Katie Kerr to return for 2019 production of Mamma Mia!
Kerr first played the role of Sophie during the 2016 Charlottetown Festival
Katie Kerr will be returning to the lead role of Sophie for the 2019 production of Mamma Mia! at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.
Kerr first took the role of Sophie during the 2016 production in Charlottetown. The actor also played the iconic role of Anne Shirley in Charlottetown's production of Anne of Green Gables: The Musical in 2013.
"It's no wonder Katie has since played the role across Canada; she is a tour de force as Sophie," said artistic director Adam Brazier.
Mamma Mia! follows Sophie — played by Kerr — a woman on the verge of marriage who discovers her mother's diary, which reveals the identities of three of her mother's old flames.
After reading the diary, Sophie decides to invite all three men to her wedding and embarks on a journey to figure out which of her mother's old beaus is her father. The story takes place on the Greek islands and unfolds with the help of some of ABBA's greatest hits.
New show
Rebecca Poff is set to star as Sophie's mother, Donna. Poff performed in the Festival's 2018 concert performance of The House of Martin Guerre. She also appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar and Anne of Green Gables: The Musical.
The Festival will officially kick off on June 28 and is slated to close for the season on Sept. 28.
The summer 2019 season will see a new production, Kronborg — The Hamlet Rock Musical, directed by Mary Francis Moore. P.E.I.-born Aaron Hastelow will star as Shakespeare's tormented Hamlet who is plagued by the need to avenge his father's death.
Kronborg — The Hamlet Rock Musical runs from June 28 until July 20.
Hastelow will also be playing Sophie's fiancé, Skye, in the production of Mamma Mia!
Play Reading Series is back
The Watermark Theatre has also announced its lineup for the summer 2019 season.
It will include a production of Boeing Boeing and the Pulitzer Prize winning play Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley.
The Watermark will also bring back its Play Reading Series for a second year and will aim to showcase Prince Edward Island's very own up and coming playwrights.
A selection process will begin over the next few months with the aim to choose three new, unpublished and unproduced plays to showcase during the series, which will take place in August.
Music Reignited series returns
A list of playwrights and plays will be released in spring 2019.
Watermark's Music Reignited series will also return, curated by Rob Oakie, and will show off some of the Island's musicians and their interpretations of classic composers.
A list of confirmed featured musicians will be announced in the coming months.