Ha'Penny Bridge Cancelled

When principle casting for the North American production of The Ha'Penny Bridge was announced late last month, there were rumours that it might end up on Broadway after a premiere in Toronto and a run in San Francisco.

That dream is no more.

In a press release yesterday, producer Garrett McGuckian declared that the show was being cancelled because it was not "commercially ready" for a May 16 opening, despite the fact that director Donna Feore and the rest of the creative team have been working on it for two years.

Richard Ouzounian reported that a discussion with McGuckian revealed the pull was more likely due to a lack of funds.

"We had been trying to create a big Broadway-style production," McGuckian told him, but it was too much for just two cities.

At press time, there were no estimations of what might fill the gap at the Princess of Wales Theatre between The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, which ends April 20, and The Sound of Music, which opens in October.

Mirvish Vice-President of Communications, John Karastamatis, however, assured Michael Posner that they would "find another terrific show for subscribers".

Meanwhile, the thirty-six (36) Canadians in the cast and creative team are now out of work.

"Our cancelling of this show has nothing to do with Donna Feore, whom we can't praise highly enough," said McGuckian.

In an interview from her Stratford home, Feore, who last directed Oklahoma! (2007) at the Festival, told Ouzounian that she is "saddened that the producers were unable to put together the venues that were required to make this a commercially viable show."

Rehearsals were slated to begin in five weeks' time, and would have included Kyle Blair, Keith Dinicol, Susan Henley, and Mary Ann McDonald.

San Francisco Expecting Stratford Alumni

Principle casting for the Canadian premiere of Ha'Penny Bridge (2008), announced yesterday, includes beloved Stratford alumni Kyle Blair (known to musical audiences as Will Parker, Noah Claypole, and Ambrose Kember); Keith Dinicol (who has, in 24 seasons, been in more than 60 productions); Susan Henley (just three seasons), and Mary Ann McDonald (last in The Sound of Music [2002]).

Musical director and choreographer Donna Feore, whose Stratford credits include Oliver! (2006) and Oklahoma! (2007), will be heading up this touring production.

Ha'Penny Bridge is the tale of "a love torn apart in a country divided". Molly Cassidy (Broadway's Anika Larsen) and the "handsome and quick-witted" George Aitkin (Kyle Blair, pictured above in guess what?) meet in 1922 Dublin, in the midst of the civil war. And he a Londoner. What chance has their love of surviving?

An Irish musical, Ha'Penny Bridge (2008) is characterised as "Broadway bound" by Playbill, though neither a tentative date or theatre has been issued - even tentatively.

Ha'Penny Bridge (2008) will run in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre May 16 to June 29, 2008, before moving to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre on July 6, 2008.