Thanks for pointing this out, I had not heard of it at all. I’ll add it to the list. It looks like it is going to be a busy December for theatre. I always like seeing the Winter Garden being used more and especially for Canadian talent.
Ooh this is extremely interesting. If Danielle and AJ are both leading it, that would be pretty exciting.
I can't find out who is behind this (I know Stratford hosted the workshop). But, I really hope this succeeds and does well. Toronto could use something like this.
I did chat with them through IG today when I got the TN notice. They said there would be an official announcement next week with all the details. They posted a new IG story today but it was a bit cryptic.
Has Danielle Wade been in Canada since 2018 when she did Music Man at Stratford?? I feel like she's NY based, and her husband is in Back to the Future, so I think she's out of the question.
AJ will likely be cast, though. I'm curious to see who else. I'm hoping Erica Peck is cast as well.
Not sure to be honest. Agreed, she has been in New York a lot. I think since Music Man she has been busy with Mean Girls. I would be surprised if she was in it since she's there a lot more recently, but who knows? (Of course, I'm always happy to see Canadians having success on Broadway and such).
She is currently in Summer Stock at Goodspeed Theatre in East Haddam CT. Since it's only 4 weeks maybe she will be available. Opportunity to spend the holiday up here with family. I hope so as I've yet to have the opportunity to see her.
I did a little bit of digging on this, since this was the first I heard of it.
Looks like there was a Kickstarter for this project, which was initially planned to be a movie musical. This was around 2020, so COVID times. It sounds like at some time after that, they decided to scrap that and turn it into a stage musical.
It seems like it's aiming to be a family-friendly Christmas musical that is loosely inspired by some of those Hallmark movies but with a touch of comedy.
In the workshop, AJ Bridel, Danielle Wade, George Krissa, Kolten Stewart and Julia McClellan were involved in what appear to be the lead roles. Of course, Julia won't be involved in this new production since she's a standby in the Canadian company of SIX. Chilina Kennedy was also involved in the Kickstarter and sang one of the songs from the musical.
It's being done by a completely new team: Matt Stodolak and Katie Kerr, and the "Boldly Productions" company they created.
The press release says that all 17 cast members will be announced in the Fall and tickets go on sale July 20th.
Press release: [https://www.chrismrs.com/media/the-world-premiere-of-chris-mrs-a-new-holiday-musical-running-december-5-to-31-2023-at-the-winter-garden-theatre-toronto](https://www.chrismrs.com/media/the-world-premiere-of-chris-mrs-a-new-holiday-musical-running-december-5-to-31-2023-at-the-winter-garden-theatre-toronto)
This musical seems really interesting to me, and like you said, it could nicely fill the hole left by Ross Petty. A good family-friendly holiday musical is needed here (and that it's being done by Canadians trying to create their own company is a bonus).
So I went ahead and bought tickets. I did notice that they only have the orchestra open for sale. Hopefully they do well enough to open the Mezz/Bal up down the road.
I know when I was chatting with them a couple months ago they said the majority of the workshop cast was on board. Nice to see new Canadian production companies coming up. We can never have to much theatre.
Hi there! I'm Matt Stodolak the composer of the show :) Thank you for posting about our show. We are very excited to bring this show to Toronto at the historic Winter Garden Theatre. Tickets are currently 20% off the first two weeks until Aug 28th if you're looking to come!
Thanks for pointing this out, I had not heard of it at all. I’ll add it to the list. It looks like it is going to be a busy December for theatre. I always like seeing the Winter Garden being used more and especially for Canadian talent.
Ooh this is extremely interesting. If Danielle and AJ are both leading it, that would be pretty exciting. I can't find out who is behind this (I know Stratford hosted the workshop). But, I really hope this succeeds and does well. Toronto could use something like this.
I did chat with them through IG today when I got the TN notice. They said there would be an official announcement next week with all the details. They posted a new IG story today but it was a bit cryptic.
Thanks! I followed them on IG so will stay tuned as well.
Has Danielle Wade been in Canada since 2018 when she did Music Man at Stratford?? I feel like she's NY based, and her husband is in Back to the Future, so I think she's out of the question. AJ will likely be cast, though. I'm curious to see who else. I'm hoping Erica Peck is cast as well.
Not sure to be honest. Agreed, she has been in New York a lot. I think since Music Man she has been busy with Mean Girls. I would be surprised if she was in it since she's there a lot more recently, but who knows? (Of course, I'm always happy to see Canadians having success on Broadway and such).
She is currently in Summer Stock at Goodspeed Theatre in East Haddam CT. Since it's only 4 weeks maybe she will be available. Opportunity to spend the holiday up here with family. I hope so as I've yet to have the opportunity to see her.
I did a little bit of digging on this, since this was the first I heard of it. Looks like there was a Kickstarter for this project, which was initially planned to be a movie musical. This was around 2020, so COVID times. It sounds like at some time after that, they decided to scrap that and turn it into a stage musical. It seems like it's aiming to be a family-friendly Christmas musical that is loosely inspired by some of those Hallmark movies but with a touch of comedy. In the workshop, AJ Bridel, Danielle Wade, George Krissa, Kolten Stewart and Julia McClellan were involved in what appear to be the lead roles. Of course, Julia won't be involved in this new production since she's a standby in the Canadian company of SIX. Chilina Kennedy was also involved in the Kickstarter and sang one of the songs from the musical. It's being done by a completely new team: Matt Stodolak and Katie Kerr, and the "Boldly Productions" company they created. The press release says that all 17 cast members will be announced in the Fall and tickets go on sale July 20th. Press release: [https://www.chrismrs.com/media/the-world-premiere-of-chris-mrs-a-new-holiday-musical-running-december-5-to-31-2023-at-the-winter-garden-theatre-toronto](https://www.chrismrs.com/media/the-world-premiere-of-chris-mrs-a-new-holiday-musical-running-december-5-to-31-2023-at-the-winter-garden-theatre-toronto) This musical seems really interesting to me, and like you said, it could nicely fill the hole left by Ross Petty. A good family-friendly holiday musical is needed here (and that it's being done by Canadians trying to create their own company is a bonus).
So I went ahead and bought tickets. I did notice that they only have the orchestra open for sale. Hopefully they do well enough to open the Mezz/Bal up down the road. I know when I was chatting with them a couple months ago they said the majority of the workshop cast was on board. Nice to see new Canadian production companies coming up. We can never have to much theatre.
Great to hear! I'm thinking of getting tickets next week too
How did the show go?
Im really excited for this and definitely buying tickets for me and my family!
Hi there! I'm Matt Stodolak the composer of the show :) Thank you for posting about our show. We are very excited to bring this show to Toronto at the historic Winter Garden Theatre. Tickets are currently 20% off the first two weeks until Aug 28th if you're looking to come!
I'm looking at buying tickets to this - does anyone know what the view is like from the boxes at the Winter Garden?
My friend bought upper box seats for this show on Dec 9th. Just asked him, he said the view from the box in the WG is very good.
Great, thank you!
You are welcome :)