PEI

Matthew and Marilla cast for Charlottetown Festival

The Charlottetown Festival has completed its casting for 2017's Anne of Green Gables—The Musical.

Complete cast for Anne of Green Gables has now been announced

Susan Henley and George Masswohl will star as Marilla and Matthew in the 2017 production of Anne of Green Gables. (Submitted)

The Charlottetown Festival has completed its casting for 2017's Anne of Green Gables—The Musical.

George Masswohl and Susan Henley will join the previously announced cast as Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert.

Masswohl is returning to the festival after an almost 20-year absence, having performed in Johnny Belinda in 1998. He has been a regular at the Stratford and Shaw festivals since.

Transported by Anne

Masswohl said performing in Anne has a personal significance for him.

"My mother — another Anne with an E — as a girl, was so transported by L.M. Montgomery's work that she took her first opportunity to emigrate from Scotland to Canada," he said.

"She wouldn't set foot on the island of her dreams until that summer I was at the festival. I'm hoping she'll be able to make the trip this season. It would be a great honour to bring Matthew to life in her presence."

Henley is a veteran of the festival and of Anne, having previously played Mrs. Lynde. She also appeared in Spoon River, Evangeline, and Canada ROCKS! 

The show, which is the world's longest running musical, will be directed by Confederation Centre of the Arts artistic director Adam Brazier. Brazier is planning a major revisions to the production over the next three years.

Corrections

  • The Charlottetown Festival's original news release said George Masswohl was in A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. He was in fact in Johnny Belinda.
    May 09, 2017 2:18 PM AT