Canada’s first lady of musical theatre, Louise Pitre’s tour schedule shows her stepping straight from London, England’s Royal Albert Hall to Atikokan’s St. Patrick High School as she begins her mid-September tour of the Northwest.

The Dryden Entertainment Series welcomes Pitre to the stage of The Centre, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. to kick off a new season of eclectic selections including emerging and established artists.

To help spark more local support for the series, Entertainment Series subscribers are encouraged to invite friends for a two-for-one ticket price.

The evening will also see a reception following the performance, featuring local piano-man Paul Hampton in the atrium.

Receiving a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in the smash hit Mamma Mia! was a highlight for Louise Pitre in a career that spans theatre, television and concert stages across North America and Europe.

In addition to headlining the Toronto, Broadway and US touring company casts of Mamma Mia!, Louise is known for her signature performances as Fantine in Les Misérables (Toronto, Montreal and Paris) and the title character in Edith Piaf. She also earned raves for leading roles in Annie Get Your Gun, Song & Dance, Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; The World Goes ‘Round; Blood Brothers; Tartuffe; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?; The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd; Applause; Rock ‘n’ Roll etc.; and The Toxic Avenger.

In September, 2009, Louise made her Carnegie Hall debut singing the role of Ulrika in the concert version of the musical Kristina by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. She reprised this role when Kristina opened at London’s Royal Albert Hall in April, 2010.

Louise has guested with orchestras across Canada and appears in concert regularly throughout North America with accompaniment ranging from big band to solo piano.

Her small screen appearances include Lifetime’s A Christmas Wedding, Recipe for a Perfect Christmas, MVP and the CBC biopic Celine in which she played Celine Dion’s mother, Therese. She can currently be seen as the host of Star Portraits on Bravo!.

Louise is the winner of a National Broadway Touring Award, a New York Theatre World Award, a San Francisco Theatre Critics’ Award, a Betsy Mitchell Award and three Dora Mavor Moore awards, all for best performance by a leading actress in a musical.

Since earning her Honours BA in Music Education (piano) from the University of Western Ontario, Louise has become the proud recipient of honorary degrees from the Royal Conservatory of Music and Humber College along with a Doctorate of Music from the University of Western Ontario.