Customer Reviews

Anne and Gilbert, The Musical

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The musical "Anne And Gilbert" by Nancy White, Bob Johnston and Jeff Hochhauser is based upon the L.M. Montgomery novels "Anne of Avonlea" and "Anne of the Island." When we left Anne Shirley at the end of "Anne of Green Gables," she had come around a bend in the road and had realized that Gilbert Blythe was going to be the man she would marry. But when the surprising success of her novel dictated a sequel, Montgmoery backed off of her original conclusion and had Anne and Gilbert make it through two more novels before the scales fell from her eyes and she finally accepted Gilbert's proposal. For all those who have enjoyed the long-running "Anne of Green Gables" musical it is great news to know that the story continues and that we have this CD to tide us over until we can make our way back to Prince Edward Island.

This musical, which premiered last year at Edwardian-era Victoria Playhouse outside of Charlottetown (and which is slated to run July to September at the Jubilee Theatre in Summerside, PEI), plays out the love story of Anne (Marla McLean) and Gilbert (Peter Deiwick) as they spend time teaching on PEI and then studying at Redmond Unviersity in Halifax. Obviously I have not seen the show yet, but I know the two novels well enough to be able to piece together what happens. We find ourselves back on PEI where the locals tell us what it means to show "You're Island Through and Through." Gilbert is also teaching and while all of the girls swoon over "Mr. Blythe," it is Josie Pye (Natalie Sullivan) who has set her cap for him, figuring he cannot wait for Anne forever.

But Anne is caught up in her romantic ideals, personified by the story she has written and "Averil's Ideal." For Anne and Gilbert, being "Carried Away by Love" means different things. So he spends his time grading papers on "Saturday Morning" and resisting Josie's advances ("Hello Gilbert!"), knowing that with someone like Anne, "All You Can Do Is Wait." Meanwhile, Diana (Sarah Sheps) has added some bits about Rollings Reliable Baking Powder to Anne's short story and gotten it published ("Averill's Ideal Reprise"). The idea of a career as a writer beckons to Anne who feels "Someone Handed Me the Moon." To push Anne out of the nest, Marilla (Laura Smith) asks her friend Mrs. Rachel Lynde (Pam Stevenson) to move in to Green Gables, so that Anne can go off to college along with Gilbert ("The Days Ahead").

Marilla does not want Anne to become a spinster ("When He Was My Beau"), but at college Anne has met debonair millionaire Roy Gardner (Sean C. Robertson), who personifies her ideal but who pointedly does not get a song as a gentle reminder to us he is not really good enough for our Anne. As for Gilbert, while Anne seems to be slipping away he may well be tempted by others ("Hothouse Flower"). But when she writes Diana a letter about Roy all Anne can do is lament that "Gilbert Would Never Compoase a Sonnet To My Eyes." But in the end everybody, even Anne Shirley knows what has been clear from the very beginning: "Gilbert Loves Anne of Green Gables."

My only complaint with this musical is that there is not a song for Anne to sing regarding the book of revelations when Anne finally realizes that it is Gilbert she has always loved and the moment when "Love Takes Up the Glass of Time" and she finally says yes. But then Leonard Bernstein could never write an aria for Maria to sing at the end of "West Side Story" and it could well be that the musical sticks more directly to Montgomery's final two chapters in "Anne of the Island" (I should point out that I used Anne's "I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want YOU" as part of my wedding vows, so I was especially hoping to hear that as a song). Besides, these are "Selected Songs Performed by the Original Cast," so maybe there is more to be heard.

That aside this is an utterly charming musical. There are some wonderful harmonies on the first two tracks and "Gilbert Wold Never Compose a Sonnet to My Eyes," and Laura Smith singing Marila's "When He Was My Beau" will reduce you to tears ("Open up your eyes and see the man who's waited"). For me the most romantic character is Gilbert, because he has to wait for the woman he loves to come to her senses. The poor guy has to wait the entire two-and-a-half-hours of the musical for that to happen and all things considered my favorite track is when Deiwick as Gilbert sings "All You Can Do is Wait":

All I can do is wait
All I can be is optimistic
All I can do is sigh
All I can do is try
Try not to tell you I love you when you walk by
Trr to believe in fate
When you love someone like that
All you can do is wait

That opening stanza alone shows you the simple elegance that you will find throughout these songs. Now the only question is how long will I be willing to wait to see this musical in person.

Twenty-one scenes are arranged around twenty-eight songs. The lyrics and music are wonderful. Musical Director, Lisa St. Clair oversaw the first delivery of many future classics, songs like, "Your Island through and through," during which the youthful cast members join in traditional dance, and "Our Duty," in which Marilla and Rachel Lind profess their Presbyterian motivation.

The sung delivery of the majority of verbal exchange allows the actors emotional command over the audience. The song "Hot House Flower" explains,symbolically, a very pivotal episode in the play, when Anne is forced to be true to herself. Dances and blocking are masterfully choreographed with the music.

I am a huge anne of green gables fan. I was in Anne of green gables the two act musical. While in it i found out about Anne and Gilbert. The songs fully cature the spirit of Anne. I pre prderd this cd. It still is the cd i listen to most.
Mr. Blythe is a very fun song
Fallingin love with love is the bvest duet
Days ahead is the best group song and the part where Phil talks about her Beaus is the funny est part of the entire cd
Hot house flower is a great song of Gilberet telling Anne that he knows what will make her happy in the long run

The final track on this CD is a rousing east coast styled jig called "You're Island Through and through" that is a real gem.

The original score for ANNE OF GREEN GABLES - as charming as it is - doesn't really have a lot of musical flavor of the east coast, going for a more generic Broadway sound. In ANNE & GILBERT songwriters Nancy White and Bob Johnston weave a good deal of local flavor into the songs and it gives the score a special lift.

The show has been reworked somewhat since this CD was released. Some songs have been added and the order has been changed. "You're Island Through and through" actually occurs early in Act One and is reprised late in Act Two. Nevertheless it does provide a fetching ender for the CD.

There are a number of other great songs here, including two arias for Anne: "Someone Handed Me The Moon" and "Gilbert Would Never Compose a Sonnet to My Eyes." The best part is that you don't really need to know the story because the songs are so richly detailed in character.

The performers here are acceptable, although the stage cast that toured Ontario in the fall of 2008 was better. (After all, they had had weeks of rehearsal to get into their characters.)

If you are a fan of books, the original musical or the TV film(s) you will want this CD.

The songs faithfully capture the musical show, with the only complaint being that the CD does not include ALL of the selections from the show.