The Rotary Club of Bracebridge is once again enlisting the talents of local artists to share with Muskoka audiences the joy of performing, and at the same time is helping serve the community by raising funds to help meet the needs of the local hospital. The Rotary Club is pleased to announce that on November 13, 2021 it will stream “All Together Now!”, a musical revue featuring songs from recent and classic musicals performed by local musicians and singers.
Tickets to this one-time event will cost $20 and all profits will go to the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation. The concert is part of a global event made possible by Music Theatre International, the rights holder for the music that makes up the show. MTI has made this remarkable gift of a brand-new musical revue free of charge to schools and theatres around the world in order to support theatrical communities hit hard by the pandemic. Over 1600 schools and theatres in 36 countries have taken up this generous offer, and there will be over 3800 performances of All Together Now! during the weekend of November 12 to 15. Thanks to the local Rotary Club and many enthusiastic volunteers, Muskoka is going to be part of this exciting world-wide event.
Under a production team lead by Neil Barlow and Fran Harvey, supported by Emma Phillips, Earl Sacrey, Jean Polak and many others, the band and cast are being assembled and are already rehearsing the 15 musical numbers that will make up the revue. More than half the songs are from shows previously produced as the “Annual Rotary Musical”, from recent productions such as Mamma Mia! and Matilda the Musical to shows done in previous decades such as My Fair Lady, Oliver! and Guys and Dolls. There will also be a song from Sister Act, the musical produced by the Huntsville Festival of the Arts that was originally scheduled for spring 2020 but is now slated for next spring instead.
All Together Now! is a once in a lifetime global event and also a special, unprecedented occasion for the Rotary Club of Bracebridge. The pandemic has disrupted and delayed many things in our community, including the wonderful Rotary tradition of putting a musical on a Muskoka stage each spring. Rotary’s delightful production of Matilda – The Musical closed to rave reviews in March 2020, just days before the impact of the pandemic began to be felt here in Muskoka. The club is already making plans to resume this grand tradition, but since its next show is not going to happen until the spring of 2023, All Together Now! is a welcome opportunity to reunite local performers and remind its audience that musical theatre remains alive and well in Muskoka.
The Rotary Club of Bracebridge has chosen to use the proceeds of All Together Now! to support the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation and through it our local hospital. The ongoing public health crisis has helped us appreciate more than ever the caring people and necessary health care infrastructure we are so lucky to have in South Muskoka. Through the Foundation, our community can help ensure that the hospital continues to have the up-to-date equipment it needs to keep pace with our community’s wide range of health care needs. Buying a ticket to All Together Now! Is one way to help with this important task.
Tickets will go on sale at the beginning of October, As soon as details of how to support this initiative are available, the ticket purchasing information will be placed on the websites of both the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation (www.healthmuskoka.ca) and the Rotary Club of Bracebridge (https://portal.clubrunner.ca/189/). Any questions in the meantime can be directed to producer Jean Polak at ejpolak@polaklaw.mobi or 705-646-2855.