Written by the British writing team of Chris Burgess (book and lyrics) and Denise Wright (music), Emerald tells the story of Grace Maguire who abandons her life in Manhattan and moves to the secluded seaside town of Ennismuck, West Ireland. However, as soon as she arrives she clashes with a mining corporation buying up the local properties in order to extract the newly found gold. Grace campaigns to save Ennismuck, and starts a prickly relationship with truculent local artist, Mulcahy. But, beyond these perilous ventures Grace manages to topple the mining company’s monopoly, and eventually, thaw Mulcahy’s frozen heart. Calvin Remsberg directs and Ross Kalling is musical director.
“The musical theatre is full of stories that take place in exotic locales, often fictional but with some basis in reality. Brigadoon never existed but Scotland is real, and Missitucky isn’t really a state, but Finian’s Rainbow takes place there.” says director Remsberg. “In Emerald, we have a fictional Irish village, Ennismuck, but in modern day Ireland. It’s populated with lively Irish characters that create the stories’ charm. It’s always fun to work on something new, and it will be even more fun to see it up on its feet!”
Featured in the cast are Jake Anthony, Adrian Bewley, Noel Britton, Melisa Dunham, Courtney Freed, Christ Warren Gilbert, Randy Guiaya, Scott Guy, Sean Hankinson, David Holmes, Shirley Hughes, Rebecca Johnson, Luke Kipp, Gia Mora, Veronica Frances Scheyving, Stewart Scott, Tedd Szeto, Michael Tatlock, Gabrielle Wagner, Peter Welkin, Erika Whalen, and Jennifer Winkler.
The Lonny Chapman Theatre is located at 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA. $10 tickets can be reserved through the ANMT website at www.anmt.org.
Author: Elise Dewsberry
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc., Elise has been involved in the development of new works for over forty years: as an actor/singer, as a director, as a dramaturge, and as a writer. While living in Toronto, Elise served as the Assistant Artistic Director of the Muskoka Festival; the Co-Ordinator of the festival’s annual Musical Theatre Writer’s Colony, the Associate Dramaturge of the Canadian Stage Company; the Resident Dramaturge of the Smile Theatre Company; and was the co-founder of Toronto’s Script Lab. Elise spent many years touring Canada with Nine Months – a one-woman musical which she commissioned from writers Carl Ritchie and Stephen Woodjetts. Elise and Carl also co-wrote Any Body Home?, which was produced by the Cordova Bay Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia, and published by Dramatic Publishing. Elise joined ANMT as Associate Artistic Director in 2003; joined Founding Artistic Director John Sparks as Co-Artistic Director in 2010; and became Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc. in 2013. Elise is also the author and evaluator of the Book Lab and the Outlining Lab, offered online through www.writingmusicaltheatre.com, and publishes a monthly blog on the craft of musical theatre available at https://nmi.org/elises-video-blog/.