WELCOME TO PAIN! The Musical
Bahram Jam – Concept / Executive producer
For years, I asked myself a simple hypothetical question: If pain could speak, what would it say? What wisdom might it offer and would anyone listen? What if, just what if, pain was not met with fear and hostility. but with compassion and understanding? Perhaps by changing our relationship with pain, we can sometimes prevent the development of chronic pain and long-term disability.
“As long as you keep trying to escape pain, it will chase you.”– B Jam
After more than 30 years as a physiotherapist, I felt compelled to combine my passion for patient care with my love of musical theatre to give pain and those living with it… A VOICE! I deeply thank Martin Julien, Allen Cole and Thom Allison for giving life to this once crazy idea of creating a musical about PAIN! We truly believe that music and theatre can shift minds and touch lives… especially for those living with pain.
Some of the songs, such as Fire Inside Me, were co-written with Jason Green and Mark Green between 1988–1994, during our amazing time together as the Toronto trio band The Burns, now as VIALOV.
"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."– Bob Marley
Martin Julien – Playwright / Book
Martin Julien (he/him) acted, sang, and danced in his first professional show – the musical Be Prepared! – at the ‘new’ Factory Theatre when he was ten years old. Over time, he has also become a playwright, theatre deviser, dramaturg, lecturer, and PhD scholar.
Selected Creation Credits: The Wolf in the Voice, Tarragon Theatre (co-creator and director with Brian Quirt). The Man That Got Away (A Special Appearance), Buddies in Bad Times (playwright/actor). Trace, Vertical City/SummerWorks (co-creator/actor). Why We Are Here! Nightswimming - Toronto, Victoria, Calgary, Berlin (co-creator with Brian Quirt). Blue Note, Nightswimming/Harbourfront Centre (co-creator with Brian Quirt). Home Free, SummerWorks (playwright/actor). The Unanswered Question, National Arts Centre (playwright).
Upcoming: Man in Chair in The Drowsy Chaperone, Shifting Ground Collective at Theatre Passe Muraille. 12 Litres 8800 Steps, Aluna Theatre at Factory Theatre (production dramaturg).
Allen Cole – Composer (Music & Lyrics)
Originally from Nova Scotia, Allen Cole has worked variously as composer, musical director, and writer for The Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, the NAC and many other theatres across the country. He’s won numerous awards, including four Doras, six Merritts and a Best Film Score Award from The Atlantic Film Festival. His musical Rockbound won five Merritt Awards, including Best New Play, Best Music and Best Production, and was nominated for the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia’s Masterworks Award. His funk musical comedy The Bricklin premiered in Fredericton, NB in 2010, and played in Katowice, Poland in 2013 and 2015.
Allen has co-created many musical theatre works for Two Planks and a Passion in Ross Creek, NS, including 2023’s The Wind in the Willows.
Thom Allison – Director
Thom Allison is a Canadian Screen Award winner for the role of “Pree” in KILLJOYS. Thom has appeared on Broadway in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and in the original Canadian companies of Miss Saigon, The Who’s Tommy. Stratford Festival: Into the Woods. Shaw Festival: Ragtime, A Little Night Music. Some other credits include Cabaret (Theatre Calgary), Evita (Theatre Calgary/Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre) and The Drowsy Chaperone (The Citadel, National Arts Centre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Take Me Out (CanStage) Directing: Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Calgary), RENT, La Cage Aux Folles (Stratford Festival), Seussical; Mary Poppins (Young People’s Theatre) .
TV/Film: Coroner, Canada’s Drag Race, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Hudson & Rex, Murdoch Mysteries, Kim’s Convenience, CBC’s Over The Rainbow. www.thomallison.com
Charlotte Moore – as PAIN!
Charlotte Moore has been a staple of the Canadian Musical Theatre for over 40 years. She won a Dora Mavor Moore Award in 1990 for 'The Rocky Horror Show' and was nominated exactly 30 years later for 'Sunday In The Park With George'. She has been a stalwart supporter of new Canadian Musicals for all of those 40 years, appearing in many World Premieres, Recordings and Workshops. She has appeared at the Shaw Festival, Charlottetown Festival and across the country in such theatres as The Grand Theatre London, Halifax's Neptune Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, and many more. For Mirvish Productions, she played in 'Hairspray', as "Fantine" in 'Les Miserables', and as "Aunty Em" in 'The Wizard Of Oz' (Toronto and National/US Tour).
Charlotte appears on the Cast Album for 'Stan Rogers - A Matter of Heart', and has three solo albums to her credit - 'Some Comfort Here', 'Long Road Back' (all original material) and 'Friends Of Mine - Songs From Canadian Musicals'.
She is also the proud winner of the 2024 Slaight Family Legacy award. www.charlottemoore.ca
Blythe Wilson – as Dr. J
Theatre Credits: Mamma Mia, Sound of Music, Man of La Mancha (Mirvish), Mary Poppins (Broadway/US Tour), Into the Woods (TIFT), Billy Elliot, Guys and Dolls, Oliver!, Oklahoma, Julius Caesar (Stratford Festival), The Three Musketeers (Chicago Shakespeare), 25th Annual… Spelling Bee (Connecticat Rep), Mystery of Edwin Drood, Happy End (Shaw Festival), Steel Magnolias, The Prom, The Full Monty, Kinky Boots (Drayton Entertainment), The Last Five Years (Can Stage), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond (Chicago Theatre), Evita, Mary Poppins (Theatre Calgary)
Film/TV Credits: The Handmaid’s Tale (MGM)
Blythe lives in Stratford and dedicates this presentation to the memory of her dear friend Carolyn.
Janelle Cooper – as Sophia
Janelle Cooper is a multi-award winning interdisciplinary Artist and Arts Educator. Her expertise is in the excavation of lived experience through devising and multi-genre storytelling and IBPOC artistic leadership. Theatre credits include: Natasha & Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (Crows/Mirvish); The Sound of Music (Grand); The Amen Corner (Shaw); Fall On Your Knees (Canadian Stage/Neptune/NAC/Grand); The Color Purple (Neptune/Citadel/Royal Manitoba); Twelfth Night (Theatre Calgary/NAC); Adventures of a Black Girl, I Am For You (NAC). Film and TV credits include: Billion Dollar Bluff (Tubi); We Forgot To Break Up (Motel); Reacher (Prime); Circuit Breakers (Apple+); Snow 2: Brain Freeze (Disney-ABC). This is for Grey. Always.
Rosie Callaghan – as Bella
Rosie Callaghan is a performer with specialization in new work, immersive work, and musical theatre. She is a graduate of both Dawson College’s Professional Theatre Program (Valedictorian) in her hometown of Montreal, and of Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Notable credits include Alice In Wonderland (Bad Hats/YES/Port Hope/Tweed), Clue (Grand/RMTC), UNCOVERED: The Music of ABBA, Now What? (Musical Stage Company), April Fools (Segal Centre), It Shoulda Been You (Segal/DWYT), Rumour Has It (Capitol Port Hope), Frankenstein: A Living Comic Book (Geordie/Kidoons/Segal Centre), Into The Woods (Ovation Productions, The Grove Theatre), Last Night at The Gayety (Centaur Theatre), and Antigone, Wind In The Willows (Two Planks and a Passion).
Blue Free Cooper – as Jordan
Blue Free Cooper is a London born Scorpio, proficient in Microsoft Word and Adobe Creative Suite.
She is a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance program at Sheridan College in Oakville, ON. Recent credits include ALL THAT SHE WROTE (Makeshift Co/Toronto Fringe); THE LAST FIVE YEARS (Allswell Productions); BLOOD BROTHERS (MTP); NOBODY ASKED TO BE HERE (Theatre Sheridan/Musical Stage Co.)
IG: @bluefreecooper
Shaemus Swets – as Ryan
Theatre Credits: Vinyl Café (Citadel), After The Rain (National Arts Centre / Tarragon / Musical Stage Co), UnCovered: U2 and The Rolling Stones, The Canadian Festival of New Musicals (Musical Stage Co), Million Dollar Quartet (Tweed & Co), Lottie and the Deep Blue Sea (PRISM Fest NYC), Jesus Christ Superstar, Turn The Page, An Incomplete List… (Theatre Sheridan).
@_shaemus
Julia Carrano – Producer
Julia Carrano is a Producer and Live Event Manager who is proud to contribute to Toronto’s vibrant arts scene. She has had the express privilege to work with multidisciplinary performance and event companies like the CNE, Harbourfront Centre, the City of Toronto, and notably, Soulpepper Theatre Company where she is currently the Associate Producer. In her spare time, Julia can often be found stage managing alongside her friends, lending her expertise to a variety of live events spanning from concerts to festivals, and even dog shows.
Driven by a deep appreciation for the transformative power of art, Julia is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with a community of artists and managers. Through her work, she endeavours to facilitate meaningful experiences that bring together people from all walks of life, ultimately fostering connections and enriching lives through art.
Fiona Jones – Stage Manager
Selected credits: DION A Rock Opera (Coalmine Theatre); The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time, The Hooves Belonged to the Deer, An Acre of Time, The Road to Hell, one word, The Retreat (Tarragon Theatre); The Man That Got Away (Buddies in Bad Times); Bentboy (YPT); Crow Hill, Bombers, The Hero of Hunter Street, The Bad Luck Bank Robbers, Wounded Soldiers, (4th Line Theatre); What A Young Wife Ought To Know (2b Theatre/GCTC/Crow’s Theatre); Disgraced (Mirvish/Hope In Hell Theatre/Citadel Theatre); Life, Death And The Blues, Such Creatures (Theatre Passe Muraille); Trudeau Stories (Long Black Car); Trout Stanley, Cold Meat Party, Tiger of Malaya, Belle (Factory Theatre).
Julio Fuentes – Choreographer
Julio - born in the Philippines, now based in Toronto - is a dance educator, choreographer, and performer with over 20 years of experience in his craft. His work ranges from dance companies across North America and Asia to Canadian musical theatre and syndicated tv series and feature films.
Select performance credits: Prison Dancer (Citadel / NAC - world premiere), Mamma Mia, In The Heights, Beauty & The Beast (Arts Club) Matilda (RMTC, Citadel, Arts Club), The Little Prince (Theatre Calgary - world premiere), Into The Woods (TIFT), The Little Mermaid (Align Entertainment). Select choreography credits: Bring It On (Globe Theatre - Canadian premiere), Grease (Mayfield), Heathers (Theatre Sheridan), Prison Dancer (Citadel / NAC), Dolly Parton’s Christmas Carol (Arts Club). TV / Film: Riverdale (dancer; CW), Schmigadoon! (season 1 & 2, ensemble - AppleTV+), Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (assistant choreographer - Paramount).
Dashiell Cole – Keyboard / Percussion
Dashiell is a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts where he received both the Moe Koffman and Carne H. Bray Scholarships before heading off to earn his Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Piano Performance at the University of Toronto. Some highlights include; solo musician in Two Planks and a Passion’s production of Frankenstein and Macbeth where his musicianship helped win Nova Scotia’s Merritt award for Outstanding Original Composition of a Musical. Dash continues to perform in and around Toronto with various jazz groups including his own Dashiell Cole Trio.
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