Is there such a thing as the great Canadian musical?

A Canadian musical?  Does such a thing exist?  With the Phantoms and Wickeds of the world getting all the press, it's  sometimes difficult for smaller musicals to get noticed, not the least of which are those created thousands of miles away from the bright lights of Broadway.  Over the next week the Arts Club and Touchstone Theatre companies are exporing ideas to foster more made-in-Canada musical theatre with its In Tune Conference.

Curated by Touchstone’s Artistic Director Katrina Dunn and the Arts Club’s Literary Manager Rachel Ditor, and involving over fifty local and national musical theatre practitioners, the conference will feature master-classes, workshops and panels, all considering how new musicals are created in Canada, and and how to ensure a greate success for those works that are created.

Along with the various industry events, four local new musicals will be developed during the conference with excerpts from each performed at the Arts Club Revue Theatre on April 29 and 30.  Admission to the showscases are by donation.

The four shows in the showcase line-up are: Tornado Girl, an epic tale of vengeance, redemption and love, about a lonely super hero who is indestructible except for her heart; Franklin Falls, about an awkward, selfish fifteen year old boy tries to stop a mall from being built to impress a girl he's obsessed with; The Cardboard House, the story of Lucky and Jamie's escape from the streets; and, Smalltown: A Pickup Musical, about the remaining citizens in a dying town face their future when a big company makes them an offer they can't refuse.

In Tune Conference
25 April - 1 May 2011
Granville Island

Visit http://www.touchstonetheatre.com/in‐tune for more information.