Following a sold-out run at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, the award-winning Arts Club production of Onegin hits the Granville Island Stage this month.
“Onegin wowed Vancouver audiences when it played at the Goldcorp Stage as part of our 2015–2016 season,” Artistic Managing Director Bill Millerd says. “It is great to have this production at the Granville Island Stage so audiences can experience this special show once again.”
When Evgeni Onegin (Alessandro Juliani) visits the Larin family estate, his romantic charms stir passions long forgotten by its residents. Poet Vladimir Lensky’s (Josh Epstein) romantic ideals are challenged after Onegin flirts with his fiancée, Olga Larin (Lauren Jackson), and even the sensible Tatyana Larin (Meg Roe) falls for the handsome rogue. The hit musical moves, shakes, and wakes audiences with its sweeping score, leaving the powerful question swirling in their minds: Look around, look around, look around, do you see someone worth dying for?
Onegin’s premiere run in the spring of 2016 was met with critical acclaim. The show collected ten wins at the 2016 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, making history as the first production to win all but one of the awards in the large theatre category. The wins included Outstanding Production, Actor and Actress (Alessandro Juliani and Meg Roe), Supporting Actor (Josh Epstein), Lighting Design (John Webber), Set Design (Drew Facey), Costumes (Jaqueline Firkins), Composition (Veda Hille and Amiel Gladstone), and Direction (Amiel Gladstone).
On the musical’s remarkable success, Gladstone and Hille say, “What a joy to bring our Onegin to Granville Island! After Craigslist Cantata—a play about disconnection—we wanted to immerse ourselves in something about connection, a story that could challenge our sometimes corseted Canadian sensibilities. We’ve been working on Onegin, making it better and wilder and more full of spirit(s). Here’s to love!”
Granville Island Stage
November 23–December 31, 2017
Mon–Thu at 7:30 PM, Fri & Sat at 8 PM, Wed at 1:30 PM, and Sat at 2 PM
Holiday showtimes: Fri, Dec 29, at 2 PM and Sun, Dec 31, at 2 PM
Tickets from $29 at artsclub.com or the Arts Club Box Office at 604.687.1644