Pivot Festival ONEGIN

Arguably the highlight of the Yukon Arts Centre season, Onegin is a musical theatre performance of a caliber the Yukon Arts Centre rarely has the honour to host. Cited as a perfromance with "serious broadway potential",Vancouver Arts Club’s Onegin is a cannot-miss performance.

It’s Russia. It’s winter. It’s a long time ago… When Evgeni Onegin visits the Larin family home, his romantic charms stir passions long forgotten by its residents. Poet Vladimir Lensky’s romantic ideals are challenged (a duel!) after Onegin flirts with his fiancée Olga Larin, and even the sensible Tatyana Larin falls for the handsome rogue. The hit musical moves, shakes, and wakes audiences with its sweeping score, leaving the powerful question swirling in their minds: Look around, look around, look around, do you see someone worth dying for? Arts Club’s Onegin premiere was an unprecedented box office success–with a sold out 3.5 week run, including two holdovers that sold out within hours! A NOTE FROM THE CREATORS After Craigslist Cantata—a play about disconnection—we wanted to do something about connection, a story that could challenge our sometimes corseted Canadian sensibilities. Something where the audience could swoon and get swept away. Something full of grand gestures, dance, and light. Something honest but also modern. Because in the age of the cynic, where does the romantic fit? We adapted freely from Pushkin’s original poem and Tchaikovsky’s opera to give audiences the visceral experience of unrequited love. The characters’ missed opportunities show us what happens when we don’t embrace love when it comes. What it looks and feels like to turn away from its vitality and beauty. Ultimately, the show is our celebration of love. Our love of the theatre, our love for performing, our love for making things together, our love of the audience and your connection to what we create.

• Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille A NOTE FROM THE ARTS CLUB Shortly after the success of our PuSh co-production of Amiel and Veda's musical with Bill Richardson, Craiglist Cantata, the duo presented a 30-minute preview of their new work, Onegin. Our literary manager Rachel Ditor attended the sing-through and championed for a commission, which brought the show to its premiere production in March 2016. From the first workshop to the last rehearsal, we always left the rehearsal hall singing the infectious tunes that were about to become an instant hit. Even though we knew we had something special on our hands, we were overwhelmed by the unprecedented audience response.
  Repeat attendees affectionately referred to themselves as Twogins, Threegins, even Sixgins, to tally the times they saw the show; two holdovers each sold out within hours after their announcement; the media was unanimously moved by the show's magic; and an onslaught of social media response and fan art all contributed to the loudest buzz we've ever had over a new work. Simply put: audiences were in love with Onegin and everyone wanted a ticket on this gorgeous musical ride. So we decided to take it on tour. To your cities, your theatres, and your patrons. We hope you'll join us in sweeping your audience away to Russia, with love, from us.
• Bill Millerd and Peter Cathie White