What is Missed Connections: A Craigslist Musical?
'Craigslist' is a new original musical out of Canada based on real Craigslist Ads – “Your Personal Ads Set To Music” written by Canadian Humorist Bill Richardson, Indie Folk Artist Veda Hille and Amiel Gladstone. The show features a diverse cast of six actor-musicians; three men and three women. It explores the universal desire for human longing and connection from the perspective of people who post on Craigslist. It was developed and premiered at the Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver, BC, 2012. Craigslist was originally produced in a 20 minute version by Theatre Replacement as a co-commission with PuSh and Theatre Conspiracy, Vancouver, BC, 2009. It has since had productions in Toronto, ON, Calgary, AB, and Edmonton, AB.
From one of the Authors:
"A few years ago, with not much more than fun in mind, we hauled some Craigslist ads free of their moorings. Veda Hille set them to music. With Amiel Gladstone, she put together a cast of Vancouver singing actors and performed the show as a 20-minute musical. It was meant to end there. What we didn’t count on was that, even in that hurried first go-around, we would find the evidence of so much tenderness, folly, and longing. There was more there than we suspected or knew. It was funny, but it was compelling. So, we kept on working, adding, subtracting, rearranging, as one does."- Bill Richardson
Where has Craigslist been?
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World Premier Arts Club Theatre Company, Vancouver, BC
Canada 2012
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Tour of Lower Mainland BC, Arts Club Theatre Company 2013
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Acting Up Stage Company and Factory Theatre
Co-Production, Toronto, ON 2014*
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High Performance Rodeo Festival presented by One Yellow
Rabbit and Alberta Theatre Project, Calgary, AB 2014*
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The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, AB 2014*
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National Arts Centre, Ottawa, ON 2014*
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29 Hour Reading-Shetler Studios, New York, NY, April 2015 Playbill Press Release, Broadway World Press Release
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Backer's Reading-The Theatre Center, New York, NY, June
2015
*Acting Up Stage Company and Factory Theatre Production
To hear more music from the show, visit the GALLERY tab at the top of the page.
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Reading Rehearsal (L to R): Phillip George, Paul Whitty, Rob Marnell, Dawn Cantwell, and Ryan Vona.
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Reading Presentation (L to R); Cameron Barnett, Dan Beegan, Phillip George, Paul Whitty, Rob Marnell, Ryan Vona, and Dawn Cantwell.
Who is the Creative Team behind Craigslist?
Director: Phillip George Off-Broadway: Shout!, Forbidden Broadway Alive and Kicking, Forbidden Hollywood, Whoop-Dee-Doo (Drama Desk Award, Best Musical Revue), The Road to Qatar (York Theatre Company), Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back, Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey (Drama Desk Award, Best Musical Revue), The Remarkable Ruth Fields (1993 Bistro Award, Best Musical Best Director), When Pigs Fly (as Assoc. Director to Mark Waldrop), Blackout (Amas), Bring Me a Dwarf, Miss Pretty Hard (Dance Theater Workshop),Forbidden Broadway 1988–93. London: Kean (nominated for Evening Standard Award, Best Musical), Forbidden Broadway (The Albery, West End & Menier Chocolate Factory), Shout!, Frankly Scarlet (co-author with Peter Morris); Listen to the Wind, Much Revue About Nothing, Forbidden Broadway, The Famous Five, The Arcadians, Escape from Pterodactyl Island (1999 Michael Steward Award). Regionally: Forum (5th Ave Theatre, Seattle), Best Little Whorehouse, Footloose, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Annie Get Your Gun, The Secret Garden (Paper Mill). As a playwright he is currently hard at work on Thrilling Pulp!
Choreographer: Richard J. Hinds is currently the Associate Director for Disney's Newsies! (Broadway/National Tour). He was the Associate for Here Lies Love (NYC/London), the Broadway revival of Jekyll and Hyde and Il Divo: A Musical Affair featuring Heather Headley. Richard's directing/choreography credits include Gateway Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, Flat Rock Playhouse, Capital Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Television credits include Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, America's Got Talent, The Bethenny Show and Good Afternoon America (featuring Liza Minnelli). Richard has been the Associate on 9 to 5 (National/UK Tour), Disney's High School Musical (National/International Tours), Up Here, Come From Away (La Jolla Playhouse), A Christmas Story (Kansas City Repertory Theatre/5th Ave Theatre), The Last Goodbye, The First Wives Club (The Old Globe), Pippin (CTG and Deaf West), A Wonderful Life (Paper Mill Playhouse), and Samsung Unpacked (Radio City Music Hall). www.richardjhinds.com.
Playwright/Composer: Veda Hille has been writing songs, making records and playing shows all over since 1992. She has released 14 albums, all available through her website: vedahille.com. You can also keep track of her various projects there: rock songs for children, an opera about pine trees, complaints choirs, a reworking of a Tchaikovsky opera, and of course always a new record and show coming soon.
Playwright: Amiel Gladstone is a West Coast-based writer and director. As a director, his productions have been both site-specific in unusual venues and in traditional theatres including numerous world premieres for companies such as Alberta Theatre Projects, Acting Up Stage Company, Arts Club Theatre Company, Belfry Theatre, Caravan Farm Theatre, Factory Theatre, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Pacific Opera Victoria, Theatre SKAM, Theatre Replacement, Touchstone Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse and Vancouver Opera. As a playwright, his plays have been produced by the National Arts Centre, Alberta Theatre Projects, the Belfy Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, Caravan Farm Theatre, Solo Collective, Western Edge Theatre, and Theatre SKAM.
Playwright: Bill Richardson is a writer and broadcaster. His books include Bachelor Brothers’ Bed and Breakfast, winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor, and After Hamelin, a novel for children that won the Silver Birch Award. His radio documentaries have twice been award winners at the New York Radio Festival. House of Anansi will publish his new book, “The First Little Bastard To Call Me Gramps,” in the fall of 2015. He lives in Vancouver, B.C. (population 605,000) and Holmfield, Manitoba (population 14).
Join Our Team
CRAIGSLIST is ready for a production in New York City. The show has had successful readings in NYC, and workshops and productions at prestigious regional theatres throughout Canada. Now due to the show's success and popularity, we are preparing the show for an Off-Broadway Production. First, we need to "showcase it."
WHAT WE NEED NOW IS YOUR GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO GET THIS PROJECT ROLLING. YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL GO TOWARDS HIRING A CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM, AND RENTING A THEATRE FOR THE 4 WEEK SHOWCASE.
This your chance to be a part of the show's further development. To show our appreciation for your support, we have come up with some really awesome rewards for your contribution that will make you part of the CRAIGSLIST family.
Spread the Word
Please help us go viral with this campaign by spreading the word about this awesome new musical via email, Facebook, Twitter, good ol' word of mouth, text and picking up the phone. Post this campaign on your social media sites. Email a campaign link to your friends! We greatly appreciate YOUR help. Thank you!!!
Hitting our goal: We will be able to produce our intended showcase premiere of Missed Connections in the Theatre District in New York City Spring 2016.
Exceeding our goal: Missed Connections will have an even more outstanding production with higher quality design in sets, lights and costumes.
Doubling our goal: The show will have increased marketing resources to spread the word on this great show!
Click the GALLERY LINK above......
To check out an interview with some of the creatives and cast from the Acting Up Stage/Factory Theatre Production in Toronto, ON.
Also watch a performance of a song performed at the the Canadian Musical Theatre Writer's Collective and listen to some tracks from the show performed by the composer. They are just demos but will give you an idea of the diverse musical styles in the show.
