PRISON DANCER: THE MUSICAL Premieres At The Citadel This May

From a viral video turned award-winning web series turned stage production, an all-Filipino cast brings this exciting new musical to the Citadel Theatre.

In 2007, a video of 1,500 inmates in a Filipino prison dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller was posted to YouTube, and quickly became one of the first viral videos on the Internet. The "Dancing Inmates of Cebu" are the unlikely inspiration behind an ambitious, perspective- altering and joyous musical by Filipino creators Romeo Candido and Carmen De Jesus.

Garnering awards from New York, Los Angeles and Toronto over the past ten years, including three awards from the New York Musical Theatre Festival and Best Feature Film at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Prison Dancer is the world's first transmedia musical with an all Filipino-Canadian and Filipino-American creative and producing team.

"Ever since Carmen and I both performed in Ms. Saigon over thirty years ago, we vowed to create a decidedly authentic Filipino story where we can showcase and celebrate what we know to be a pipeline of triple-threat API (Asian-pacific Islander) talent around the world. That day has come and starts in Edmonton this month," says book writer and composer Romeo Candido.

"Hot on the heels of the incredible success of Asians in Hollywood, we are thrilled to be premiering this much-anticipated Canadian launch of Prison Dancer: The Musical at the Citadel theatre this spring," says Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television award-winning producer, Ana Serrano.

Paying tribute to pop, house, and R&B while shamelessly reveling in its deep love for sentimental ballad and drag, Prison Dancer is ultimately a brave musical about redemption and how a prisoner named Lola brings purpose and joy to a group of inmates by helping them come together in "harmony" through the power of song and dance.

Prison Dancer is directed by award-winning artist and Artistic Director of the National Arts Centre English Theatre, Nina Lee Aquino. Nina will also be the Keynote Speaker at this year's Collider Festival hosted by the Citadel from May 11 - 14.

A co-production with Prison Dancer Inc. and Developed with support from the National Arts Centre's Nation Creation Fund, Prison Dancer plays in the Shoctor Theatre May 6 - 28, 2023. Tickets are available through the Box Office at 780.425.1820 or online at citadeltheatre.com.

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