"Is It Small Enough?": The Issue of Scale in Canadian Musical Theatre

This article asks questions about scale and the writing of musical theatre. Do considerations of being "produce-able" (particularly in the current Canadian theatre ecosystem) affect how writers approach their work? Often, making a new work "produce-able" involves removing any extraneous elements that would create additional costs. This has resulted in a litany of Canadian plays that have small casts, unit sets, and contemporary (read: inexpensive) costumes. Yet, when one considers the issue of produce-ability within the context of musical theatre, there are many more things to consider, including a number of musicians, variety and quantity of singing voices, scope of orchestration, and variety of instrumentation. Writer-Composer Rob Kempson asks a selection of other Canadian musical theatre writers for their thoughts on these questions, and discovers that there is a divide around how the issues of scale and "produce-ability" influences their work. Composers interviewed include Jay Turvey & Paul Sportelli, Jim Betts, Brian Hill & Neil Bartram, Wesley J. Colford, and Scott Christian.