‘Invigorated and terrified’

Alan Doyle starring in Charlottetown Festival musical

Canadian recording artist Alan Doyle says being part of the Charlottetown Festival has always been on his bucket list.

He’ll get that chance next summer after the Confederation Centre of the Arts recently announced that the former frontman for Great Big Sea will be starring in the lead role of Tell Tale Harbour, June 14 to Sept. 24, on the Mainstage Theatre.

Tell Tale Harbour will share the stage with Anne of Green Gables: The Musical. At this point, the centre is planning at running at full capacity in 2022.

“I’m super excited to be part of the long legacy of storytelling,’’ Doyle said in a Zoom video interview with The Guardian from his home in

St. John’s. “This is going to be a thrill for me. That’s a box checked.’’

Doyle will be the second member of his family to join the Charlottetown Festival. His sister, Michelle, spent a summer with the Young Company in the early 1990s.

Tell Tale Harbour is a musical that tells the story of a struggling Atlantic Canadian fishing village. The community is trying to save the village when the opportunity arises to bring a French fry facility to town. The townspeople come together to secure the factory. There are 12 people in the cast, which is accompanied by an eightmember band.

“We’re presenting a story dealing with music in a very comedic way with all kinds of farce and all kinds of intense situations that makes for ironic fun,’’ Doyle says. “We’re also dealing with a topic that’s very serious to people, especially in our part of the world. We’re talking about the loss of yet another rural Atlantic town. That’s not something we, in this part of the world, take lightly.’’

BASED ON SCREENPLAY

Doyle says his character, Frank, goes on a journey to discover what he’s willing to do to save the town.

The musical is based on the 2013 screenplay The Grand

Seduction by Ken Scott.

Adam Brazier, the artistic director of the Charlottetown Festival, initially sought out Doyle in 2018 to help draft a musical adaptation. As the process evolved, Brazier and Doyle realized the character Frank resembled Doyle.

“I became more and more interested in playing the role and they were excited about it,’’ Doyle says. “I agreed to do it right before the pandemic. Then, the pandemic gave us a whole pile of time to finish it.’’

Brazier said casting Doyle as the lead character seemed like a natural fit.

“Alan has been an actor for many years,’’ Brazier says. “It was a natural progression (to theatre). He is so much like the character he plays. He’s big, he’s charming, he’s funny, he’s gregarious, he’s the life of the party and he’s got a yarn to spin.’’

Doyle has enjoyed a lengthy career on stage in music, both as the lead singer for Great Big Sea and fronting his own solo journey. He also brings experience from television — he appeared on several episodes of Republic of Doyle — as well as in blockbuster movies, starring opposite Russell Crowe, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Cate Blanchett in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.

However, he’s never done musical theatre.

NEW OPPORTUNITY

When asked how he’ll transform himself into a musical, he says, “I’m both invigorated and terrified.”

Doyle said he could keep

putting albums out and hitting the road. It would pay the bills. But, this time, he wanted to try something different.

“We all owe that to ourselves as performers, especially, that we are constantly challenging ourselves, that we’re constantly trying to figure out a new way of doing things or constantly finding ways to learn more about all of it.’’

Doyle laughs when asked how he’ll prepare for a night of musical theatre.

“I haven’t a clue … We have to calm ourselves for a show. What you need to do is get steady and ready and focus. I’d be lying to you if I said I really know what is coming. I really don’t and that’s fantastic.’’