Buy Me a Drink, Joe
Online Program
Book, Music and Lyrics by JOE SLABE
PRODUCTION STAFF
THE CAST
Joe STEPHEN INGRAM
David JASON LEMMON
Donna ALLISON LYNCH
Older Joe JOE SLABE
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Director VALERIE ANN PEARSON
Musical Director JOE SLABE
Choreographer JOCELYN HOOVER LEIVER
Stage Manager FRANCES MACDONALD
Set and Lighting Designer CASSIE HOLMES
Costume Designer EMORY CARLSON
Sound Designer TARA KIELY
Production Manager LAUREN ACHESON
Production Assistant AMELIA DANIELS
Scenic Artist SAGE CANON
THE MARKETING TEAM
Graphic Designer JENNIFER MERIO
Publicist ALDONA BARUTOWICZ
Publicity Coordinator HAYLEY DECHAINE
Social Media Specialist JC CORNELL
Forte Musical Theatre engages under the terms of the Independent Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the Internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author’s rights and actionable under copyright law.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Fifteen years ago, Forte Musical Theatre premiered its very first show. Since that time, we’ve produced twenty-nine shows, won twenty-five local, provincial and international awards, and entertained tens of thousands of patrons. Many of those shows were written or co-written by our artistic director, Joe Slabe, and this new musical celebrates fifteen years of his songs that tell the story of how a guy from Calgary fell in love with musical theatre.
Composer and writer, Joe Slabe, says, “Going over the music from the ten book musicals I’ve written was fascinating because, whether I was writing about a young foster kid, a story book princess, or an exiled Russian circus performer, it became clear that a lot of the songs were intensely personal and autobiographical. We workshopped the material and turned the songs into an immersive experience featuring four actor/musicians, who take you on a journey through time and space. And now, our set designer has transformed the cSPACE Studio Theatre into a piano bar complete with a Steinway baby grand piano so we hope audiences will grab a drink and come along for the ride!”
"Joe Slabe's songs are beautifully written and his book will have you laughing at one moment, crying another and fully satisfied by the end"
nytheatre.com
"Joe Slabe is Calgary's own Stephen Sondheim."
Louis B. Hobson, The Calgary Herald
Please note that Buy Me a Drink, Joe contains some coarse language and mature subject matter so we recommend the show for ages 15+.
ABOUT FORTE MUSICAL THEATRE GUILD
Forte Musical Theatre Guild (Forte) is a company on the leading edge of musical theatre in Canada. We are the only professional company west of Toronto dedicated exclusively to new musicals and, with our stable of established and emerging artists, we create engaging and intimate evenings of award-winning entertainment. Forte also creates educational and professional development opportunities for students, writers and young professionals to gain experience in this dynamic art form.
A MESSAGE FROM JOE
Welcome to Forte’s production of Buy Me a Drink, Joe!
Forte's very first show ran from April 22nd to the 25th, 2009 in the Joyce Doolittle Theatre at the Pumphouse. It was a musical revue called but, this IS my day job... that featured songs from musicals that had never had professional productions in Calgary, including a couple of my own!
I was frustrated that no company in Calgary seemed interested in new musicals so, in an example of "be the change you want to see" I decided to take the plunge and become a producer. We rehearsed in my living room, Hal Kerbes directed and provided the baby grand piano from HIS living room for the show, and we ran for a week.
The response was overwhelming and, here we are, almost exactly fifteen years later. In a full circle moment, we again have a grand piano (supplied by Steinway Piano Gallery of Calgary this time!) and a mighty cast of four to bring you a new musical.
What's changed in the last fifteen years is that a lot of theatres in Calgary are doing new musicals these days. I've even been involved in quite a few of them, both through Forte and other companies like Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects and Lunchbox Theatre. So I'm very excited to see where the next fifteen years take us.
But I've been in a reflective mood lately, so I hope you'll re-visit the past with me as I tell my story through some of the songs I've written. Most are from my previous shows but several are brand new. Some are funny, some are uplifting and some are sad - but that's life!
But, as I say in the show, biographies are tricky. Lives don't have structure the way that stories do. So not everything you're going to see is 100% accurate. But all of it really happened - and all of it is true.
Thanks for coming and enjoy the show!
JOE SLABE
Artistic Director
Buy Me a Drink, Joe — Older Joe & Joe
Home to Me — Donna, David & Joe
Anything — Joe
Play My Part — Joe, Donna & David
Donna Plays the Violin — Joe & Donna
I Do — David, Joe & Donna
Everything is Fine — Joe & Donna
I'm Gonna Make a Man Outta Me — Joe & Donna
Quittin' Time — Donna & Joe
SONG LIST
Face Your Dragons — Joe & Older Joe
I Will Sing — The Company
I'd Tap That — David & Joe
The Stories We Write — Donna
Buy Me a Drink, Joe (Reprise) — David & Older Joe
3000 Miles Away - David & Joe
There's Only Now — Joe, Donna & David
Buy Me a Drink, Joe (Finale) — The Company
Buy Me a Drink, Joe runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
MEET THE CAST
MEET THE PRODUCTION TEAM
FOR FORTE MUSICAL THEATRE
Artistic Director
Joe Slabe
Board of Directors
Krista Noriega – President
Penny Hume – Vice President
Sherry West – Secretary
Chelsea Mitchell – Treasurer
Steven Bodi – Director at Large
Courtney Burton – Director at Large
Penny Hume – Director at Large
Kat MacAulay – Director at Large
Stacy Soutiere – Director at Large
Forte Musical Theatre Guild acknowledges that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, which include the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai. We also acknowledge the Tsuut’ina and Stoney Nakoda First Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.
FOR cSPACE MARDA LOOP
Deeter Schurig – President and CEO
Graham Frampton – Operations Manager
Erin MacLean-Berko – Events Manager
Kyle Riege – Studio Theatre Manager
Nicole Zylstra – Communications + Marketing Manager
DONORS, SUPPORTERS & THANK YOUS
INDIVIDUAL DONORS
Kelly Adams
Jenn Aguilar
Joy Alford
Jacqueline Allen
Mary Amirault
Jolene Anderson
Kimberly Anderson
Nyla Ash
Ajay Badoni
Janelle Balwin-Maher
Catherine Beal
Stuart Bentley
Michelle Berndtsson
Randy Booth
Steven Bodi
Candace Bosman
Paul Bowen
Naomie Boylan
Alanna Brooks
Chris Brooks
Anne Brown
Nanica Brown
Patty Bruton
Kate Butler
Nancy Cameron
Greg Calpas
Kate Carey
Bridget Chan
Monica Cowan
Bonita Croft
David Cuthull
Helma De Boer
Elaine Dumoulin
Megan Drebert
Scott Drennan
Astrid Duriques
Beth Duthie
Anne Edison
Chris Enright
Russell Erickson
Kirsten Eves
Deborah Ferguson
Catherine Ford
Stuart Gannon
Sharleen Gatcha
Cathy Genge
Dianne Goodman
Darren Guenther
Vanessa Ha
Neal Halstead
Cam Hamilton
Jennifer Hamilton
Sandra Hamilton
Lori Hansen
Sandy Harper-Jacques
Kelly Hartman
Heidemarie Haspel
Delaine Haugen
Marvin Henry
Richard Henson
Marnie Hill
Penny Hume
Dean Imler
Chris Jackson
Colleen Janseen Hood
John James
Johane Johanson
Kristian Jones
Daniela Christine Kay
Sandy Kiely
Louise Knight
Keith Knudsen
Sarah Kociuba
Kevin Konynenbelt
Linda Kriff
Siri Lake
Karen Lamola
Jane Lemaire
Samatha Lathrop
Barbara Lee
Cherie Lee
Cornelia Lehar-Scheickl
Cathy Liptak
David Loria
Christin Lundgren
Derek Luterbach
Robert Macdonald
Linda Macnamara
Terry MacKenzie
Lisa Mah
Shelley McLeod
Jennifer Merio
Ruth Minions
Chelsea Mitchell
Brent Moore
Katelyn Morishita
Michelle Nanjad
Borden Miller
Dave Minions
Natasha Morrisey
Brenda Nakamura
Brian Nash
Rosemary Nation
Mary Neal
Curtis Nolte
Krista Noriega
Lisa O'Brien
Maureen O’Connor
Brian O’Neill
Marilyn Olynek
Anthony Pavic
Donelle Perkins
Jennifer Perrott
Liam Perrott
Rob Pirie
Marilyn Potts
Karen and Grant Pryznyk
Bill Richardson
Courtney Rocca
Cara Ross
Kathleen Routly
Carol Sadler
Joan Sakatch
Kelly Salmond
David Saude
Rachel Schuster
Jo-Ann Schwartzenberger
Jerradt Seier
Maria and Stephen Shaw
Clarice Siebens
Eden Hutchinson-Slabe
Frank and Pat Slabe
Joe Slabe
Jill Smart
Alane Smith
Katerina Sokou
Stacy Soutiere
Wayne Stevens
Don Swystun
Jaclyn Szott
Bradley Thompson
Lauren Thompson
Marion Thompson
Grant Tilly
Brie Trainor
Sara Turner
Susan Tyrrell
Oksana Vedmedenko
Claire Vander Beek
Judy Walker
Kathryn Ward
Ruthann Watson
Shari Wattling
Sherry West
Kim Wiggins
Sandra Wiggins
Sarah Wilkie
Fay Wilson
Danielle Whyte
Rachel Wong
Michael Wright
Carolyn Zaluski
Gail Yester
CORPORATE & PUBLIC SUPPORT
FORTE WOULD LIKE TO THANK
Cheryl Cohen - for planting the seed
JP Thibodeau, Daniel Fong, Allison Lynch and Eric Wigston - for their input and support during script development
Beddington Theatre Arts Centre, Calgary Opera and Vertigo Theatre - for their production assistance
Celina Baharally, Mike King, Graham Kingsley, Kelsey Miller & Ian Robertson - for proving that it takes a village!
Our amazing casino and front of house volunteers