-style musical production of
“Indecent” – which chronicles the evolution of Sholem Asch’s controversial play
“God of Vengeance” from Poland to Broadway – the Segal Centre for Performing
Arts officially unveiled its complete line-up for their 2019-2020 season.
Segal Centre Artistic and Executive Director Lisa Rubin (pictured below) unveiled the impressive line-up of upcoming shows at a special gathering of
media, subscribers and local theatergoers, that will at the very least, cater
to the eclectic in you.
For their flagship series of six plays, the season begins
with “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” (September 8-29), a musical memoir that
tells the true story of Jewish musical prodigy Lisa Jura, who manages to escape
Nazi-occupied Vienna for the safe haven of London, as its endures the worst of
the Blitz. The story is told through the point-of-view – and musical
performances – of Jura’s daughter Mona Golabek, who is herself a
Grammy-nominated piano virtuoso. “Mythic” (October 27-November 17) gives a
modern twist to a part of ancient Greek mythology – the story of the goddess
Persephone – with the rest of those mythic gods appearing in the form of
popular rock music stars, power-hungry politicians and professional socialites.
The 2020 portion of the season starts with “Small Mouth
Sounds” (February 9 – March 11) at the centre’s Studio Theatre. It literally
deals with the sounds of silence, as six unlikely characters flee the city for
a silent retreat, and find out the hard way how really difficult it is to keep
their mouths shut. Louise Pitre (who is remembered for her show-stopping
performance as Edith Piaf in the Segal Centre’s presentation of “The Angel and
the Sparrow”) teams up with W. Joseph Matheson to bring you “The Times They Are
A Changin’” (March 1 – 22), a lively musical salute to the Jewish musicians and
singers – such as Bob Dylan, Mama Cass, Simon and Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen and
Carole King -- whose legendary songs provided the soundtrack for the 1960s. “Oslo”
(April 19 – May 10) is the Tony-winning dark dramedy that recalls all the
back-channel negotiations, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics that
eventually led to the historic 1993 Oslo Accords between the Israelis and the
Palestinians. The season concludes with the world premiere of Paul Van Dyck’s
“Siberian Summer” (May 31 – June 21), a road trip comedy that involves three
women “of a certain age” and one of their sons as they go on a lengthy road
trip aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway from St. Petersburg to Beijing, which
quickly becomes a journey of self-discovery.
As well, the Segal Centre will be offering its many fans and
supporters throughout the new season a variety of productions that will be
presented on its stages by such guest theatre companies as the Teesri Dunya
Theatre, the Tableau D’Hote Theatre, Porte Parole and the Black Theatre
Workshop, which will be conducting the final presentations of its Artist
Mentorship Program.
The mainstay Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre troupe will
present a trio of productions this season: a production of “The Sages of
Chelm”, a live play reading of the Yiddish-language version of Neil Simon’s hit
comedy “The Sunshine Boys” and their annual “Lyrics and Latkes” Chanukah
sing-along show.
Add to that the return of Sunday @ The Segal pre-show
lectures, the Monday Night Talkbacks, the Broadway Café live karaoke nights,
and the Big Broadway Sing-Along with Nick Burgess, then 2019-2020 will be a
season to remember and enjoy at the Segal Centre.
For more information, or to purchase individual tickets
starting July 29, call 514-739-7944, or go to www.segalcentre.org.
