Thread by @lainasparetime

Alright, after Tuesday's wild thread, are we ready for another round of #LainaWatchesAnne?

#LainaWatchesAnne This thread is going to be a little different as the state of musicals means I don't have access to a lot of what I'll be talking about.

Hence why today, we're talking more about Anne and musicals in general than one specific one.

#LainaWatchesAnne To start, let's talk about what I'm calling, for clarity's sake, the Charlottetown Festival musical.

#LainaWatchesAnne The Charlottetown Festival is a yearly music festival that has been running since 1965. The Anne of Green Gables Musical debuted the same year and is Canada's longest running musical.

#LainaWatchesAnne It's also recognized by Guiness as the world's longest running annual musical.

It's, um. Also one of the ONLY annual musicals. But we won't let that stop us from bragging about it because it's still cool!

#LainaWatchesAnne Fun fact, the musical was originally made for TV, with two versions airing on the CBC in 1956 and 1958 respectively. Then the Charlottetown Festvival commissioned the writers to expand it into a full musical in 1965.

#LainaWatchesAnne Allegedly, according to the Toronto Daily Star, the actor playing Gilbert attempted to portray him as... Elvis Presley.

I. Don't know where to go with that.

I can't verify this since you can't access the Star's archive unless you live in Toronto, but. Wow.

#LainaWatchesAnne And apparently footage of this does still exist, or did as of a 1996 CBC documentay. CBC, release the tapes!!! I wish to see Elvis!Gilbert.

Where's those lost media people when you need them.

#LainaWatchesAnne I guess the 1958 version made some change and it was not as well received.

Anyways, the Charlottetown Fesival has also had independent productions in London (England, not Ontario), Toronto, Regina and the US including off-Broadway in New York.

#LainaWatchesAnne The musical toured several times across Canada, played in New York and had a VERY successful run in Japan as mentioned in the anime thread.

#LainaWatchesAnne So in October 2020, the Charlottetown Festival released a 40 minute special on Youtube which is going to be what I'm working with for the rest of the thread. Not going to full recap this, but I will give you my thoughts.

#LainaWatchesAnne First, they show a clip of the musical, where Anne and Matthew meet at Bright River, and it looks great. It's really beautifully shot.

#LainaWatchesAnne Then we go to Green Gables Heritage Place and get a brief tour, which is super cool, followed by a live performance of a song from the musical by an artist called Meaghen Blanchard.

#LainaWatchesAnne I don't really know her, but she actually played Anne for 4 years as a summer job in Cavendish. Tha's neat.

The song is really nice, also.

Another musical clp and it looks so good??? Everyone seems great and the costumes look so good.

#LainaWatchesAnne The actress playing Anne is kind of hilaious.

Finally, they show a clip of a song in the musical! It's Anne's apology as a song and it's very fiting of Anne. She's super hammy.

#LainaWatchesAnne And that's about all they show. It's still really cool to watch and I want to see the whole show even more. There's a lot of love in this, clearly.

#LainaWatchesAnne The full cast recording is available on Spotify and to purchase but I'm not a person who can just listen to a musical. I need visuals, at least the first time.

You know who is though???? @soveryqueer So I forced them into it!

#LainaWatchesAnne Luce likes musicals a lot so they took a listen and they were not blown away. I think, honestly, this one is a lot more fun live, but it's also not the most exciting musical ever.

#LainaWatchesAnne And obviously the 2020 season was cancelled due to covid, and there isn't news about 2021 yet.

But.

Confederation Centre of the Arts? Might I suggest selling copies of the musical or streaming it? I can't pay for a trip to PEI but I could pay for a movie!

#LainaWatchesAnne It looks like y'all are doing more stuff online and I support this so much!

Also, if this sounds cool to you, I may suggest a donation to the centre itself. They seem really cool, and I'm sure they're struggling right now.

#LainaWatchesAnne Other musicals!

So as mentioned, there have been several Japanese shows, I believe. It's a bit harder to find information on this because I cannot read or speak Japanese and google translate only goes to far, but here's what I got.

#LainaWatchesAnne In addition to the Canadian show touring Japan, I'm pretty sure around the 80s there was a separate Japanese show. It was mentioned very briefly in an article I saw.

I did find this clip, but I'm not sure of what show or year it's from

#LainaWatchesAnne I think the show ran for quite some time, too? But again, not a lot of information. It may be that there have just been several versions of it. Doing my best here, I swear.

#LainaWatchesAnne But I do know that the current one by ST Company has been running since around 2000. It also got cancelled due to coronavirus.

Also their website is adorable.

There are some Anne-related videos on their youtube, like this:

#LainaWatchesAnne And that's about all I've got for that one, lol.

The Guild in Charlottetown hosts one called "Anne and Gilbert" WHICH YOU CAN ACTUALLY WATCH ONLINE FOR LIKE 9 BUCKS. But it's based on the sequels so we'll have to come back to that.

I am intrigued, though.

#LainaWatchesAnne There was also that one I mentioned in the mini-series thread, the off-Broadway one in New York from 2006, which was let's say... poorly received.

#LainaWatchesAnne Not made by Canadians, and they hadn't read the book before being asked to create it. This is the one that was warned not to sell merchandise, and did not ask the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority about making anything.

Yeah, don't do that, basically.

#LainaWatchesAnne It did not do well. The New York Times describes a kid in the audience GROANING IN DISGUST when Anne and Gilbert kiss at the end.

Side note: I love this child.

#LainaWatchesAnne Recently, there has also been "Anne of Green Gables: A New Folk Rock Musical" which I can only find a short clip of and a tiny interview with one of the creators. It's not my cup of tea, but they seem to respect it a whole, whole lot more than the 2006 one.

#LainaWatchesAnne The last one I have to talk about today is the ARIEL Theatrical version because they're the only ones who have a full recorded version so I actually can. And it's free on youtube!

#LainaWatchesAnne So ARIEL Theatrical is a non-profit children's theatre from California and the quality of the video on youtube is, um. Not great.

But.

It's a children's theatre. There are like four adults and everyone else is a literal child.

#LainaWatchesAnne This show is the definition of "trying their best".

So I'm obviously not going to rag on them because tha would just be mean. Obviously they have next to no budget and it's literally a non-profit for kids. I'm not a monster.

#LainaWatchesAnne But there are things here I think they do really well, and I'd like to mention them.

Obviously for a musical you have to condens things but they hit all the major plot beats to feel like a satisfying Anne story. It feels complete when you finish.

#LainaWatchesAnne I also think things generally look pretty good. The sets are simple but they do a lot with what they have.

#LainaWatchesAnne They do basically the Peter Pan thing of having an older actress play Anne, and just asking you to roll with it that she's totally 12, but the Charlottetown musical does that too. You don't really have that much choice, lol.

#LainaWatchesAnne It wouldn't work to change actresses halfway through the show. And this actress is really good. I like her Anne.

Anne, Matthew, Marilla, and Mrs Rachel all look great. I particularly like Mrs. Rachel.

#LainaWatchesAnne They also do this fun thing where cast members walk in the aisles of the theatre and do short little songs or speaking scenes to move the plot along. It's fun because honestly that kind of gossip in a small town is very accurate.

#LainaWatchesAnne And it's a fun way to do exposition without having a full-on narrator.

I am going to criticize this since it's an adult - I think Matthew talks too much. Just feels weird for him to have so much dialogue.

#LainaWatchesAnne I really liked the scene after the one where Anne won't eat because she's upset - Marilla brings her a bedtime snack so she doesn't go to bed hungry. It is both practical and very sweet.

#LainaWatchesAnne They also add a GREAT line about Anne pretending at the orphanage to be a Queen of Naples during a famine. It implies to me something I've always believed, that Anne has a history of not getting enough to eat.

#LainaWatchesAnne This actress also nails the prayer scene. The way she delivers the lines is so funny. Honestly if you watch nothing else, go watch it. I will honestly be comparing all others to this now XD

#LainaWatchesAnne The actresses playing Anne and Diana have really good chemistry and I enjoyed their scenes a lot. They have a really cute song about being friends.

#LainaWatchesAnne The slate smashing scene is also really fun. I don't think it's a prop slate so it doesn't break hitting Gilbert which honestly makes it look more painful.

It kinda bounces off his head and looks like she didn't realize how hard she hit him. Quite amusing tbh

#LainaWatchesAnne They also add a scene of Gilbert coming to see Anne at Green Gables to apologize. He brings her a new slate and interacts with Marilla and it's awkward and cute.

It's a nice way to expand on his character a little so you actually believe they like each other.

#LainaWatchesAnne Gilbert: "It's a slate."
Anne: "I know what it is AND I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT."

Yep, she straight up threatens to hit him again. Now that's the Anne spirit! This Anne is ready to throw down at all times and it's really, really funny.

#LainaWatchesAnne They do include Diana getting drunk and it's quite amusing.

I also like that they show Anne hanging out with a bunch of girls without Diana. She is a popular girl. They almost make Diana more of the lonely one in this, and that's an interesting idea.

#LainaWatchesAnne Oh, fun thing, Mrs Rachel does get to make Anne's dress in this! They make it her White Sands concert/white organdy dress, but we're pressed for time here so whatever. We can't be here all day.

#LainaWatchesAnne Gilbert sees Anne before the concert, sees how nervous she is, and basically goads her out of her stage fright. He starts by trying to reassure her it'll be fine but it doesn't get through her nerves so he goes, "I should have known you couldn't do it, Carrots."

#LainaWatchesAnne Anne is very mature about this, obviously, and is basically like "FUCK YOU GILBERT BLYTHE."

And her outrage carries her through the performance.

#LainaWatchesAnne The ending with Gilbert giving Anne the school and Anne finding out from Mrs Rachel is right book accurate and really cute to see. It's so sweet.

They meet and they're both really excited. It really captures Anne seeing Gilbert in a whole new light.

#LainaWatchesAnne Now, the fun stuff - let's talk quickly about fashion.

Clearly they're mostly using stock "old-timey" costumes. Are they the most accurate thing? No. But whatever, it gets the job done.

#LainaWatchesAnne I really like this shot of the church picnic clothes, though. Anne just looks a little more drab than Diana and Mrs Barry. The clothes are fine, but they aren't bright and pretty - which is the point. Well done.

#LainaWatchesAnne Also I like these two outfits Anne has

#LainaWatchesAnne And this shot of the store is cool. The two dresses on display are really quite neat.

#LainaWatchesAnne I'm pretty sure in the White Sands concert scene, they're using 80s wedding and prom dresses and honestly that's pretty darn clever.

#LainaWatchesAnne Obviously it's not a perfect 1890s evening gown, but it gets the idea across and I like their resourcefulness of using what they have access to.

#LainaWatchesAnne I truly do think this is a really clever way to get across the idea of the 1890s fashion when you clearly have such a budget limitation. It's creative and clever.

#LainaWatchesAnne All in all, this is a very small show made by a group of people, most of whom are children. It's not perfect and it won't blow your mind, but. Let me show you something cool.

#LainaWatchesAnne Like I said, the performers go into the audience sometimes during this. So, you keep seeing this kid.

#LainaWatchesAnne There's two in this particular spot and they're both SO engrossed. This is really fo them, and not in a bad way. It's not talking down to them or anything, but it is FOR kids in every sense of the way.

#LainaWatchesAnne I probably wouldn't watch it again, but I am glad I did. This is clearly more of a labour of love than the New York one.

And I would honestly recommend it. It's on youtube for free, it's cute, and some of the moments are hilarious

#LainaWatchesAnne Musical thoughts overall is that Anne musicals are fun and I REALLY want the Charlottetown musical to be released online lol. If you're ever in PEI when it's playing, please go see it for me.

#LainaWatchesAnne And that's it for today!

I would like to just add, though, that today is the 1 year anniversary of the day I broke my spine. And that's weird. So maybe RT this thread if you enjoyed it so other people can find it, too.

#LainaWatchesAnne Also, when I broke said spine, I got an almost 1300 dollar ambulance bill and I still have 500 dollars to pay on that which is a whole lot of money.

So if you're capable of dropping something in the tip jar, it'd be much appreciated. ko-fi.com/A0602GN