A new Anne
A.J. Bridel steps into new role as Avonlea’s favourite red-haired orphan at the Charlottetown Festival this summer
When the curtain rises on the 53th season of “Anne of Green Gables — The Musical” at the Charlottetown Festival in June, a new actress will be playing the title role.
A.J. Bridel, a Calgary-born, Kitchener-raised performing artist will portray the orphan girl who finds love and acceptance in the fictional Avonlea home of Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert.
Bridel says she’s pinching herself because it’s a dream come true.
“I’ve wanted to play Anne Shirley ever since I was a kid. It’s something I never expected to happen and, all of a sudden, it is, so it’s really, really awesome. It feels pretty surreal. It’s also absolutely amazing,” says Bridel, during a telephone interview from her home in Toronto. Fresh from a run of “Kinky Boots” in Toronto, where she won 2016 Toronto Critics Award for best supporting actress and a Dora Award nomination for outstanding performance, the 22-year-old
has all the qualifications to play the coveted role.
“With A.J. what I found was a young woman who is very seasoned, with a lot of professional experience. So I knew she had the ability to carry a show of this size,” says Adam Brazier, Charlottetown Festival artistic director.
Bridel is also “open enough and vulnerable enough” to be believable at a young age and “mature enough” to pull off the things that are required of her character, later on in the musical.
“We forget that this play takes place over eight years and there’s a huge growth in (Anne’s) character during that time. So you want an actress that can carry both, the beginning and the end of the play. And A.J. has that,” he says.
Besides having the qualifications, Bridel has many of the personal characteristics that are associated with the redhaired, freckled character.
“I’m extremely high-energy. And, the word feisty is a word I’ve often heard used to describe me in both good and notso-good situations,” says the actress, with a giggle.
The musical has been on Bridel’s radar since her vocal teacher, Amanda Kind, introduced her to the “Anne of Green Gables” song, “Gee I’m Glad I’m No-One Else but Me” when she was 12.
“Ever since I sang that song in a small studio in Kitchener Waterloo, I’ve wanted to play that part. It was also a beautiful turning point of a musical theatre piece in my life. It literally made me start accepting myself, as a kid.”
Now, as she waits for rehearsals to begin, she is learning the rest of the music and reading the “Anne” books. “I want to put everything I possibly can into Anne Shirley. I want to bring life into Anne Shirley that is new, different and has a piece of AJ in her,” says Bridel, who realizes the “huge responsibility” in playing the character.
“Anne Shirley is an iconic role, as many actresses who have played her before have said. She’s also a national treasure. Her spirit is so special but there’s also room (for me) to put my own, individual spin on it.”