'Astonishing': Anne of Green Gables performs its 2500th show

The Confederation Centre of the Arts marks a significant achievement today as  Anne of Green Gables — The Musical performed its 2,500th show, a major milestone for the world's longest-running annual musical production.

Adam Brazier, artistic director for the Charlottetown Festival and Confederation Centre of the Arts, said 2,500 shows is a proud accomplishment for the classic story.

"When these dates creep up, everybody gets a little bit of buzz in Charlottetown," he said.

"Two thousand and five hundred performances of Anne of Green Gables the Musical has taken place here. That's astonishing — it shows the enduring quality of the story and this production."

Anne a 'part of this Island'

The musical is in the record books as the longest-running annual musical theatre production, being on stage in Charlottetown every summer since 1965.

"No other company in the world does the same show every year. We have the opportunity to do that because it is so intrinsically a part of this island," Brazier said.

"People come from all over the world to experience that and experience this musical."

Charlottetown Festival an 'economic engine'

This is Brazier's first year directing the musical, but he's no stranger to the festival and the story behind P.E.I.'s most iconic character. 

"The Charlottetown Festival as a whole is one of the largest economic engines on this Island, and Anne is the flagship production," he said.

"[Anne] continues to be a rock and a foundation in which we are able to build upon. There's still a great universal interest in this story."

The show really embraces everything that a musical is suppose to be, he added.

"Its story is told brilliant through song, brilliantly through script and brilliantly through dance."

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