The Lancashire Lass

Since it’s debut season in 2021, the DAN School of Drama and Music’s Watershed Festival has sought to shine a light on the phenomenal Canadian and international work being create in the fields of musical theatre, opera, everything in between and everything beyond. A “watershed moment” is defined as an important event that changes the course of history, and there is no better time for us to re-imagine and re-invent the possibilities and future of music theatre.

In the fall of 2019, award-winning Canadian composer and lyricist Leslie Arden was commissioned to create a brand-new musical for the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University. This was the first commission of this scale for the Watershed Festival. A global pandemic isn’t the easiest time to create a major new musical but our students, faculty and guests have been carefully developing the work all the way! First seen in “sneak peak” form at the 2021 festival, and in-concert at the 2022 festival, we couldn’t be more happy to bring the fully-staged world-premiere to Kingston’s beautiful Grand Theatre on May 26, 2023.

The new musical tells the tumultuous story of the British suffragette movement through the eyes of the dynamic yet conflicted Annie Kenney. It is the sweeping and poignant exploration of a century-old struggle that still has such a massive impact on the world today. Directed by Tim Fort with a 9-piece orchestra musically directed by Darrell Christie, The Lancashire Lass features a cast of twenty-five including students of the DAN School of Drama and Music and members of the community as well as outstanding alumni and other professionals. It truly will be an epic evening at the theatre.

Click here for more information about the Watershed Festival

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