It’s been a minute since I’ve updated Lightbulb Heart news, which rightfully should have included the August 2025 development workshop of FANCY CAT, hosted by Canada’s National Ballet School and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Community One Foundation Rainbow Grant. Special thanks to Monica Default at Carousel Players for her ongoing support of this little show that can.
- Open auditions brought us 6 marvelous humans who joined us for the ride. It was the kind of audition I’d always craved as a performer — honest, humane, and welcoming — I was proud to be part of it.
- The script grew and changed in beautiful ways. Example: we added a completely new character; much to my joy since it allowed us to re-welcome our dear collaborator and therapeutic clown Jody Boston as the school janitor.
- Sid Ryan Eilers’ choreography and direction glued us all together in love and wholeness, with a focus on people over productivity, and still somehow managed an almost completed staging.
- Raphael Roter created amazing orchestrations and new pieces of music that brought my simple melodies into glorious technicolor.
- About 30 people (including three kids!) joined us for an in-person workshop staging.
While fully realized music, choreography, and costumes (by the incomparable Tanis MacArthur) are still on the horizon, I am thrilled to announce that the first kiddos to experience FANCY CAT in all its glory will be library kids! We will perform starting in October 2026 in the Toronto Public Library system, with many festival dates to follow in 2027. More news and details to come as we get closer. In the meantime, please join me in this workshop performance joy captured by Cass Cabral Pucci:
Lightbulb Heart 