What was that you said? You thought that here at TheAnneGirls we weren’t hip and cool enough to do music reviews? You thought that there couldn’t possibly be music that pertains to an Avonlea-style life? Well you were wrong – so very wrong. You’re actually in for a huge treat. It’s one of our favorites and it’s the soundtrack to the award-winning PEI musical Anne & Gilbert.
Now just a bit of background: When we were on our dream sisterly vacation to Prince Edward Island, we quickly learned that there were several musicals to choose from there on the island. We debated whether or not to go, knowing that the wrong redhead can sully the good name of Anne in a flash – we’re picky about our Anne girls! I will admit that I was more iffy about the idea and my lil sis helped to push the idea through. I was afraid that we’d spend our hard-earned money on a cheesy musical that was a complete bust. Little did I know that I was actually the block of cheese in this scenario – the musical was enchanting!
We chose Anne & Gilbert based partly on the recommendation of our innkeepers (another life-changing story for another day) if I remember correctly. It was a story that covered the college years, which we both were quite excited about. We’ve all seen Anne dying her hair green – and we love that – but those years at Redmond were heartwarming, to say the least.
Wow. We were not disappointed.
From the first note until the final bow, we were enthralled. We were swept into the world of Anne, Roy and Gilbert (possibly the most dramatic love triangle to ever make it to the stage) with a good solid dose of Rachel Lynde and Marilla to boot (you couldn’t leave them out of a musical!) Also, Josie Pye made an appearance and, at least in my humble opinion, was portrayed as the tart that she really is (pardon my French).
The musical starts out with such upbeat classic townspeople tunes as Mr. Blythe and Gilbert Loves Anne of Green Gables, it steals our hearts in the middle with All You Can Do Is Wait and Someone Handed Me the Moon (two of my personal favorites) and ends with a rousing (and I mean rousing) You’re Island Through and Through. Now I’m not sure if the average listener is going to get as much enjoyment out of this soundtrack as we still do (it’s almost two years after our dream sisterly vacation, and I still listened to it over breakfast this morning) but I think true Fannes will eat it up.
The sun gets high in the morning, the well gets low in the drought, the young get giddy with the giggles, the old get gimpy with the gout… Some things you take for granted, no one here has any doubt… Gilbert loves Anne of Green Gables…
How can you go wrong with lyrics like that?
It’s available on itunes, but better yet, make the trip to PEI and hear it live! Nothing beats the real deal.
And speaking of being island through and through, don’t we have another vacation to plan, Hermanita?!
-big sis
