Fewer weeks for Festival's Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables will return to Confederation Centre's Homburg Theatre next summer for its 46th consecutive season but if you hope to see it reserve your tickets sooner than later.
The festival's producers announced Friday that the freckle-faced orphan with hair as red as carrots will only grace the stage for six weeks.
It will, however, play eight shows a week during that six-week run, which begins July 20 and ends Aug. 28.
Festival patrons will have plenty of other options to choose from next summer.
Anne will share the mainstage with two other shows, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and the Broadway hit Hairspray, living up to the promise of its promotional tagline More To See at the 2010 Charlottetown Festival.
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, billed as the world's most successful rock'n'roll musical, will open the festival season June 17 and play until July 17.
Written by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson, the show tells the story of the three-year period when Holly, one of rock'n'roll's early pioneers, became the world's top recording artist. The show features such classic Buddy Holly songs as 'Peggy Sue', 'That'll Be The Day', 'Oh Boy', 'Everyday', 'Rave On' and 'Maybe Baby', as well as Ritchie Valens' 'La Bamba' and The Big Bopper's 'Chantilly Lace'.
Hairspray, the winner of 8 Tony Awards during its run on Broadway, as well as a Grammy Award, will play from Sept. 10 to Oct. 9.
Created by Mark O'Donnell, Thomas Meehan, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Hairspray takes audiences back to 1960s Baltimore, where the 50s are out and change is in the air.
The script focuses on loveable plus-size heroine Tracy Turnblad who has a passion for dancing and wins a spot on the local TV dance program The Corny Collins Show. Overnight she finds herself transformed from outsider to teen celebrity. Can a larger-than-life adolescent vanquish the program's reigning princess, integrate the television show and find true love singing and dancing without mussing her hair?
Hairspray answers all those questions.
With the centre now committed to one of the most ambitious seasons in recent memory the festival's producers have some major casting to do. This spring they will undertake an audition tour with stops in several major cities across the country. On the top of their shopping list is a new Anne. After several seasons with the festival, Amy Wallis is leaving the lead role of Anne Shirley.
"Amy feels that she's done the role of Anne and should move on into other ingÉnue roles. She has a glorious voice and an operatic background. It's a major decision for her . . . Our Annes have often moved on to other great things."
The role of Gilbert Blythe will also feature a new face.
Although the details are still being worked out the festival is hoping to cast the roles of Anne and Gilbert in conjunction with a television channel that would document the process for broadcast, Allan said.
Casting the festival this year poses some unique challenges.
"Cross-casting will be difficult because each show has specific casting requirements," Allan said. "So we're looking at a company which is much larger this year, but some members of the company may only be here for one show, some may be here for two shows, some might be for three shows. There will be a bit of cross-casting because of the necessities of what's involved. You need strong dancers in all three shows, for example.
Although an audition tour will be expensive to mount Allan said centre CEO David MacKenzie and the board support this initiative.
"David and the board agree with me that it's important to reach out to cities across Canada. So we start with Charlottetown, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver."
Tickets for the 2010 Charlottetown Festival are now on sale.
If you book tickets by December 19th you can get a ticket to Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Anne of Green Gables-The Musical™ or Hairspray for only $25.