On November 8th at 2:00PM the Highland Arts Theatre announced their 2024 Winter-Spring Mainstage Season and a myriad of other surprise announcements as the beginning of their 10 Year Anniversary programming. The event was attended by a group of patrons, staff and sponsors invited to the reveal of the line up.

The first item on Artistic and Executive Director Wesley J. Colford’s docket was the 2024 Winter-Spring Season. For the first time since 2019, before the pandemic began, the season is able to program 5 live shows over 5 months as it always had. A welcomed return to form. What’s more, as part of the 10 Year Anniversary festivities they are offering a ticket package deal including all 5 shows for $50.00+HST to match their first ticket package prices all the way back in 2015. Ticket packages will be offered until December 24th. The theatre is also bringing back the “Same Day, Same Seat” ticket package upgrade, guaranteeing their favourite tickets are reserved for them for every Mainstage show.

The season itself starts with Cheers to 10 Years! - A HAT-Stravanagza, running January 9 to 14, paying tribute to the past 10 years of programming at the downtown theatre. Directed by Colford and Music Directed by Barbara Stetter, the revue will feature a plethora of familiar faces revisiting hits from shows gone by like Heart of Steel, Dream, Cabaret, She Loves Me, Next To Normal and so many more. 

February brings a brand new play from Cape Breton playwright Lindsay Thompson titled Overdue. A romantic comedy directed by Rachael Murphy, running February 6 to 11 to coordinate with Valentine’s day. Readers may remember Thompson’s writing from her past hits Herstory, See Jane Run, Pride & Prejudice, and Sweet Enough.

Following this is a brand new multi-disciplinary show transcending theatre, music, and dance from Mi’kmaki performing artist Sarah Prosper. Mimikej (BUTTERFLY) runs March 5 to 10 as a collaboration between herself and Shawnee Paul who collaborated with Prosper on the story and is also providing the original music used for the show. Sarah has collaborated with the HAT many times over the years but most notably would be her dance theatre show SAMQWAN, which went on to have two Mainstage runs, a Nova Scotia tour and perform as part of the 2023 Canada Games at the Confederation Centre for the Arts. The show also won Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Independent Production at the 2022 Robert Merritt Awards presented by Theatre Nova Scotia.

Then April 16 to 21 sees the return of Kat Sandler’s dark comedy Punch Up. This show was presented in two previous seasons to sold out audiences and it will be the first time in over 6 years. The entire award winning original cast is returning in their perspective roles as “The Funniest Man Alive tries to make the Most Pathetic Man That Ever Existed make the Saddest Girl in the World laugh”.

Lastly, the season is rounded out with the first ever Cape Breton production of Funny Girl. Often known as the show that launched Barbara Streisand into super-stardom, this Broadway hit debuted in 1964 before becoming a hit Hollywood film in 1968. It has since returned to Broadway in 2022 and now it is making its rounds to Cape Breton from May 14 to 19. Starring local talents Mea Tonet and Ciarán MacGillivray as the two leads.

In addition to the 5 shows for $50.00+HST deal, all of the shows mentioned above will continue to be part of the Radical Access program, including a Pay-What-You-Choose performance of each show, free tickets to every performance provided in limited quantity, and a live stream provided online for those unable to attend.

Outside of the Mainstage Season the theatre had some additional surprises at the event. The first being the HAT Academy’s upcoming production of The Music Man Jr. which will see a cast of up and coming Cape Breton talents take centre stage from March 27 to 30.

Finally the roll out concluded with two surprise productions in honour of long time collaborator the Savoy Theatre and newer collaborator Sacred Heart Downtown. The latter being a brand new co-production and reimagining of, perhaps the theatre's most popular show of the past, Dream: A Midsummer Musical. In prior productions the show combined the story of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream with the setting and music of 1950’s America. Two key additions to this production are a three course meal, and a dance with a live band for attendees. The dinner and a dance production is expected to open in Summer 2024.

The other co-production announced, produced in tandem with Glace Bay’s Savoy Theatre, is the international hit musical Mamma Mia. Featuring the music of ABBA and inspiring two Hollywood blockbusters, this will be the first time this show has ever been performed by a cast of Cape Breton talent. Opening night will be June 20th, and tickets go onsite through either theatre starting December 1st.

"This is a season ten years in the making,” said Colford. “Not only is it a tribute to the hundreds of artists who have created magic in our venue, it also represents a return to "normal" that we haven't felt since 2019. Keeping the best parts of Radical Access while presenting a fully accessible Winter-Spring Season feels so exciting and there's an electric feeling throughout the whole building. This is only the beginning and we can't wait to show you everything we're working on!"

Tickets and Ticket Packages can all be booked online at www.highlandartstheatre.com, by phone at (902) 565-3637, or in person at the HAT's box office at 40 Bentinck Street in Downtown Sydney between noon and 6:00PM, Monday to Friday. 

Highland Arts Theatre

40 Bentinck Street, Sydney, NS B1P 1G2

902-565-3637

[email protected]