The Happy Prince

We’re thrilled to introduce the participants of the 2019/2020 New Musical Program! These talented emerging writers are working on a brand new TYA adaptation of The Happy Prince

This brand new children’s musical will open as a part of the 2020 Edmonton International Fringe Festival! More information on the production will be available in Spring 2020.

Emily is absolutely honoured to be working with AMTC and to be selected for the emerging musical writers program! Emily is an emerging musical theatre composer, lyricist, playwright, and actor. While studying musical theatre at Pace University in lower Manhattan, she studied writing under the mentorship and guidance of composer Ryan Scott Oliver, who helped her discover her love for composing. Collaborative works include Privilege (Schaeberle Theatre, Don’t Tell Mama, 54 Below) and TYA musical The Legend of Hayley (54 Below). She wrote an original score for Angels in America, directed by J.V. Mercanti, which was performed at Pace University. Her songs have also been featured in concerts and cabarets throughout NYC. Her original musical Brave Girl, about Canadian female infantry soldiers training for combat, was work shopped at the Stage One Festival in 2018, and premiered at Lunchbox Theatre/ Forte Musical Theatre in the fall of 2018. Brave Girl was recently nominated for a Betty Mitchell award for outstanding musical production. Emily attended the Musical Theatre Writer’s Lab at the Toronto-based Eclipse Theatre Company, and was then commissioned to write a TYA musical through Eclipse with her collaborators entitled Foozies. The piece was privately work shopped through Eclipse in January 2019. Emily recently participated in the RBC playwriting mentorship program, where she began writing a semi-autobiographical play about her grandmother’s struggle with dementia, currently titled Duct Tape Mansion. Emily was recently accepted into the creative writing optional residency program at UBC, and is working towards her MFA in creative writing. She holds a diploma in theatre performance from MRU, and a BFA in musical theatre from Pace University. 

Simon is a playwright and performer based in Calgary, AB. His produced works include; Pistachio Crumble, which won Outstanding Production at the Calgary One Act Play Festival and played a successful run at the Calgary Fringe Festival in 2014, and Queenpins of Ponoka, which was produced by Sour Dog Theatre in 2016. Simon is lucky to have been involved in the collaborative co-creation or development of many other plays as both a writer and actor, including co-creating The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus with Third Street Theatre, and several workshops for Return to Treasure Island, a world-premier children’s musical. As a performer, Simon has worked with many companies in Calgary including StoryBook Theatre, The Shakespeare Company, ATP and Theatre Calgary’s Shakespeare in the Park, and he has a passion for musical theatre performance. He is a graduate of Mount Royal University’s Theatre Performance Program and at the National Music Festival of Canada in 2018, Simon won First Place in Musical Theatre. He is totally honoured to work with Alberta Musical Theatre Company and to collaborate with Emily in bringing this beautiful story to life!

Farren is an Edmonton-based actor, writer and director. He became the Artistic Director of Alberta Musical Theatre Company in 2006, and has since written and directed a number of productions for the company, including Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Rumpelstiltskin, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Hansel and Gretel. Other directing credits include Songs for a New World at the 2005 Edmonton Fringe Festival; Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for the Mayfield Theatre; Everybody Goes to Mitzi’s and The Infinite Shiver for Teatro La Quindicina (both of which he also wrote the lyrics for); Pippin for the Young Companies at the Citadel Theatre; The Light in the Piazza for Grant MacEwan University; and Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale for the C'Mon Ensemble at the 2018 Edmonton Fringe Festival. Acting credits include Made in Italy for Western Canada Theatre; The Light in the Piazza for Theatre Calgary; As You Like It and Coriolanus for Freewill Shakespeare Festival; Shakespeare in Love, Peter and the Starcatcher, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Monty Python’s Spamalot for the Citadel Theatre; Marvellous Pilgrims, The Scent of Compulsion and A Rocky Night for His Nibs For Teatro La Quindicina; Waiting for Godot for Wishbone Theatre; Early Bloomer for Concrete Theatre and Little Shop of Horrors for the Mayfield Theatre. Farren has been honoured by the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes on a number of occasions, most recently for his performances in Made in Italy and Monty Python’s Spamalot, as well as for his direction of AMTC's Pinocchio. In 2015, Farren was included in Avenue Magazine’s prestigious list of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40, in recognition of his artistic contributions to the city. This season, in addition to his work at Alberta Musical Theatre Company, Farren can be seen at The Citadel Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in a Beatles-inspired version of Shakespeare's As You Like It.