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“Rounding the Bend” with Young Queer Playwright Eliza Musselwhite

With less than two week’s before Toronto’s largest annual theatre festival, The Toronto Fringe begins, the city’s artistic community is buzzing. Actors are tongue-twisting, singers are lip-trilling, dancers are limb-stretching, and if you’re openly queer writer/director Eliza Musselwhite, you’re talking to AfterEllen.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the 21-year-old, to chat with her about her coming out experience, and what inspired her to write her first musical Rounding The Bend, a coming-of-age tale about four young women on a road trip, filled with drinking, dancing, and, of course, lesbians.

Originally raised just outside of Winnipeg, in what Eliza described as a “hippie town,” she is no stranger to living outside of the hetero-norm. As the daughter of a heterosexual father and a lesbian mother, who are both musical, she grew up encouraged to live as her true self.

“My mother realized she was gay when I was very young. Rather than having to share custody, my parents chose to live together and raise us together as friends,” Eliza said. “It wasn’t always easy, but for us, it worked.” Eliza’s family even had a family band called Kinfolk for a while. And Rounding the Bend continues to be a family affair. Her father arranged the music, her mother is the production manager, and her sister designed the poster art.

So can we expect any of Eliza’s fascinating personal storylines to be in Rounding The Bend? Well, she did say that some of her experiences influenced the plot.

“Although the story is fictional, it was definitely inspired by some true events. Just like the main character, I fell in love with one of my best friends and ultimately she didn’t feel the same way,” she said. “It was a very confusing time and was definitely my first true heartbreak.”

But this musical isn’t all doom and gloom.”Although it deals with some emotional content, it really is a fun show, and has a lot of levity and a lot of laughs,” Eliza said. “Being a glass-half-full kind of a gal, it was important that people feel hopeful after seeing it.”

Actresses Brittany Robinson (Andrea) and Brittany Kay (Quinn) rehearsing. Photo by Sage Whitworth

She also explained that it was after seeing a play with a lesbian storyline that she felt was unrealistic, the push to create her own piece was strong.

“I had always toyed with the idea of writing a musical, and last year, I consumed a piece of media that really affected me. It felt as if the emphasis of the story was on the label as opposed to the connection between the two women, and that bothered me,” Eliza said. “For me, it missed the mark and I felt the best way to respond was to create something of my own.” And that she did.

Rounding the Bend originally premiered at Toronto’s Paprika Festival (a juried performing arts festival for creators under 21) earlier this year, and received a positive response from critics. The music is also diverse, with original songs ranging from folk to Sondheim-inspired ballads. But of course, the most important question: Will there be lady kisses? “Yes!” Eliza said. “And a sexy Latin dance!”

Intrigued? There are seven show times for Rounding The Bend at the Robert Gill Theatre as part of the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival this July. For more information, you can visit the musical’s Official Fringe Page or follow Eliza’s production company, Out Of The Blue Theatre, on Twitter and Instagram for frequent updates and contest details on how to win free tickets to the show.

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