I [Mr. D] think it was Mel who mentioned this play. As I recall, everyone worked from spirit (alcohol) duplicated paper scripts that Velma Burley had revised. We happened to purchase a copy of the book, when Edith Drynan visited my wife's school. Now, I'm no longer clear on who played what part, but was Mark playing the Wizard? The cover includes most of the characters. What you'll remember best are the songs. Here's a sample:The Canada Goose!
The Canada Goose!
Touch his feathers and you won't come loose.
You can come along,
You can sing the song.
Sing the song of freedom with
The Canada Goose!
And when the Wizard becomes a nice guy:
Look at me!
I'm a Canadian!
Joined to a Canadian, here I stand!
Look at me! I'm a Canadian!
Joined to all Canadians across the land.
I'm not ashamed to say out loud,
That being a Canadian makes me proud!
I'm not ashamed to let you see
That I'm a Canadian. Look at me.
Look at me! I'm a Canadian
Joined to a Canadian, here I stand!
Look at me! I'm a Canadian!
Joined to all Canadians, across the land!
13 comments:
Who posted this...Wayne?
Anyway, I saw Sandra Oh on Conan O'Brien a few nights ago and she actually mentioned the Canada Goose. It was apparently the first play she was ever in. I did a quick search and it's also mentioned in most of her bios such as this one. Weird.
-Jeff T
I believe Mr. Delong posted this, right?
I don't remember the actual plot of the play, but I think I can clarify a thing or two. I don't know who the 'Wizard' was-- I don't even remember a Wizard at all. My role was 'A New Canadian', alongside Jeff Turnham and (not 100% sure on this) two girls. We were obviously chosen to represent the ethnic diversity of new immigrants to Canada (joke). We sang the song 'Sing a Song of Seasons' and I think there were four of us as we all had a solo bit for each season. I'll spare you guys the lyrics, which I surprisingly remember. The role of the Canada Goose was played by Jody Nidry (don't know the spelling on that) who was a year ahead of us. Jeff-- I'm sure you recall that while at Henry Street we jammed a couple times with Jody and her keyboard playing boyfriend Jim Quinney (who borrowed $10 from me and then disappeared forever). But that's a story for another 'blog...
There were tons of photos after we did the Canadian Goose. I'm sure I've got some at home buried deep in a pile of boxes in our basement. I know that we had some posted in our classroom with novelty cartoon speech bubbles added for comic effect... like (I think) me addressing the Canada Goose with the added speech bubble of 'Where have you been all my life?'. I don't know who's mother was in charge of make up, but I think we all looked just about ready to take the stage at the Moulin Rouge.
I can barely remember anything about the play but can confirm there was a wizard. Sandra Oh said she played the "Wizard of Woe".
I know this is a really old thread, but I had to comment as I just discovered this while looking for information online about the Canada Goose play.
I was in this play as a child in 1985. I played "Motto" and I actually remember very little about it besides a smattering of lyrics from the "Canada Goose" song.
Does anyone know where you can find a copy of the music and lyrics to the play itself? I would love to get a copy of it!
I, Wayne Paddick, was a Misery who had a solo and who's voice cracked during the big scene. Nice time for puberty to hit. HAHA.
I never heard of the play... I found this post because when I was a kid in the eighties we did a "hands across Canada" thing and we sang the second song listed here: "Look at me..." I still remember it word for word. Nice to know where it came from.
This was our class play in (I think it was) Grade 5 (maybe Grade 6), so about 1985 or so. I played the Canada Goose... That song is stuck in my head today too. Great :)
I played 'The Goose' in this play back in 1981, and I hated it.
I played Maise the Misery in the 90s! My big line was "That's why we're so miserable all the time" and I vaguely remember the rest. The song popped into my head the other day and while googling I found this thread and had to post!
I remember a tiny bit about the plot! It's an adaptation of the Grimm story, The Golden Goose, where people end up "stuck" to the goose through an enchantment. I was just looking for the lyrics to this, because I couldn't remember the word, "freedom", so thanks for sharing that.
I remember this musical from the 80s. I was the Wizard of Woe and I remember a bit of the Wizard's feature song:
"I am the (wonderful?) Wizard of Woe;
I found a way to make misery grow;
Looking at you I can see you're impressed;
by the way all the people I touch are depressed".
...
"I will be happy when you're in despair"
"When you're gnashing your molars and tearing your hair"
...
Ending:
"Then I will utter my (something?) curse";
"Making your life turn from bad into worse;
"...... when you're feeling low;
"That they call me the (wonderful?) Wizard of Woe"
Williamstown Public School put the Canada Goose play on when I was there (cannot remember what grade I was in when we performed it though). We were even featured on CTV. I was part of the choir and this song (The Wizard of Woe) came into my head today for some reason, and after almost 35 years
I had buried the memories of being the goose at Bellwood in Whitby. I remember the teacher telling me “pretend you’re talking but just honk” - will be sure to talk to my therapist about this 🤦🏾♂️
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