THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS Confederation Centre of the Arts Five Decades of Inspiration and Excellence Harvey Sawler THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS Confederation Centre of the Arts Five Decades of Inspiration and Excellence Harvey Sawler The Centre for All Canadians © 2014 Confederation Centre of the Arts www.confederationcentre.com Images © Confederation Centre of the Arts For other photo credits please refer to page 188. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. This publication is not intended to document the full 50-year history of Confederation Centre of the Arts; rather it provides a view of the Centre and its rich range of experiences through the voices of those who have been part of its 50 years. Selections from this book are also available for viewing online at www.confederationcentre.com/centreforcanadians Aussi offert en français sous le titre Le Centre pour tous les Canadiens Permission requests and ordering information: Confederation Centre of the Arts 145 Richmond Street Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, C1A 1J1 [email protected] Text: Harvey Sawler Translation: Monique Lafontaine Design: Graphic Detail Printed in Canada ISBN 978-1-928128-00-7 Lemieux, Jean Paul Charlottetown Revisited, 1964 oil on linen 197.2 x 380.4 cm Collection of Confederation Centre Art Gallery Commissioned with funds from Samuel and Saidye Bronfman, Montreal This document is a digital sample of The Centre for All Canadians. The hard-cover book can be purchased at The Showcase gift shop in Confederation Centre and various bookstores across P.E.I. We would love to hear your feedback – share your own Confederation Centre memories, or leave your comments at [email protected]. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Centre for All Canadians was a collective effort that inspired many fine memories of Confederation Centre of the Arts’ stellar 50 years. As publisher, Confederation Centre thanks author Harvey Sawler, who collected heartfelt stories from near and far, high and low and created the text to frame our 50 years of culture and heritage programming. As we look back over the decades and forward to our next 50 years we can’t help but be inspired by such sincere response from our “Centre community.” Harvey’s prodigious outreach yielded insightful and moving responses from remarkable Canadians from across the country, and we must extend sincere thanks to all of those who took the time to think back to their own experiences with Confederation Centre and allow their contributions to be shared with Canadians via this publication. Confederation Centre of the Arts also wishes to acknowledge the generous support from Grant Thornton, who provided financial support toward the publishing costs as part of their 50th anniversary gift to the Centre. Kate Westphal of Graphic Detail has delivered a rich, first-class design, displaying both creative brilliance and extreme patience in the process. Confederation Centre staff were unfailingly generous with their time and memories. Archivist, Paige Matthie, was not only persistent in her pursuit of obscure photos and credits, but provided excellent editing and proofreading services. Translator Monique Lafontaine has an eagle eye for details in both languages and managed to deliver large quantities of French-language copy while meeting short deadlines. Chief Marketing Officer Carol Horne set the publishing project in motion and provided copyediting and proofreading. Special thanks to two Centre alumni for their collaboration, recollections and collections: retired stagehand Rick Warren for providing dozens of insights into people and events linked to the Centre; and Gary Craswell – who held numerous roles at the Centre over 30 years – for digging into his personal collections of Centre memorabilia. We must also acknowledge Ed MacDonald’s thorough research that detailed how the germ of an idea eventually became Confederation Centre. Finally Confederation Centre would not continue to exist and thrive without the generous support of its many sponsors, members and donors and funders such as the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Province of Prince Edward Island, the City of Charlottetown and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. x THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS 1 THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS “Something wonderful has happened in Charlottetown...a symbol of genuine national meaning has been created.” - NATHAN COHEN, IN 1965, RENOWNED THEATRE CRITIC FOR THE TORONTO STAR Charlottetown’s wonderful small town ease and innocence can be misleading. It’s the most safe-feeling, intimate, and comfortable of all the Canadian provincial capitals: Starbucks made headlines when they first came to town; triangular street corner gardens are tended voluntarily by the employees of nearby businesses; volunteer firefighters still respond to the startling blast of an emergency horn; and a bronze statue of Sir John A. Macdonald unwinds on a streetscape bench as he ponders nationhood, while to his left a shop window showcases everything Anne of Green Gables. Anyplace else and Canada’s first prime minister would be vaunted high upon a pedestal. In Charlottetown, people sit down, put their arm around him, and take selfies. Contrast this scene to 150 years ago and the extraordinary arrival aboard S.S. Victoria of a throng of prestigious-looking, top-hatted men, all destined for a nation-building conference. Then look back 50 years to the surprising proceedings of October 6, 1964. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Governor Royal Variety Performance host, General Georges Vanier, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, federal cabinet ministers, premiers and the Lorne Greene (centre), at the press conference for the event crème-de-la-crème of Canadian entertainment all gathered at the newly minted Confederation Centre of the Arts theatre for a Royal Variety Performance. Not London’s Royal Albert Hall, not Toronto’s Royal Alex, but a Royal Variety Performance…in Charlottetown! The star-studded bill featured legendary The Queen backstage with performers Carlou Carter, Dave Broadfoot, Portia Québec author, actor, and director Gratien Gélinas in distinguished monologue; the operatic resonance of White, and (back facing) founding Portia White; comedians; a Centennial Choir; and a host of others. The affair was emceed by no less than Charlottetown Festival Artistic Director “The Voice of Canada.” Lorne Greene had gone from anchoring CBC radio’s national news to starring on Mavor Moore the night of the official opening and Royal Variety Performance, the popular NBC television show Bonanza, and was one of the most familiar faces in Canada. It is said that 6 October 1964 the Islanders who crowded the Centre’s stage door that evening were more keen to get a glimpse of Greene than to see Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Yes, the advent of Confederation Centre of the Arts certainly altered the physical landscape of down- town Charlottetown, but on October 6, 1964, the Centre also altered central Canada’s contrived Island stereotypes of lobster fishermen and farmers hauling potatoes. The bright theatre lights attracted the 2 THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS Frank MacKinnon Eric Harvie Theatre guests eagerly await a performance on the Confederation Centre of the Arts main stage attention of royalty and other notables and thrust the city onto the Canadian cultural scene to a degree that is seldom acknowledged or understood. At the centre of it all were three key figures: the latter-day “brothers of Confederation,” Frank MacKinnon and Eric Harvie, who essentially built the place, and the fervent Canadian artistic force, Mavor Moore. The fortuitous chance chat between MacKinnon and Harvie occurred in a Vancouver elevator in July of 1958 when both were delegates to a meeting of the newly formed Canada Council. As described in historian Edward MacDonald’s 2013 publication, Cradling Confederation, MacKinnon’s dream and passion for creating a local, multi-purpose building dedicated to Charlottetown’s role as the Mavor Moore Cradle of Confederation was quickly taken up and expanded upon into a national memorial concept by Harvie, who had remarked: “Now that is an idea that interests me.” Moore wasn’t in that elevator, busy as he was producing shows at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, but the rise of Charlottetown’s arts centre was about to become his obsession too. Howard Cable created the musical arrangements and conducted for that 1964 entertainment spectacle. Cable has been one of Canada’s most prolific entertainment figures over the decades – conductor, arranger, music director, composer, scriptwriter, radio and television producer. He describes how that October night affirmed Charlottetown’s emerging role as a vital and integral part of the Canadian arts landscape. 3 THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS The playbill of the Royal Variety Performance from the evening of the official opening of Confederation Centre of the Arts, 6 October 1964 4 THE CENTRE FOR ALL CANADIANS Moore was at the forefront of a creative cluster which, through the latter 1950s and early 1960s, had taken countless hours of quality variety entertainment into the homes of Canadians via CBC television, the cluster including such personalities as Norman Campbell, Don Harron and Alan Lund. Moore and his colleagues had been at the epicentre of a creative explosion – producing, composing, writing, directing, choreographing, unearthing talents like international singing star Robert Goulet, and transitioning musical icon Glenn Gould from radio to television.