A must for a Philly girl, like me.
I parked in front of the Confederation Centre and made my way to the waterfront in search of the sites listed in my (very many) guidebooks. I only had about an hour before the sites closed and wanted to cram in as much as possible. A bit of confusion on my part had me heading straight for Founder's Hall, thinking that it was Province House. (I think it only dawned on my about five minutes into my tour in Founder's Hall! Yes, I felt a tiny bit dumb!)
Founders hall is a neat multi-media presentation about the history of Canada, housed in an old 1906 building on the waterfront. I really enjoyed this-- I'm not the world's largest history buff, but I like to KNOW about history. And this place does a nice job of turning history into a real story, rather than simply facts and numbers.
Unfortunately, even moving as fast as my long legs could carry me (minus a tiny stop at Cows Ice Cream on the waterfront for a mint chocolate chunk cone), I didn't make it to Province House on time to go inside. I did, however, pass St. Dunstan's basilica on my way up and just turned back towards the basilica to catch 5 pm. mass.
St. Dunstan's is the seat of the Catholic Church on PEI, a restored 19th century building that is spectacularly beautiful inside. Mass, itself, was a little odd for me-- some of the prayers and responses have slightly different wording from the US. And the presiding priest was VERY conservative and literal in his homily, a sharp contrast to the home churches that I love. Besides, it was easy to tell that I was American by my Ay-men versus the Canadian Ah-men (am I the only one who thinks of "Raah-men" from the Flying Spaghetti Monster when I hear that now?)
After mass, I shuffled out to find dinner, gifts, and things to see before the show. Most shops (not on the waterfront) had closed at 6, so I windowshopped my way back to the waterfront. There was still a lot of motion there-- people were pulling their boats out of the water in anticipation of Hurricane Bill's arrival, there was a band playing on the green, and the restaurants were full. I tried to get in at Flex Mussels, but they couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to be served and to eat in such a short period of time, so I hightailed myself back up to the Confederation Centre, promising myself some food from one of the restaurants in the centre itself.
Small world-- I ran into one of the ladies who had been assigned to the VIP room with me and her husband on my walk back up! We chatted for a bit and off I went to immerse myself in the world of "Anne of Green Gables: the Musical."
Review: 4 out of 5 on the Carli scale
Disclaimer: I have issues with any sort of musical. Sorry, but it just is odd to me when people break into song in the middle of a conversation. Notable exceptions are Phantom and Les Mis... maybe the depressing ones? But I turned off my musical dislike for for my vacation and bought a ticket.
Story: It took a bit for me to get into the whole adaptation. The main actors were absolutely charming and there was enough levity that I soon became a part of the story... but i do admit that, at first, I was sitting there, wondering what I was doing there. The story was a light adaptation of the novel with a few changes for laughs, to make the references accessible for an audience unfamiliar with the books, or to move the story along.
The actors: Wonderful acting and singing. As a dance student in the NY area, my view was heavily biased when it came to the dancing, which left a lot to be desired. There were a few good dancers in the cast but it was clear that the choreography catered to hide the weaknesses of most of the cast. Frankly, most of the advanced teenage girls in my classes were better dancers than most of that cast. Heck, my jumps are better. I honestly don't think that most non-dancer audience members would notice, though.
"Anne", herself, was fantastic. "Marilla" had me in tears, and "Matthew" was fun. "Gilbert" was a strong actor and singer. I didn't like "Josie's" dancing at all (the tour jetes were dreadful), but she was otherwise a great actress and singer. "Diana" was sweet.
At intermission, I treated myself to a "dinner" of steamed milk and oat cookies (it was late, okay?) and joined some Japanese tourists in oohing and ahhing over this:
A copy of green gables, created entirely out of sugar by a Japanese fan club and gifted to PEI. It was so detailed!
After the show, it was back to the inn to pack and get ready for an early morning, the radio tuned the entire time to the CBC and their coverage of dear Hurricane Bill's impending approach!
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