CASTLES IN THE SNOW

Castles in the Snow is a delightful all-original musical stage production for the holidays, celebrating the beauty of winter and the Christmas story. The premiere performance on the Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada in December 2014 featured an all-star Sunshine Coast cast, musicians, and a young ballerina, under the direction of composer/producer Kenneth Norman Johnson. The performances received standing ovations and many accolades.

This production is a delight to present and audiences love it.

Visit our publications to order music from the show. The Christmas Songbook contains all the music from Castles in the Snow for solo voice and piano. In addition, choir arrangements of all the songs are available individually for inclusion in choir programs for the Christmas season.

Contact us for information on obtaining the script, score, and stage directions for producing the show.

THE QUEST

Libretto and music by Kenneth Norman Johnson. The Quest is a scripture-based dramatic oratorio comprised of 14 original compositions arranged in a wide variety of styles for dramatized solo and chorus. The Quest uses different settings (church, casino, nightclub, outdoors) to illustrate with compassion humankind’s search for the Divine. The music is challenging, beautiful and memorable.

Audiences were delighted by the premier performances in Pender Harbour in June 2014 and we are grateful for the stellar work of our local cast. The Quest is ready for the world (and we think the world might be ready for The Quest). Libretto, score, songs from The Quest (book) and select pieces arranged for SATB choir are being made available for performance groups, choirs, and soloists.

EUTIERRIA – AT ONE WITH NATURE

In 2018, Kenneth Norman Johnson teamed up with librettist Nancy Pincombe to create an engaging and heartwarming message about humankind’s relationship to nature. Commissioned by the Sechelt Arts Festival, the three premier performances of Eutierria featured a teenaged narrator, a ballerina and schoolchildren plus chorus, soloists, and orchestra, and were a wonderful example of community and connection. The 12 original songs and rhyming recitative explore our relationship with nature with interludes of humour and dance.

The libretto, score, songs from Eutierria and select pieces arranged for SATB choir are being made available for performance groups, choirs, and soloists.

BLACK & WHITE WITH A TOUCH OF COLOUR

“Award winning, original Classique piano, entertaining narrative, and song. A delightful show.”

Kenneth Norman Johnson has been delighting audiences for decades with his original show “Black and White with a Touch of Colour”. His presentation of original Classique style piano compositions, light hearted narrative, and thought provoking songs take the audience on a journey through nature, across the sea, and into the realm of love and inspiration, with a brief sojourn into the “Blue Moon Room Piano Lounge” where the audience is treated to a selection of favourite standards and a touch of humour. Intimate, light hearted, and at times emotionally sensitive, audiences are enthralled with this music, a sophisticated combination of recent compositions and works which have withstood the test of time.

Originally created as a Mayor’s Gala Fundraising production with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1990’s, Black and White was later developed into a special weekly presentation aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines. Periodically over a period of six years the show was hosted and presented weekly on the main stage by Kenneth Johnson at the piano, accompanied by the ship’s orchestra. The production also featured singers and dancers from the production cast. Always well received, and enjoyable for the performers and audience alike, the show moved back onto the mainland in 2006 and has been presented with featured guest artists a number of times as a fundraising event for worthy causes.

THE TOY BOX SHOP

Originally written in 1979 for High School students to perform for their elementary school classmates, The Toy Box Shop is being updated and republished. A delightful 30-minute production for any age, the performance features a narrator in top hat and tails who is the storyteller, seven unison songs with piano accompaniment, a varied cast, some dressed as toys, and some as less fortunate children, an elderly shopkeeper, and an English Bobby style policeman. Additional participants make up the chorus to sing the songs. Everyone in class is involved.

The Toy Box Shop was so well received in its early performances that it was distributed to schools across Canada by GLC Distributors in Toronto. Many youngsters over the years have enjoyed performing in or watching this heartwarming, delightful little musical play.

MASQUE – INTIMATE MUSICAL THEATRE

Masque is a new show currently being developed by Kenneth Norman Johnson. This elegant show is being created as a “classique” style production. It features contemporary ballet choreographed to beautiful songs and instrumental numbers, performed by a small orchestra and soloists in costume situated within the set. In the true form of a masque, there is no distinct story line. The underlying theme is based on the concept that many of us hide behind masks, confusing others and ourselves as to whom we really are. True love removes our mask and frees us to be true to ourselves.

The show unfolds in a sequence of dances, songs, narration, costumes and theatrical lighting presented in a stage setting which encompasses segments of the audience within the set, creating the illusion that the audience is immersed in the midst of the show.