Anyone who grew up watching Joey Jeremiah and Caitlin Ryan navigate teen life in Degrassi High will have a chance to revisit the groundbreaking show with a trip back to high school this October.
Pat Mastroianni and Stacie Mistysyn, who played the two characters on the CBC television series, are coming to Peterborough and Lindsay for screenings of the 1992 television movie School’s Out that will be followed by live in-person question-and-answer sessions.
The tour stops at St. Peter Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough on Saturday, October 3 and I.E. Weldon Secondary School in Lindsay on Saturday, October 17. Tickets are $55 and include the film, the Q&A, and one regular popcorn and drink.
Actual high schools offer a fitting setting for fans to revisit the fictional students whose experiences helped make Degrassi High a touchstone for generations of viewers.
For those who watched the original broadcasts, many of whom are now in middle age, the screenings will be a chance to reconnect with characters they followed during their own adolescence.
Younger fans who discovered the series through international syndication and cable reruns will also have an opportunity to see two of its best-known actors in person.
Created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood, Degrassi High continued the stories of characters introduced in Degrassi Junior High. The series originally aired from 1989 to 1991 on CBC in Canada and PBS in the United States and tackled issues including abortion, suicide, and HIV/AIDS alongside the everyday challenges of growing up.
After the award-winning series ended, Degrassi High went on to be broadcast in 40 different countries, introducing the students of Degrassi High to new audiences.
“Degrassi was the show that dared to face the challenges facing youth without holding back,” Oak Artist Management states in a media release announcing the tour. “It became a cultural phenom that still holds a vast fanbase for its raw and realistic depiction of teen life.”
Serving as the feature-length finale to Degrassi High, School’s Out premiered on CBC on January 5, 1992 and attracted 2.3 million viewers, roughly twice the series’ usual audience.
Directed by Hood and written by Yan Moore, the film follows the characters over a summer when graduation brings changing relationships and uncertain futures. At its centre is Joey and Caitlin’s relationship, complicated by Joey’s involvement with Tessa Campanelli, played by Kirsten Bourne.
The movie carried the series’ frank approach to adolescence into more mature territory, exploring sex, infidelity, and the consequences of drinking and driving — including a tragic turn involving the character Derek “Wheels” Wheeler (Neil Hope, the actor who portrayed Wheels, later suffered a tragedy of his own).
Although the film closed the chapter of Degrassi High, Mastroianni and Mistysyn later reprised their roles in Degrassi: The Next Generation.
The October appearances will bring the actors together with audiences to revisit the movie and take questions in person. Both local screenings are advertised as all-ages events, with limited general seating.
Tickets are available now at www.oakartistmgmt.com. For tour updates, visit @schoolsbacktour on Instagram.
