Moncton man wants to bring the Broadway magic back home

MONCTON – A young man from Moncton who made it big on Broadway has come back home to share his love of musical theatre.

John Dunnett, who graduated from Moncton High School in 2009, found his way to New York City where he worked on some very well-known musicals. Now he’s trying to bring a small piece of that stage magic back with him by launching a production company and directing his own musical.

Dunnett is no stranger to the stage, having worked on 12 Broadway productions as a set and costume designer, but he said he has never been so nervous heading into a show.

“Terrified…I am completely terrified,” he said.

It will be his first time directing his own work through his new company, which he has named RoundTable Theatrical Productions.

“I kind of was working so hard to get to that certain level,” he said. “I got there and I just realized it was time to come home.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I kind of was working so hard to get to that certain level," he said. "I got there and I just realized it was time to come home."

Dunnett is directing big stage performers Brandon Rubendall and Abbe Tanenbaum, both from New York, in a production called “The Last Five Years”.

The two high-calibre performers had never even heard of Moncton before working with Dunnett.

“I love John and I love what he is doing here, and I can totally relate to wanting to bring this kind of theatre to your hometown.” said Tanenbaum.

Rubendall has performed in big Broadway musicals such as “Wicked” and “Spiderman Turn of the Dark”, and said he’s excited to bring some of the Big Apple’s flavour to Canada.

“It’s exciting to do what you love for people that don’t get to come to New York that often and see a Broadway show,” he said.

Dunnett said he hopes the production will be the first of many, but conceded there isn’t enough of an industry in Moncton “to support a network and community of people full-time.”

He said he does believe that while he is in between stints working in New York, he can come back to Moncton to produce a variety of shows for a hometown audience.

“It’s obviously completely dependent on how this turns out, but I have a dream of a full season and I would like to see plays and big musicals.”

“The Last Five Years” opens at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton on Friday, April 3 and runs through the weekend.