Review: Anne & Gilbert

Anne & Gilbert by Jeff Hochhauser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Anne of Green Gables is one of those champions of childhood, and yet ironically some of the more interesting parts of her life happen after her childhood is past. Anne & Gilbert is a musical that runs each summer in Prince Edward Island, and is set during the second and third novels of the Anne series, with act 1 being the second, and act 2 being the third. Having heard the music - or some of it - I became intrigued as to how the story would play out, and sought out the book.

It's... alright.

The problem with librettos is always that you feel you're missing something without the visual of the actual play. It's a problem I have frequently, and yeah, it was an issue here. However, I'll do my best to try to share my thoughts. Most of which are pretty positive? I'd say the biggest letdown is that it expects you to know the story already, which isn't much of a letdown considering that you are unlikely to be interested in seeing the play without knowing at least the first of the books. It does feel a little light on dialogue and heavy on songs but then again, it is a musical.

Overall, it was a quick little read, and I am glad that I read it. It's just kind of made me wish I could actually see the show somehow, which isn't likely to happen. I wish this edition of the book had included pictures from the original show run, but sadly not to be.

Still, it was fun.

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