This April Celebrate National Humour Month with Queen Marie

This April, celebrate National Humour Month with Queen Marie, Shirley Barrie's dazzling musical comedy about the life of Marie Dressler! This Alumnae Theatre Company production runs April 13-28 on the Main Stage.

Marie Dressler was one of the funniest Canadians in showbiz. She ventured from small-town Ontario to make a name for herself in Vaudeville, on Broadway and in Hollywood, where she starred alongside icons Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo. Dressler won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her role in Min and Bill, and she's also well-known for her title role in Tugboat Annie.

Queen Marie features a cast of 26, plus musicians and dancing girls. "We have a child and nine women portraying Marie at different points of her life," says director Rosemary Doyle. "She worked her way up to stardom, fell out of favour, and made a comeback. Queen Marie is about resilience, and the resourceful Marie is a larger-than-life role model for Canada's oldest women-led theatre in its centennial season."

Queen Marie involves the talents of several Alumnae Theatre Company members, including:

· Award-winning playwright Shirley Barrie, who has dozens of published and produced scripts for radio, television and film. Queen Marie, which premiered at 4th Line Theatre in 2012, is her fourth Alumnae Theatre production. Her previous works include The Pear Is Ripe, Measure of the World and I Am Marguerite.

· Director Rosemary Doyle, a professional stage and TV actor, writer, director and producer, and founder of Red Sandcastle Theatre

· Producer Elizabeth Verwey, founder of Toronto's popular "Spoken Lives" series, producer of Alumnae Theatre's 2016 production of Stepping Out, and business author

QUEEN MARIE by Shirley Barrie - April 13- 28, 2018 Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street (at Adelaide).Performances: Wed-Sat at 8 pm; Sundays at 2 pm. Pre-show Talk: Thursday, April 19 at 6:30 pm. Post-show Talkbacks: Sundays, April 15 & 22, following 2 pm show. Special 2-for-1 Tuesday matinee: April 17 at 2 pm. Tickets: Wednesdays 2-for-1, Thu-Sat $25, Sundays PWYC. Buy online (alumnaetheatre.com) or call 416-364-4170, Box 1, to reserve and pay cash at the door. Box Office: Cash only for in-person sales.

Alumnae Theatre Company is celebrating 100 years of continuous production. We've entertained Torontonians with thought-provoking, adventurous theatre for a century, making us the city's longest-running theatre company. We're also the oldest women-run theatre company in North America.

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