Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture

Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture was edited by Irene Gammel and published by the University of Toronto Press in August 2002. This volume contains a collection of essays, many of which were presented as papers at the 4th Biennial Conference on L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture held by the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island in 2000. The articles examine the various ways that L.M. Montgomery's works and characters, such as Anne Shirley, have become an enduring cultural phenomenon.

Here is the description of the volume from the University of Toronto Press:

Since the publication of Anne of Green Gables in 1908, L.M. Montgomery and the world of Anne have propelled themselves into a global cultural phenomenon, popular not only in Canada, but in places as diverse as Japan, the United States, and Iran. Making Avonlea, the first study to focus on Montgomery and her characters as popular cultural icons, brings together twenty-three scholars from around the world to examine Montgomery's work, its place in our imagination, and more specifically its myriad spin-offs including musicals, films, television series, t-shirts, dolls, and a tourist industry.

Invoking theories of popular culture, film, literature, drama, and tourism, the essayists probe the emotional attachment and loyalty of many generations of mostly female readers to Montgomery's books while similarly scrutinizing the fierce controversies that surround these books and their author's legacy in Canada. Twenty-five illustrations of theatre and film stills, artwork, and popular cultural artefacts, as well as snapshot pieces featuring personal reflections on Montgomery's novels, are interwoven with scholarly essays to provide a complete picture of the Montgomery cultural phenomenon. Mythopoetics, erotic romance, and visual imagination are subjects of discussion, as is the commercial success of various television series and movies, musicals, and plays based on the Anne books. Scholars are equally concerned with the challenges and disputes that surround the translation of Montgomery's work from print to screen as well as the growth of tourist sites and websites that have themselves moved Avonlea into new cultural landscapes. Making Avonlea allows the reader to travel to these sites and to consider Canada's most enduring literary figures and celebrity author in light of their status as international icons almost one hundred years after they first arrived on the scene.

Reviews

'Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture is an impressive book ... The significance and importance of its attempt to trace the impact of Anne of Green Gables on popular culture can neither be underestimated nor minimized, and its scope - from novel, to film, to television, to theatre - is extraordinary. The project Gammel has undertaken is ambitious, and the book lives up to its promise ... [It] is a text that will appeal to general readers, cultural studies critics, women's studies specialists, Canadian literature scholars, theorists of popular culture, among many others. Its potential audience is large, and its subject matter provocative, timely, and compelling.'
Priscilla Walton, Department of English, Carleton University

'This is an outstanding book that breaks new ground in gender studies, popular culture studies, and children's literature. The collected essays focus on a fascinating range of topics, including Anne of Green Gable dolls, Anne clubs in Japan, Anne of Green Gables on the Internet, and Anne of Green Gables' house. Due to its unique focus on Anne of Green Gables and popular culture, anyone could find something of interest in this work. It is a ground-breaking book, one of the most important studies on Anne of Green Gables and L.M. Montgomery to be published in years.'
Sherrie Inness, Department of English, Miami University, Ohio

The book includes the following content and essays:

Making Avonlea: An Introduction by Irene Gammel

I. Mapping Avonlea: Cultural Value and Iconography

1. Anne of Green Gables Goes to University: L.M. Montgomery and Academic Culture by Carole Gerson
2. Anatomy of a 'National Icon': Anne of Green Gables and the 'Bosom Friends' Affair by Cecily Devereux
3. Confessions of a Kindred Spirit with an Academic Bent by Brenda R. Weber
4. Taking Control: Hair Red, Black, Gold, and Nut-Brown by Juliet McMaster
5. 'This has been a day in hell': Montgomery, Popular Literature, Life Writing by Margaret Steffler
6. The Visual Imagination of L.M. Montgomery by Elizabeth R. Epperly
7. Writing in Pictures: International Images of Emily by Andrea McKenzie
8. Safe Pleasures for Girls: L.M. Montgomery's Erotic Landscapes by Irene Gammel

II. Viewing Avonlea: Film, Television, Drama, and Musical

9. 'It's all mine': The Modern Woman as Writer in Sullivan's Anne of Green Gables Films by Eleanor Hersey
10. Who's Got the Power? Montgomery, Sullivan, and the Unsuspecting Viewer by K.L. Poe
11. 'She look'd down to Camelot': Anne Shirley, Sullivan, and the Lady of Shalott by Ann F. Howey
12. Road to Avonlea: A Co-production of the Disney Corporation by Benjamin Lefebvre
13. Melodrama for the Nation: Emily of New Moon by Christopher Gittings
14. Paul Ledoux's Anne: A Journey from Page to Stage by George Belliveau
15. Snapshot: Listening to the Music in Anne of Green Gables: The Musical by Carrie MacLellan

III. Touring Avonlea: Landscape, Tourism, and Spin-off Products

16. Towards a Theory of the Popular Landscape in Anne of Green Gables by Janice Fiamengo
17. Mass Marketing, Popular Culture, and the Canadian Celebrity Author by E. Holly Pike
18. Through the Eyes of Memory: L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish by James De Jonge
19. Consumable Avonlea: The Commondification of the Green Gables Mythology by Jeanette Lynes
20. Snapshot: Making Anne and Emily Dolls by Tara MacPhail
21. Snapshot: My Life as Anne in Japan by Tara Nogler
22. Taishu Bunka and Anne Clubs in Japan by Danièle Allard
23. Avonlea in Cyberspace, Or an Invitation to a Hyperreal Tea Party by Alice Van Der Klei

Epilogue: A Letter from Germany by Beate Nock


Image credit:
Scan of my book cover of Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture.

Purchase and read Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture:


Created September 10, 2002. Last updated August 14, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Anne of Green Gables — The Musical (1965)

Anne of Green Gables — The Musical (1965) is based on the novel Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Its music was composed by Norman Campbell, and the book is by Don Harron. The lyrics were written by Don Harron and Norman Campbell, with additional lyrics by Mavor Moore and Elaine Campbell. It was directed and choreographed by Alan Lund.

At the premiere in 1965, Anne Shirley was portrayed by Jamie Ray. Barbara Hamilton played Marilla Cuthbert, Peter Mews played Matthew Cuthbert, and Dean Regan played Gilbert Blythe. The stage musical was based on the 1956 Anne of Green Gables musical film that was produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and directed by Don Harron.

The musical is notably the longest running musical in Canadian history. After its premiere in 1965, the production ran every summer for more than 50 years at the Charlottetown Festival, which is hosted by the Confederation Centre of the Arts. Performances paused during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the musical returned to the stage in 2022. According to the Confederation Centre of the Arts, "Starting in 2024, Anne of Green Gables–The Musical™ will be playing on the mainstage every two years (biennially) coinciding with the 150th birthday of Lucy Maud Montgomery."

I saw this musical in Charlottetown in 2006, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The script is available is available through Concord Theatricals.

A cast recording of the musical was released by The Charlottetown Festival and you can listen to it at Amazon Music. The album includes the following 19 songs:

1. Overture / Great Workers for the Cause / Where Is Matthew Going?

2. Gee I'm Glad I'm No-One Else but Me

3. We Clearly Requested a Boy

4. The Facts

5. Humble Pie

6. Apology

7. Back to School

8. Wond'rin'

9. Did You Hear?

10. Ice Cream

11. Summer

12. Kindred Spirits

13. Open the Window

14. I'll Show Him

15. General Store

16. If It Hadn't Been for Me

17. Anne of Green Gables

18. The Words

19. Wond'rin' (Reprise)

Purchase the Anne of Green Gables — The Musical cast recording:

Official Site:
Anne of Green Gables — The Musical at the Confederation Centre of the Arts

Image Credit:
Anne of Green Gables — The Musical promotional image by the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Reference:
Confederation Centre of the Arts. Anne of Green Gables — The Musical™ to return to The Charlottetown Festival in 2024. Retrieved from: https://confederationcentre.com/anne-of-green-gables-the-musical-to-return-to-the-charlottetown-festival-in-2024/

Created August 15, 2002. Last updated July 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Anne (1998)

Anne (1998) is a play adapted by Paul Ledoux from the novel Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. The play premiered at the Young People's Theatre in Toronto, Ontario on April 5, 1998 and was directed by Patricia Vanstone. Jennie Raymond, a native of Prince Edward Island, starred as Anne Shirley. The cast featured Janet Amos as Marilla Cuthbert, Robin Craig as Rachel Lynde,
Jerry Franken as Matthew Cuthbert, Catherine Gatotos as Diana Barry, Carolyn Hay as Josie Pye, Jamie Robinson as Gilbert Blythe, and Eliza-Jane Scott as Ruby Gillis.

The two-act play is 125 minutes long. Its script was published in 1999 by Playwrights Canada Press.

The play is described as follows:
"They wanted a young boy from the orphanage to help out around the farm. Instead, Matthew and Marilla got the irrepressible Anne Shirley. Their lives and the community of Avonlea would never be the same again."

A review in Variety described the production, saying: "What Ledoux has created is a rich evocation of turn-of-the-century life on tiny Prince Edward Island, with Anne at its center. In his hands Marilla and Matthew, Anne’s adoptive parents, and nosy neighbor Rachel Lynde, come alive as powerful archetypes whose gentle story is deeply sentimental, but never saccharine in its delivery of a timely message about the importance of community."

The play is available at the Canadian Play Outlet.

Image Credit:
Cover of Anne published by the Playwrights Canada Press.

References:

Friedlander, Mira. (1998, May 11). Anne. Variety. Retrieved from: https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/anne-1200453779/

Young People's Theatre. Young People's Theatre Production History 1966 to 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.youngpeoplestheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ALL-SEASONS-revised-Fall-2021.pdf

Created August 15, 2002. Last updated May 8, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Wooden Hill (1994)

The Wooden Hill (1994) is a play by the Canadian playwright and novelist Don Hannah about the life of L.M. Montgomery. The play made its world premiere at the Canadian Stage in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1994. It was directed by Bob Baker.

Don Hannah based the play on L.M. Montgomery’s recently published journals. In the play, it is 1942, and Montgomery is nearing the end of her life. She looks back on her experiences, including her grief over her mother’s death, her difficulties pleasing her father, her relationship with her strict grandparents, her dissatisfying marriage, and her career as a writer.

The play is 120 minutes long. The script is available through the Canadian Play Outlet.

The Wooden Hill was honored with the AT&T OnStage Award. In addition, the play received a Dora Mavor Moore Nomination.

The play is described as follows:
“A dream play that takes place in 1942 at the end of L.M. Montgomery's life.”


Image Credit:
Graphic by The World of Anne Shirley.

References:
Don Hannah’s Official Website.
The Wooden Hill by Don Hannah at the Canadian Play Outlet.

Created August 15, 2002. Last updated June 18, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Songs of the Island (2002)

Songs of the Island (2002) is a musical tribute to L.M. Montgomery by Hank Stinson. This musical revue premiered at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island, Canada in the summer of 2002. Songs of the Island was developed by The Castle Company, a Prince Edward Island-based musical theatre company.

Hank Stinson wrote the full text and lyrics, with the exception of the quotes and excerpts from L.M. Montgomery’s novels Emily of New Moon, Rainbow Valley and The Blue Castle. The revue also quotes the lyrics for "Peace," which was written by L.M. Montgomery in the article “Prince Edward Island” for the book, The Spirit of Canada: Dominion and Provinces (1939). In addition, musical includes five excerpts from L.M. Montgomery’s autobiography The Alpine Path.

In the musical’s dialogue, the performers explain that they consider the best way to learn about Maud is by reading her letters, poems, short stories, and novels, and that, “The key to understanding Maud is though her characters.” They emphasize that there is more to L.M. Montgomery than Anne of Green Gables. Thus, the musical revue aimed to show additional facets of Montgomery’s character by focusing on songs and scenes from Stinson’s previous musicals on L.M. Montgomery’s works: Emily of New Moon, Rainbow Valley and The Blue Castle. The music for The Blue Castle was by Hank Stinson with additional music by Helen MacRae. The music for Emily of New Moon and Rainbow Valley was by Dean Burry. Interspersed between the songs, the performers discuss the similarities between L.M. Montgomery and her characters.


Image Credit:
Graphic by The World of Anne Shirley.

References:
The Castle Co. Webpage (archived).
Songs of the Island at The Castle Co. (archived).
Dean Burry's Official Website

Created August 15, 2002. Last updated June 18, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Rainbow Valley (2000)

Rainbow Valley (2000) is a musical play by Hank Stinson and Dean Burry that was based on the novel Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery. This musical was commissioned following the success of their collaboration in creating the musical Emily of New Moon in 1998. Hank Stinson wrote the script and lyrics for Rainbow Valley in the late 1990s, and Dean Burry composed the music. The musical was developed by The Castle Company, a Prince Edward Island-based musical theatre company.

Rainbow Valley premiered at the Stage Door Theatre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Canada in March 2000. Later, the musical went on to have a 140-show run at the Avonlea Village in Prince Edward Island. In 2002, portions of the musical were included as part of Hank Stinson’s Songs of the Island: A musical tribute to L.M. Montgomery at the Charlottetown Festival.

Rainbow Valley is a musical play in two acts. There is also a one-act version of the script for a smaller cast.

The musical is described as follows:
“Rainbow Valley centers around the lives of four boisterous children, their single father, his reluctant sweetheart, and a destitute home-girl, Mary Vance. The children lack the one thing that would make their house a home. The minister lacks the one thing that would make him truly happy. And Mary Vance? She finds the one thing she has been waiting for all her life. And in doing so she brings all the other things together.”


Image Credit:
Graphic by The World of Anne Shirley.

References:
The Castle Co. Webpage (archived)
Dean Burry's Official Website
Cole, Sally. (2018, November 3). Bringing L.M. Montgomery's 'Rainbow Valley' to the stage on P.E.I. Saltwire. Retrieved from: https://www.saltwire.com/prince-edward-island/lifestyles/bringing-lm-montgomerys-rainbow-valley-to-the-stage-on-pei-256118/

Created August 15, 2002. Last updated June 17, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Emily of New Moon (1998)

Emily of New Moon (1998) is a musical by Hank Stinson and Dean Burry that was based on the novel Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery. Hank Stinson adapted the story for the stage, writing the book and lyrics, and Dean Burry composed the music. The musical was created by The Castle Company, a Prince Edward Island-based musical theatre company.

Emily of New Moon premiered at the Stage Door Theatre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Canada in 1998. Shows continued throughout the summer of 1998 at the historic Beaconsfield House in Charlottetown. In 2002, portions of the musical were included as part of Hank Stinson's Songs of the Island: A musical tribute to L.M. Montgomery at the Charlottetown Festival.

Emily of New Moon is a musical in one act. It is approximately 60 minutes long.

The musical is described as follows:
“Emily Byrd Starr, recently orphaned, goes to live with her stern Aunt Elizabeth Murray, her loving Aunt Laura and her whimsical Cousin Jimmy. She makes friends and enemies among the children in her new community and uses all her experiences as grist for her burgeoning writing career.”


Image Credit:
Image from The Castle Co. Webpage (archived).

References:
The Castle Co. Webpage (archived).
Dean Burry's Official Website
 
Created August 15, 2002. Last updated June 17, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Blue Castle (1993)

The Blue Castle: A Musical Love Story (1993) is a musical by Hank Stinson adapted from the novel The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Stinson composed the musical and it featured additional music by Helen MacRae. The musical was created for The Castle Company, a Prince Edward Island-based musical theatre company. In 1992, the musical won the Theatre Prince Edward Island New Voices Playwrighting Contest.

Following workshops at the Muskoka Festival, the first community production of The Blue Castle took place in Prince Edward Island in 1993. There was a larger community production in 1994 at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown. In 1995, the professional debut took place at the Oakville Summer Theatre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

The Blue Castle is a two-act musical. There are two versions of the script for either a small or a large cast. The musical length runs for 1 hour and 20 minutes for the small cast version and 1 hour and 30 minutes for the large cast version.

The musical is described as follows:
“Based on the L.M. Montgomery novel, The Blue Castle tells the story of spinster Valancy Stirling's escape from her stultifying home life, her quest for identity, and her awakening as a woman. She is a true hero; a glowing example of courage and determination in the face of the unknown; ‘It's only when you realize that no one else is going to take care of you that you begin to take care of yourself.’”


Image Credit:
Adapted screencaptures from The Castle Co. webpage (archived).

Reference:
The Castle Co. webpage (archived).

Created August 15, 2002. Last updated June 17, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com