6 Canada Rocks! shows cancelled

Six performances of Canada Rocks! at the Charlottetown Festival in August have been cancelled, and are being replaced by performances of Anne of Green Gables: The Musical.

CEO Jessie Inman said the decision is not due to poor sales of Canada Rocks! — a Canadian musical revue — but what instead appears to be a strong year for Anne.

The Charlottetown Festival's feature production is the world's longest running musical, celebrating its 50th year. That has meant extra promotion for Anne, Inman said. She said a good tourism season is also a factor. Anne, previously not showing on the weekend, will be staged for three Saturdays in August, with matinee and evening performances.

"Excitement around Anne this year is really, really wonderful, and we decided to put on 3 extra days," she said.

"Also, we're responding to our patrons. The majority of our Anne sales are off-Island, and people like to come over for the weekend, and now they have the opportunity to see Anne."

A recent week of Canada Rocks! performances sold an average of about 330 tickets per show, roughly a third of the seats available. Anne typically sells just under half the house.

Last year's second mainstage show, the debut season of Evangeline, sold almost 550 seats per night.

Inman still characterizes sales for Canada Rocks! as good, and hopes they pick up further.

The change does not really affect the cast, she said, because the cast for both shows is almost the same.