Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Uncategorized · 6th July 2007
Editor, with permission
Controversial life put to song and dance next year
By Mark Allan
Record Staff
Jul 06 2007
Ginger Goodwin, whose death was as controversial as much of his life, will be reborn next year as a musical.
Showcase Festival will stage an original work in 2008, say Jeff Hyslop, founding artistic director, and musical director David Warrack.
In an interview Sunday during a ceremony to mark the Comox Valley’s designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada, Hyslop recalled how the idea first struck him shortly after he moved to Campbell River four years ago.
It began with a stroll through the museum in Cumberland, near where United Mine Workers labour organizer Albert (Ginger) Goodwin was shot and killed by a private policeman in 1918.
“There was this display on the Ginger Goodwin story and the history of the mining and the unions and all of that,” recalled Hyslop, a veteran singer, dancer and actor best known for his star stage role in Phantom of the Opera.
“I suddenly became very interested because it was interesting but, more importantly, he was a redhead,” Hyslop said jokingly.
“I had it in my head that we needed something to be the opposite of Anne of Green Gables on the East Coast. I thought, what better story than this story of B.C. … I wonder what the story is. I hope there’s stuff there.”
Due to the controversy of Goodwin’s life, which provokes strong reactions in the Valley even today, Hyslop said he was confident people would be interested in the story, one way or the other.
Warrack feels the Goodwin story has universal, and international, appeal.
“The facts of this story are so incredible … that so much of the story, the drama is there, and what has to be added to expand it into a stage version is actually very little,” assessed Warrack, who has been musical director for more than 200 productions, including Shenandoah on Broadway.
“And I think the fact there is this controversy surrounding it is a wonderful thing because it is a reality,” Warrack continued. “It’s not something you have to put in there as a dramatic possibility. It exists. It is tremendously controversial and therefore tremendously appealing and entertaining.”
Hyslop addressed the issue of staging an original, untested production versus one that has an established track record.
“I think, more and more, the public wants to discover something and then own it. That’s working to our advantage, by having a prospect like Ginger,” Hyslop said. “The name is familiar, especially in this community.
“They get a chance to go, ‘Yes, that’s ours. This is where we come from, that’s part of our history, now we want the country to hear about it and see about it.’ ”
In that sense, Hyslop said it’s much like the Anne of Green Gables phenomenon.
“Ragtime meets Les Miz” is how Hyslop sees the Goodwin musical.
“There were Chinese, and Japanese and Italians and blacks, Yorkshiremen, people from all walks of life, all in Cumberland, all mining, all forged into this small community.
“The potential of that is heroic, grandiose, melodramatic – it’s all of those things from little old Cumberland,” Hyslop stated.
Hyslop, the director, and Warrack, the writer, are at the first draft stage, which will be followed by a second draft to be workshopped offstage this fall. Another workshop early in the new year “to get it on its feet” will be followed by rehearsals and full performances.
Showcase Festival offers professional theatre in the Comox Valley and Campbell River.
Cultural Capitals of Canada federal funding will make the production possible and Warrack commented how unusual it is to have funding and a director in place before a working script.
Hyslop has already approached somebody about playing the title role.
By Mark Allan
Record Staff
Jul 06 2007
Ginger Goodwin, whose death was as controversial as much of his life, will be reborn next year as a musical.
Showcase Festival will stage an original work in 2008, say Jeff Hyslop, founding artistic director, and musical director David Warrack.
In an interview Sunday during a ceremony to mark the Comox Valley’s designation as a Cultural Capital of Canada, Hyslop recalled how the idea first struck him shortly after he moved to Campbell River four years ago.
It began with a stroll through the museum in Cumberland, near where United Mine Workers labour organizer Albert (Ginger) Goodwin was shot and killed by a private policeman in 1918.
“There was this display on the Ginger Goodwin story and the history of the mining and the unions and all of that,” recalled Hyslop, a veteran singer, dancer and actor best known for his star stage role in Phantom of the Opera.
“I suddenly became very interested because it was interesting but, more importantly, he was a redhead,” Hyslop said jokingly.
“I had it in my head that we needed something to be the opposite of Anne of Green Gables on the East Coast. I thought, what better story than this story of B.C. … I wonder what the story is. I hope there’s stuff there.”
Due to the controversy of Goodwin’s life, which provokes strong reactions in the Valley even today, Hyslop said he was confident people would be interested in the story, one way or the other.
Warrack feels the Goodwin story has universal, and international, appeal.
“The facts of this story are so incredible … that so much of the story, the drama is there, and what has to be added to expand it into a stage version is actually very little,” assessed Warrack, who has been musical director for more than 200 productions, including Shenandoah on Broadway.
“And I think the fact there is this controversy surrounding it is a wonderful thing because it is a reality,” Warrack continued. “It’s not something you have to put in there as a dramatic possibility. It exists. It is tremendously controversial and therefore tremendously appealing and entertaining.”
Hyslop addressed the issue of staging an original, untested production versus one that has an established track record.
“I think, more and more, the public wants to discover something and then own it. That’s working to our advantage, by having a prospect like Ginger,” Hyslop said. “The name is familiar, especially in this community.
“They get a chance to go, ‘Yes, that’s ours. This is where we come from, that’s part of our history, now we want the country to hear about it and see about it.’ ”
In that sense, Hyslop said it’s much like the Anne of Green Gables phenomenon.
“Ragtime meets Les Miz” is how Hyslop sees the Goodwin musical.
“There were Chinese, and Japanese and Italians and blacks, Yorkshiremen, people from all walks of life, all in Cumberland, all mining, all forged into this small community.
“The potential of that is heroic, grandiose, melodramatic – it’s all of those things from little old Cumberland,” Hyslop stated.
Hyslop, the director, and Warrack, the writer, are at the first draft stage, which will be followed by a second draft to be workshopped offstage this fall. Another workshop early in the new year “to get it on its feet” will be followed by rehearsals and full performances.
Showcase Festival offers professional theatre in the Comox Valley and Campbell River.
Cultural Capitals of Canada federal funding will make the production possible and Warrack commented how unusual it is to have funding and a director in place before a working script.
Hyslop has already approached somebody about playing the title role.
