New Glasgow – The best and brightest young musicians the county has to offer will show off their talent later this month at the Musical Theatre portion of the 72nd annual New Glasgow Music Festival.
Heather Coll, president of this year’s festival, says about 90 young people will participate in the three-day festival, which will run from March 25-27 at North Nova Education centre.
“We have more junior classes this year,” Coll said. “We’ve had many kids graduate, but we have a lot of young kids coming up. I know one teacher is so excited because she has nine entries. There’s lots of new talent coming up.”
It’s great to watch the young people develop through the years, she added.
“You can see the younger students starting out so timid, and then you see them gain their confidence by the time they’re in the senior categories.”
The musical theatre portion of the festival is one of the most entertaining parts of the New Glasgow Music Festival, she said.
“People love watching the music theatre,” she said. “It’s pure entertainment, absolutely fabulous. It’s a performance well worth watching, really a very family-oriented event.”
The seats at the performance centre at North Nova Education Centre typically fill up for the performance, Coll said.
“Every year you think it can’t get any better – and every year it does,” Coll said.
The adjudicator this year is Kevin Power, a Nova Scotia-born singer/actor who now makes his home in Ontario. His stage credits include The Phantom of the Opera (Canadian cast), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserable. In concert, he has appeared with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, in a self-produced Broadway Cabaret/Broadway Jazz show that toured Canada three times, and most recently his new touring show, A Bohemian Cabaret.
As part of the festival, Power will hold a workshop with senior students, Coll said, which will help the students grow their skills.
“It’s really something to observe what the adjudicators can draw out of them,” she said. “They can put the kids at ease in front of all these people, while they’re doing different things than they’ve done before. It’s something that’s fun for the students.”
She believes that the growing interest in the musical theatre festival is likely partially due to the much-anticipated school musicals held in schools around the county.
“They get a little taste of it and get to watch the older kids doing musicals and how much fun it is, getting dressed up in the costumes and using the props,” Coll said. “And we’re so lucky to have teachers here that can teach these kids. We’re fortunate to have such talented teachers who are so willing to pass these skills on to so many young musicians.
Students in Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties will all be able to compete in the festival.
The main festival will run from April 20-30. The Festival of the Stars, where the coveted Rose Bowl is handed out, will be held on May 2 at 2:30 p.m.
