Casting Call (8 Roles)

After years of rewrites, workshops, fine-tuning, and studio recordings, we’re ready for the world premiere of Who Is Esther, at the Kingston Fringe Festival.  If you’re excited by this, and you have experience as an actor/singer, then we’d like to speak to you! Rehearsals in Toronto at a location easily accessible by public transit, targeted starting the week of May … Read More

Meet the Director

Tracey Forster is a dynamic and multifaceted performing arts professional currently based in Kingston, Ontario. A graduate of Sheridan College Musical Theatre Program, Tracey has built an impressive career that spans acting, directing, vocal coaching, and musical theatre – bringing passion, expertise, and creativity to every stage she graces. Her dedication to the arts extends beyond performance, as she continues … Read More

Featured in CAMMAC: The Story Behind Who Is Esther

Linda here – Who Is Esther was the feature article in CAMMAC’s latest newsletter. CAMMAC is a non-profit founded 70+ years ago, to encourage the activities of amateur musicians at all levels. They conduct readings throughout the year – many of the members are music educators, working musicians, and people who simply love to sing or play challenging music. My … Read More

Now on Spotify and Apple Music

Wow, just wow. After casting, studio work, post-production, and more back-and-forths than you could imagine, the studio cast recording of Who Is Esther is now on Apple Music, Spotify, and 250+ other online music stores. If you want to listen on Apple Music, here’s the link: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/who-is-esther-studio-cast-version/1887599163 Here’s the link on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/791hJt5CTQA9lorQKcCBU7 And here is the very surprised (and … Read More

Back in the studio!

After a short hiatus where we were working on updating the orchestrations, we spent several days in the studio, recording the remainder of the songs. Thanks to the exceptionally talented Berlayne Smith (who reprised her role as Esther), Manuele Adrian Mizzi (as Mr. Verious), Justin Welsh (Uncle Mo), Cara Adams (Vashti and Contestant Two), Erin Humphry (Contestant One), and Jesse … Read More

Sing with Esther – musical preview

Update: The Sing With Esther program is now in a second phase: we’re no longer putting together a virtual choir of our own, but the music remains available for any choirs that are interested in adding (one) or both of these songs to their repertoire – at no cost. Either sign up on the website, or reach out directly. Putting … Read More

Time for a rewrite? (yes, again)

I had the exceptional good fortune to meet Rob Corbett recently. Beyond teaching acting at several colleges and being a playwright in his own right, he is a most insightful script reader and dramaturg. And a pleasure to work with. One of the challenges of a first-time script writer (that’s me), is that you don’t know what you don’t know. … Read More

Musical Preview event

A very proud evening for me and all who have been involved to date. After much work, we hosted a “Musical Preview” event, with 100+ people in attendance. The goal was to reveal the music, provide background on the project, and start to build some “buzz” around Who Is Esther. After I described each scene, the scene’s music was played, … Read More

The Power of Diversity: Feedback and Perspective

After two years of research, 100’s of hours in front of the computer writing and rewriting, playing music for hundreds of hours to get everything just right, 89 recording sessions, editing sessions, mixing sessions, mastering… it was done. And then, it wasn’t.   When I wrote my first (non-theatrical) book in the 1990’s, I felt the same: the masterpiece was … Read More

Research – About Musical Theater

Many people are fans of musical theater; my co-producer wife and I have been sitting in audiences for decades. But how much time have you spent thinking through how musical theater actually works, from the inside. and from my perspective, where do I start? There always seems to be a trade-off between innovation (or rather, making mistakes that turn out … Read More