National Arts Centre hopeful for uninterrupted new season after years of disruption

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This article was published 10/05/2023 (1225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – The National Arts Centre has revealed its first full slate of new programming since 2019, betting that years of disruptions are no more.

NAC’s executive director of communications Annabelle Cloutier says the upcoming orchestra, popular music, dance and theatre programs reflect a new optimism following four seasons of uncertainty.

Highlights of the 2023/2024 lineup include the Newfoundland-set Sept. 11 musical “Come From Away” from Aug. 14 to Sept. 1, 2024, and Robert Lepage’s “Le projet Riopelle” from Dec. 14 to 16, 2023, billed as an exploration of the work and life of artist Jean Paul Riopelle.

COVID-19 cases continued to upend shows as recently as March when the page-to-stage adaptation of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s book “Fall On Your Knees” had to scrap seven Ottawa shows due to infections among actors and crew.

During the season before that, truck convoy protests that seized downtown Ottawa forced NAC to close Jan. 28 to Feb. 19, 2022, and Cloutier says that resulted in the cancellation or postponement of two months of shows, on top of previous closures due to pandemic restrictions.

Cloutier says she expects the 2023/2024 season will feel much like pre-pandemic days, with the added benefit of COVID-19 containment protocols now ingrained in staff and performers to mitigate a resurgence.

“I would say we’re hopeful. All the artistic leaders really crafted and curated each of their own programming in dance, theatre, music, orchestra in a way that feels a bit pre-pandemic,” says Cloutier.

“I sense this (season) is going to be finally OK. We’re fully back in terms of programming, and audiences as well I think (are) excited to come back.”

In addition to “Come From Away,” NAC’s new English theatre artistic director Nina Lee Aquino presents the musical “Prison Dancer” Nov. 23 to Dec. 2 from Filipino-Canadian creators Romeo Candido and Carmen De Jesus, and resurrects “The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time” from writer/star Walter Borden Nov. 1 to 11 — a show NAC previously set for February 2022 but was derailed by the Ottawa protests.

Meanwhile, Cree artist Michelle Thrush’s show “Inner Elder” for Indigenous Theatre runs April 11 to 13, 2024 — two years after COVID-19 precautions postponed NAC’s January 2022 show and four years after a scuttled April 2020 show that was part of the Indigenous Theatre department’s waylaid inaugural season.

In other programs, 16 dance shows include Akram Khan’s “Jungle Book reimagined” from Oct. 19 to 21, based on Rudyard Kipling’s story about a human child raised by wolves, and the dance-theatre hybrid “New Creation” from celebrated choreographer Crystal Pite’s company Kidd Pivot from Nov. 2 to 4.

The popular music and variety program features Japanese drum and dance ensemble Drum Tao on Jan. 23, 2024, Canadian children’s entertainer Raffi on Oct. 22 and Indigenous singer Jeremy Dutcher on Nov. 8.

Cloutier says “travel is back” in touting guest performers with the NAC orchestra including pianists Seong-Jin Cho on Oct. 1, Louis Lortie Oct. 25 to 26 and Angela Hewitt on Jan. 16, 2024, with the new year also welcoming violinists Blake Pouliot on Feb. 7 and 8 and Ray Chen on May 15 and 16.

The Pops series will showcase the best of Broadway and cinema, including “Home Alone” in concert Dec. 7 to 9, and “Jurassic Park” from June 27 to 29, 2024.

“It’s really super exciting to feel like, ‘OK, we’re back in business,'” says Cloutier.

“Feeling really that a lot of the challenges of recent (seasons) are past. Not to say we won’t have any curve balls ahead of us, but I think the word ‘hopeful’ … is really the one that applies to what’s about to come in the next season.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2023.