Vincent de Tourdonnet

Vincent de Tourdonnet is one of Canada’s foremost writers of lyrics and books for the musical theatre. He has co-created several large-scale, epic musicals, as well as intimate, cabaret-style musicals. He frequently also serves as stage director.

De Tourdonnet’s epic musical "Pélagie", co-written with Allen Cole, premiered in 2004 by CanStage in Toronto and The National Arts Centre in Ottawa. In 2005, de Tourdonnet directed an Eastern Canada touring production of "Pélagie", produced by Two Planks and a Passion with a bilingual cast alternating performances in French and English. Starring Québec chanteuse Marie Denise Pelletier, it was translated by Antonine Maillet, author of the Prix Goncourt-winning novel Pélagie-la-charrette, on which the musical is based.

His first production of "Snappy Tales, Short Satirical Musicals", (book, lyrics & direction) at the Factory Theatre in Toronto, was nominated in 2003 for 7 Dora Mavor Moore Awards.

De Tourdonnet’s largest musical to date was the Joan of Arc musical, "Jeanne." Initially, he and composer Peter Sipos developed the work at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop in New York. It premiered to strong critical acclaim in 1995 in Montreal at the Saidye Bronfman Theatre, (co-directed by de Tourdonnet) and then went on to large-scale, $4.5 million production at the Place des Arts and La Capitole in Quebec City in 1997, and was seen by over 100,000 people. The French translation was created by Antonine Maillet.

Book & lyrics for other shows go back to 1985, including "Strange Medicine" and "The Good Person" for the Caravan Farm Theatre in B.C., and adaptations of "The Threepenny Opera" with APA in Montreal and for Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver.

While living in New York City, de Tourdonnet taught musical theatre writing at Long Island University. Currently he resides in Toronto, and is collaborating on new projects including an adaptation of Andrew Moodie's hit play "The Real McCoy", based on the life of Elijah McCoy, and "How To Get Rid of a Monster" with Jane Miller.

Links

[http://vincentdetourdonnet.com The Vincent de Tourdonnet Website]

[http://www.myspace.com/vincentdetourdonnet Vincent de Tourdonnet on MYSPACE]

[http://www.artsalive.ca/pdf/eth/activities/pelagie_guide.pdf The Pélagie Study Guide- National Arts Centre of Canada]