Michael MacLennan's Finales Celebrates the Art of the Last Number at Burlington's Drury Lane Theatre

Hamilton Spectator

26-05-2025

Actor and director Michael MacLennan's working relationship with the Drury Lane Theatre has been long and productive. MacLennan, a versatile visionary and devotee of Canadian community theatre, has been involved in thirteen successful musicals at the Drury Lane theatre over the course of ten to twelve years. His first-ever collaboration with Drury Lane was The Secret Garden, based on the beloved novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, in 2008. In 2025, he was the director and choreographer of the wildly entertaining musical comedy A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which premiered at the local theatre on May 9, 2025.
MacLennan is eager to share his aspirations for his upcoming show, for which he is the director and choreographer yet again, as well as the mastermind. This is the aptly-named and anticipated Finales, set to be performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in the month of June. MacLennan's longtime love for Broadway theatre has inspired him to assemble a variety pack of what he considers to be the best final numbers in the musical show business. Theatregoers can look forward to favourite tunes such as 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' from Gypsy, 'I've Never Been in Love Before' from Guys and Dolls, and 'Don't Rain on My Parade' from Funny Girl. Do you also like Chicago, Waitress, La Cage Aux Folles, and The Witches of Eastwick? They'll be included too. The show will pay ample tribute to twenty-six different Broadway hit classics.
MacLennan has agreed to speak out on what he thinks is necessary for a musical show to end well, and why he is ending Drury Lane Theatre's 2025 summer season in this way. Answers have been lightly edited for flow.
In your opinion, what makes a solid musical finale? It's something that will entice the audience to come back after intermission at the end of Act One. At the end of Act Two, it's the way of wrapping up the entire story. I've always found finales intriguing because sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, depending on the show. So I've always been sort of fascinated by them. That's what gave me the idea of putting a show together that was strictly the finales of shows. Generally speaking, the finale is one of the more memorable numbers in the show. We have a lot of solos in our own shows. I think a lot of people don't realize that many of the finales in a lot of shows are solos. I think everyone thinks they're flashy, splashy dance numbers, but they're not always so.
It was a lot of fun putting this production together and doing the research. I think I listened to about two hundred different finales in order to put this show together. You have to sort of mix it up between ballads, up-tempo, and solos. Duets and trios, too, things like that, to make it interesting. If it were all just one big splashy dance number after another, I think it would get a little bit boring for an audience. So I'm going for a more cohesive, complete evening.
What is your overall vision for your finale show? To get it produced! That's always a difficult thing when you're putting together a show, you don't know whether or not there's going to be interest. I've been very lucky that two companies have been interested, so we're going to two different theatres. The first is Drury Lane here in Burlington, and the second is the Maja Prentice Theatre in Mississauga. It was originally going to be only three performances in Mississauga, but then Rick Mackenzie from Drury Lane approached me. That was when a door opened up to go to another location.
Now people will see it, and some other theatre company might say, 'Hey, I think that would work in our space, I would be more than happy to bring it here as well!' You just never know. You never know if it is going to have legs and continue on. It was the initial impetus for me to do a few shows, but if it goes to more than two locations, I would be very open to going to other theatres. It's a perfect-sized show. It's ten people and it can fit onto a lot of different stages.
Do you prefer a traditional theatre or a cabaret for staging a show? I don't have a preference. But one thing I like about Drury Lane is that it is a smaller space, and it forces you to be creative with your choreography. You also have to be creative with your sets. There is also the people. The people at Drury Lane are really kind,are and the volunteers are so dedicated to that company. The people there really make it a home. It's also a little easier to do because it is a smaller, more quaint space. But the people are dedicated to that. It's been around for at least forty-five years. It's a well-loved theatre in the Burlington area.
What future projects do you have in mind after Finales closes at Drury Lane Theatre? I'm actually not returning to Drury Lane for their 2025/2026 season. I'm going to be doing the musical The Prom at two locations. I'm going to be in Georgetown with Georgetown Globe Productions this fall. I'm also going to be doing City Centre Musical Productions' production of The Prom. It's going to be a full year of The Prom.
———————————————————————————————
But, for now, it's time to end with a bang. Finales is set to premiere at Drury Lane Theatre on June 13, 2025, at 8:00 p.m. On June 14, 2025, there will be a matinee show at 2:00 p.m. and an evening show at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased
here.
If you are based closer to Mississauga, you can buy tickets for the Maja Prentice Theatre's production
here.
The show will play at Maja on June 20 and 21, 2025.