Calling all musical theatre fans!
Peterborough’s New Stages Theatre Company is hosting a special cabaret evening full of songs and behind-the-scenes stories from some of Canada’s brightest musical theatre stars. With an unscripted look at life on stage and the opportunity to ask questions, What’s in your Songbook is one show theatre lovers and future musical stars are not going to want to miss.
The second production in New Stages’ 2024-25 season, What’s in your Songbook is coming to Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on Sunday, November 17th at 7 p.m.
“We never know where it’s going to end up, but we do get really great personal stories about why we love what we do, why we do it, how we do it, and the relationships we make over the years doing it,” says Ryan deSouza, the creator of the series and host of the intimate and interactive evening.
A Dora Award-winner, deSouza is in his 24th season as the associate musical director of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Shaw Festival Theatre and is a frequent New Stages collaborator, including on Assassins, A New Brain and, most recently, Let’s Get Randy — a tribute to New Stages founder and former artistic director Randy Read, who gave deSouza his first-ever music directing job.
With a few versions produced as far back as eight years ago, What’s in Your Songbook gained popularity during the pandemic. With the Shaw Festival, deSouza began hosting the segment in donor backyards to entertain audiences during lockdowns. The show proved to be a hit and now, held at Shaw a few times every season, it continues to be a sold-out event.
VIDEO: Hailey Gillis as Natasha in “Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812”
“You often see performers in a 500-seat or 800-seat theatre — or even more sometimes — but it’s different when you’re close to them and watching them tell their story,” deSouza says. “It’s about hearing a song in its raw form, without the polish of rehearsing it 50 times.”
With each production featuring different performers, this time it will be Hailey Gillis and Mike Nadajewski in the spotlight sharing their songs and stories.
A performer, composer, singer, writer, voice actor, and arts educator who has performed across Canada and off-Broadway, Gillis is fresh off the stage as Natasha in the Canadian premiere of Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 in Toronto this summer. In 2023, Gillis won two Dora Awards — Outstanding Musical Direction and Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role — for The Shape of Home and is a New York Times ‘Critics Pick’ award winner.
Nadajewski, who is no newcomer to What’s in Your Songbook as he shared songs for Shaw Festival’s production in past seasons, is a comedian and musician who has headlined multiple musicals at North America’s largest theatre festivals and has been on stages across Canada and on Broadway, as well as in London and New Zealand.
At What’s in Your Songbook, the duo will talk about what they sang at their first audition, what roles they wish they’d been cast in, what their favourite roles and songs to sing are, and whatever else the audience wants to hear about. Audience members will be able to ask their own burning questions with insights from those who know the business through and through.
“We truly love what we do, and I think that is the key to it,” says deSouza. “It’s a chance for us to share why we do what we do, why we love these songs, and maybe share those songs with the people that we get to know over the evening.”
VIDEO: “A Hymn to Him” with Mike Nadajewski
Songs they might sing range from popular show tunes to pop songs and even opera ballads.
“A lot of these songs are ones they would have had in their books for years — maybe songs they wouldn’t usually get to sing, or songs they’ve sung a lot that they love but there’s not that finished polish on it,” deSouza says. “What I hope is the audience hears songs they know and love and maybe also go away with one or two new songs that they might not have heard before.”
Having had his first professional contract with New Stages and now being a regular collaborator, deSouza himself is looking forward to making his return to the Market Hall stage.
“I’ve always met great people in Peterborough, and every time I’ve been there, it’s been a great audience, so I expect no less from this one,” he says. “It will be great.”
What’s in your Songbook will take place at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, November 17th at 7 p.m.
Tickets are priced at $40 ($20 for students, art workers, or the under-employed) and can be purchased in person at the Market Hall box office (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough), by phone at 705-775-1503, or online at tickets.markethall.org.
For more information about New Stages Theatre and its 2024-25 season, visit www.newstages.ca.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be media sponsor of New Stages Theatre Company’s 2024-25 season.
