janet yates vogt  & mark friedman

Green Gables is a musical lovingly based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s timeless classic, “Anne of Green Gables," which, for over a century, has been a favorite of countless people, both young and old.  

Green Gables was originally produced at The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati in 2000, and later developed at The Human Race Theatre in Dayton, Ohio. It opened the 40th Anniversary Season of the Columbus Children's Theatre; and made its New York debut off-Broadway at the York Theatre in Manhattan in 2003 as a featured show for their fall musical theatre reading series.

Green Gables has also been featured in excerpt by the Cincinnati Children's Theatre, the Columbus Opera, and alongside the works of Michael John LaChiusa and Ricky Ian Gordon at the Dayton Composers Summit.  

It has been performed at Miami of Ohio's Summer Theatre at the Village Playhouse, featured in the summer series at the John Drew Theatre in East Hampton, New York, and was part of the 2004-2005 Fifth-Third Bank Broadway Series season at the Victoria Theatre in Dayton, Ohio, where it broke all box office records for the year and played to sixteen straight standing ovations!

Green Gables was the opening production of the 2004-05 season at the South Carolina Children's Theatre and ran in 2005 at Stages Children's Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Green Gables ran for a record breaking 35 performances at The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia in 2006, and in 2007 it delighted audiences at the First Stage Children's Theatre in Milwaukee, WI.  In the summer of 2009, Green Gables was selected to be part of the Festival of New Musicals in Issaquah, WA, where it received a rousing standing ovation.

In addition to its professional performances, Green Gables has been produced by community theatres and schools across the country.

At the Barter Theatre, Abingdon, VA

Green Gables runs 58 minutes.  It is fully orchestrated with a pit of 8 members (3 strings, 3 winds, one percussionist and a keyboard), however, the orchestrations may be successfully performed with a much smaller ensemble (violin, cello, percussion, piano and flute) that still sounds rich and supportive to the performance.  Your pit could be even smaller at the discretion of you and your music director, as the show is and has been very successful even with simple accompaniment. The music is professionally notated and easy to read.

Cast size is 18 with some minor doubling (with only one small child role).  Since the work features much of the ensemble in town scenes, school scenes, etc, the cast size can be augmented if need be, with doubling eliminated or with additional  young children added.  Sets may be as full or as simple as your production requires.  Past productions of GREEN GABLES have been both elaborately and minimally staged.  (NOTE: There is also a JUNIOR version of this musical available - running time 75
minutes)

Profit margins for past productions of Green Gables have been outstanding with impressive audience numbers as "Anne of Green Gables" fans of all ages eagerly seek out and attend the shows.  Robert McKinney, reviewer for the
Bristol Virginia Herald Courier writes that: “Green Gables is well on its way to becoming a classic musical beloved by far more adults than children although it easily speaks to both.” As the Barter Theatre noted in its ad promos,
audiences of all ages “laugh, cry and jump to their feet” at every performance.  

Nacy Opel and Melissa Bohan at the York Theatre, in Manhattan
Mandy Bruno as Anne  in Columbus, OH

At the Villiage Playhouse

"Many Producers and Artistic Directors mistakenly peg the "Anne of
Green Gables" story as a children's work -- nothing could be farther         
from the truth. If you have any knowledge of the hundreds of thousands  of visitors from around the world who make a pilgrimage to Prince Edward Island each  year to view the setting of the original story, you understand the strong connection the story has for audiences of all ages and the particular draw for adults. It is not just a story for little girls. It is a story that draws boys, men, women -- the whole family. In this age of family  there are not many stories that have as much audience appeal as does this show. The show is not difficult to sell as the title and source material largely sells itself. It is great fun for the cast and artists to produce."

RICHARD ROSE, Producing Artistic Director, Barter Theatre, Abingdon, VA

At the Victoria Theatre, Dayton, OHAt Photo courtesy of the Villiage Playhouse, Issaqwah, WA

"It is rare to find a musical that really moves you – that for whatever reason touches something very deep.  That was my first reaction to GREEN GABLES. Perhaps it was the classic story from which it is so masterfully adapted. Perhaps it was the music that captured my ear so quickly and reminded me of why I went into musical theatre in the
first place.  I was touched and amused by the characters and I wanted to
mold their interactions.  This is one of those rare ensemble pieces of theatre that can transport the audience with words and music and doesn’t need all the trappings of the current "spectacle" theatre.  This it what excites me as a director - it challenges me - and in the end, it makes me very proud to have been a part of it."

Kevin Moore - Managing Director of The Human Race Theatre, Dayton, OH

Anne - from a GREEN GABLES school production in Tennessee