National arts fund backs Hockey Sweater musical, Kid Koala stage show

A musical based on the children's book The Hockey Sweater, a mosquito tale from DJ Kid Koala, and a multidisciplinary production about Inuit myths are among the projects being funded by The National Arts Centre.

The organization has announced nine projects that will get $1.4 million from a new fund to support "bold and ambitious" work in music, theatre, dance and performing arts.

"There was a common theme that we weren't in the game in terms of supporting new work," Heather Moore, artistic producer of the National Creation Fund, told CBC News Thursday morning. 

[Artists need] more time, space and resources to create bold and ambitious work — and not just produce the easy thing because that's all the time they had.- Heather Moore

Amid years of consultation, what the NAC heard was a desire for big, bold Canadian work for stages at home and abroad. However, artists also said they needed "more time, space and resources to create [that] bold and ambitious work, and not just produce the easy thing because that's all the time they had, or the small thing because that's all that people usually commission."

After announcing the creation fund in 2016, NAC organizers learned about a host of ambitious performing arts projects at various stages of development. They zoomed in on a set of promising projects "where we could really see that our investment would make a difference" and boost them to a different level, Moore said.

The fund is meant to give new work the time and resources it needs to reach "its potential, resonate with audiences, and be presented widely beyond its premiere."​

The money can be used to help fund workshops, residencies, expand creative teams and casts, and integrate new technology.

Diverse batch of recipients

The first batch of recipients includes The Hockey Sweater: A Musical, based on the classic story by Roch Carrier and featuring eight young actors who sing, dance and skate their way through the show. It premiered last fall in Montreal and is being redeveloped for a broader audience.

The show debuted to great acclaim, "but they said there's more we can do," Moore said. "And we really think that piece has the opportunity to become part of the Canadian canon." 

A production called Unikkaaqtuat blends circus arts, music, theatre, and video projection to highlight Inuit people, their traditions "and vision for the future." It's a collaboration between Les 7 doigts de la main, Artcirq and Taqqut Productions, with illustrations by artist Germaine Arnaktauyok.

Meanwhile, Kid Koala's stage project The Storyville Mosquito will use puppets, miniature sets, multiple cameras and screens as well as live musicians to tell a jazz-infused story of a mosquito who leaves his small town to seek fame and fortune.

The noted turntablist and producer, whose real name is Eric San, sees The Storyville Mosquito as a follow-up that builds on the concepts in his well-received 2014 live show Nufonia Must Fall, which continues to tour worldwide. 

"What we're trying to capture in terms of the show is the interplay between the puppeteers, the camera movements, the musicians, the foley artists — everybody is  all synchronized, playing off each other," San said on the phone from Montreal. 

"It's akin to having 15 people on one surfboard," he said.

"You have to be in the room, experiencing it live... The whole point is that it exists as a live experience to share with the audience."

With support from the NAC creation fund, San is able to bring on more collaborators, spend time in workshops polishing and rehearsing the developing show and also to confer with industry experts, "to get their insight and learn about their processes."

Overall, the fund plans to invest up to $3 million in 15 to 20 projects a year, with the next round of recipients to be announced in the fall.

Other projects announced Thursday include: