For one night only, the musical drama Ruth will be presented by acclaimed performing company Arcady at St. Andrew’s United Church in Brantford on Saturday, May 10, 2025.
Ruth is a moving story of immigration and welcoming newcomers into one’s homeland. The drama follows the life of Ruth, an independent, strong, and hopeful woman, as she searches for a better life for herself and her people. Written in 1996 with words by librettist Roger Bayley and music by Ronald Beckett (both residents of Brantford), Ruth has been performed by Arcady and other ensembles in Canada and the US over the past 29 years, marking May 10th as the 25th known performance to date.
This special production will feature a cast of past and present Arcady Emerging Artists headed by Cristina Pisani as Ruth, Ben Wallace as Boaz, Anjelique Croteau as Naomi, and Sophia Korz as Orpah. Joining them in supporting roles are Lindsay Scott as The Poet, Marcel Van Helden as Malchi-Shua, and Olivia Maldonado, Michaela Chiste, and Katherine Barr as the Three Women. This outstanding cast will be supported by Arcady’s professional chorus (many of whom are former Emerging Artists themselves), orchestra, dancers, and Youth Singer chorus, with the composer himself, Ronald Beckett, leading the company as musical director.
As Ruth offers viewers a contemporary structure – favouring 12 small ‘sections’ over traditional ‘acts’ – and a condensed 78-minute running time, Arcady always presents several opening numbers to round out the program. This year they will be “Nature’s Cry” arranged for strings, as well as “Go Heart” and “Song of Thanks” arranged for strings and voice sung by Shawn Oakes and Katie Walshaw respectively – all works composed by Beckett.
The inspiration for Ruth originates from librettist Roger Bayley’s first experience with Beckett’s 1993 production of Handel’s Esther. Only a week after seeing Beckett conduct the work, Bayley presented him with the beginning stages of what would eventually become a full-scale musical collaboration between the two. Like Esther, Ruth presents the tale of a strong biblical heroine who defies the many odds set against her. First premiered in 1996, Ruth would go on to become the first of a musical drama trilogy continued with John (1997) and I Am… (1998).
Ruth has received acclaim from audiences both domestically and abroad. In 2007, its original cast recording was awarded a grant from SOCAN Foundation as one of the top classical CDs released that year. As a result, the album was distributed and promoted to 135 classical stations outside of Canada and has received complete plays from stations in Austria, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Israel, Romania, and Turkey. It has also been performed at Belmont University in Nashville, TN and Western University in London, ON. Praised as “a journey from darkness to light, rounded by a noble hymn in the effective fashion of Bach,” Ruth transforms a seemingly simple story into a timeless celebration of life (Murray Charters, The Brantford Expositor, 2005).
A free pre-concert Zoom chat with Ruth scholar Enid Pottinger will take place on Tuesday, May 6th from 8:00-9:00 PM. Weaving together her expertise in arts, music, and theology, the study of Ruth and how it relates to contemporary society has been a focal point of Pottinger’s life for the last 15 years. The composer/director and select cast members will also be present during this special session. Please email info@arcady.ca for more information and a Zoom attendance link.
Arcady looks forward to bringing Ruth to Brantford for the first time since 2017. Tickets at $40 (general) or $15 (student) are available at www.arcady.ca, through email at info@arcady.ca (email to inquire about group rates), in person at The Brantford Bookworm (331 Brant Ave; open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), or by calling 519-428-3185. For more information, please visit arcady.ca.
