Young Talent At It's Best....

The Princess and I took this performance in on Canada Day and we were very impressed... it's a great show and it's FREE... and I suggest that anyone who works in the Downtown should pack a lunch and take in this 45 minute show during their lunch hour... if you have friends or family home on vacations it's a great venue to send them to and they'll be presently surprised at our young Island talent... the other news is this Young Company is going to perform this show at the Olympics in Vancouver in February of next year... there are a lot of people who helped put this show together and Annie Allan and Wade Lynch were a big part of it... Kudos to everyone for such a great production especially the Young Company performers...
Young Company performs P.E.I. history in song and dance
By noon Wednesday the Confederation Centre Amphitheatre was packed with people. Some were young, some were old, some were sitting, some were standing, some were Islanders, some were visitors. None of that mattered. Despite their differences they were all there for the same reason, to share in celebrating Canada Day. Which is exactly what they did as the Confederation Centre Young Company took the stage to perform Abegweit: The Soul of the Island. In typical Young Company fashion the group sang and danced their way through decades of history, touching on everything P.E.I. from The Guardian newspaper and Lennie Gallant to kitchen parties and the Farmer’s Bank in Rustico. And while it was a lot to wrap into 45 minutes, director Stephanie Graham said she and her cast of 16 performers were up to the challenge from day one. “It was the first time we’d done it outside because of all the rain we’ve been getting,” said Graham. “But the kids did really well. The kids have been amazing throughout the whole process. They’re so professional when they come to work.” Graham added for the first time ever all 16 of the performers were from P.E.I. “I think it’s exciting,” she said. “The talent on the Island is just phenomenal.” The resumes connected to some of the performers didn’t hurt either, with one cast member having just returned from doing High School Musical at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax, N.S. But as excited as Graham was about the show, the performers were equally as happy with the results. “It was amazing,” said Aaron Hastelow. “You could really feel the response and the support from the audience. Today was a lot of fun.” Having never performed the show before an audience until Canada Day, other cast members expressed similar sentiments about the crowd. “I really liked the energy as a collective,” said Maria Campbell. “We really fed off each other.” Jemima Sutherland said while practice makes perfect when it comes to performing, nothing boosts confidence like a satisfied audience. “The crowd makes a big difference,” she said. Lilli Guay agreed, adding the energy can be electrifying. “When you see someone smiling back at you, you get such a boost of energy.”