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Kentucky Derby winner provides inspiration for new musical

July 13, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It is a production 11 years in the making and has been selling out every night at the Al Green Theatre in Toronto.

The Toronto Fringe Festival’s production of “Dancer – A Musical in Ten Furlongs” is a musical like no other, and it has an Orangeville connection.

Marek Norman, musician, composer, and genius behind the recent Stratford musical production of Ballycroy, teamed up with Jim Betts, a writer and former artistic director at Theatre Orangeville, to create a piece about a horse – yes, a horse.

It’s not just any horse, though – it is Northern Dancer – the celebrated first Canadian thoroughbred to win the Kentucky Derby.

It was a simple conversation years ago where the idea began, and it blossomed from there. Although Marek and Jim had worked together on some productions, they had never collaborated on a project.

While working on a project in Toronto that was having some production problems, Marek mentioned to Jim they should discuss something positive to break the tension and asked him what other current projects he had on the go.

Jim said he had been fascinated with Northern Dancer, the famous racehorse. Surprisingly, Marek was also interested in the horse and remembered listening to the famous Kentucky Derby race on the radio with his grandfather.

The idea was born that this story could be a musical.

“I said what about if you really shook up the idea, and had all the horses involved as characters, but have them all dance,” Marek explained. “He said, ‘well that’s interesting because the horse’s name is Northern Dancer.”

The idea started to take off. With Marek writing the music and Jim writing the script and lyrics, they needed a choreographer, who was talented and experienced enough to make dancing horses, look like they weren’t horses who were dancing.

They connected with Stacey Tookey, a well-known choreographer who has made quite a name for herself in the dance world, working as a choreographer for the TV show, So You Think You Can Dance.

“We finally had 16 or 17 songs written and Jim started fashioning the text around these songs,” Marek explained. “We got to a point where we were ready to approach someone about looking into this piece.”

It was rather serendipitous that as they approached different people in the entertainment industry, several other people also had a connection to Northern Dancer, from people who remembered and had an interest in the horse to a few who had actually been to the stables and met the horse. It was like the idea brought all these people together with a common interest.

“We began writing this piece 11 years ago,” Marek explained. “We did three workshop drafts of the piece – all three of them are completely different. What we have done for this project at Toronto Fringe, we have culled all of the best material from those three workshops. We have what we think is the best, strongest, clearest, version of this story.”

Once the play was ready for the stage, the first seven performances were quickly sold out, with a waiting list of others wanting to get a ticket.

While Marek and Jim are responsible for writing and the music, Marek gives credit to director and choreographer Stacey Tookey as the main drawing point for the production based on her talent and professional experience as a choreographer.

The final result is an outstanding stage experience with a story, songs, and a talented team of dancers.

Dancer – A Musical in Ten Furlongs is on stage now at the Al Green Theatre in Toronto through July 16.

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