A Musi-Call to ArmsCanadian artists have a burning desire to be a part of musical theatre history...so why aren't we?
joel fishbane
The musical is a much maligned art and nowhere has it been more maligned than Montreal, a city which supports the creation of new musicals but has little desire to train its artists in how one actually works. Students who come to one of our many theatrical training programs are not trained in either performing or creating musicals; and if we have been blessed with one or two unique musical events (will Schwartz’s: The Musical be another?) then we have only fortune to thank. Because the schools have certainty not been doing their job.
Simply put, it is deplorable that that none of Montreal’s many theatre schools offer specialized musical theatre training. Nowhere is this more the case then NTS, which claims to be a national theatre school but remains uninterested in teaching its actors, playwrights and directors about an artform that remains a part of our national theatrical identity.
