‘It’s helped with my confidence’: Montreal’s I Can Dream new theatre production back for 10th edition

If you can dream it, you can live it — that’s the motto of the performers, part of the ‘I Can Dream Theatre’ — back for their 10th production, featuring neurodiverse adults who can sing, act, dance, and play musical instruments.

Performers will take the stage Friday and Saturday at the Eric J. MacLean Centre for the Arts in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce at 7:30 p.m.

This year’s showcase is called ‘Downtown Hillbillies’ a mash-up of Downtown Abbey and Beverly Hillbillies, written Ava Masciarelli, Director of the I Can Dream Theatre.

“She’s really funny, she has a crazy mind, she comes up with really fun stuff,” said Lindsay Oksenberg, one of the actors in this year’s production.

 Many of the actors say they are excited about taking on the ‘hillbilly’ persona with its well-known Southern ‘twang’ for this year’s showpiece.

“It’s a lot of fun, I get to express myself with different characters,” said Andrew Perez, one of the veteran performers who’s been part of I Can Dream for nearly 10 years, as he describes taking on the role of Jed Clampert. “He’s like a southerner who struck rich finding oil.”

“I’m playing Jeff Bodine,” exclaimed Joseph Hunt. “He’s more of a country guy, he’s a good guy, maybe a little slow, but caring,” he went on to explain.

The Charitable organization uses creative arts as a form of therapy that allows participants to build skills to boost independence, responsibility, perseverance, self-confidence and social skills in their daily lives.

“I love watching them grow, I love the singers who were shy before and are stronger with it now,” said Masciarelli, smiling as she talks about the actors she’s come to know so well over the years.

“I get more of the ‘I can do that now’ as opposed to ‘please don’t give me anything to say or please don’t make me sing a song’. A lot of people have come out of their shell and that’s the most incredible part,” she added.

For many of the performers, their journey began more than a decade ago when I Can Dream first started back at Summit School with its first theatre production in April 2014 called “Unplugged: One Night Only”.

Over the years, they’ve gone on to perform in many shows paying homage to famous movies like Titanic, Macbeth, Grease and Murder on the Orient Express.

“I didn’t use to like singing and dancing, but being in I Can Dream helped me enjoy it a lot more,” said Perez, who first joined I Can Dream after his mother had heard about it and nudged him towards the performing arts.

“I’ve really matured a lot, my confidence and just being on stage and being happy,” Oksenberg concurred when describing her experience as well.

These annual productions allow the performers to spend time and socialize with other neurodiverse adults, creating a sense of community and belonging, especially during rehearsals where they all get to practice together.

Masciarelli said: “A lot of what they learn here and some of the different things, they take out to their workplace. Some of these guys, I mean, I’ve known for an extremely long time, and it all gets integrated. A lot of it gets integrated into their work, into their home, you know, friends and friendships.”