They're calling it the Canadian MUSIC Hall of Fame.

Not the Canadian ROCK AND ROLL Hall of Fame or the Canadian COUNTRY Music Hall of Fame. And according to an article in today's Toronto Star ("The Envelope, Please: T.O. Wins Music Shrine" by Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Toronto Star Tuesday May 17, 2005) it's scheduled to open in June 2007 in a brand new $38MM building at Yonge and Dundas.

Plans for the physical hall include a three-foot main area, featuring interactive exhibits, administration offices on the top floor and two stores, some featuring the "Oh What A Feeling" brand used to market popular compilations of Canadian music.

The Canadian Music Hall of Fame started inducting artists in 1978 but it existed only as photographs on a wall at the academy's headquarters. Currently it's housed online at the Juno Award site.

So why no mention in the article of any planned Musical Theater exhibits?

After all, the article does say that Bobby Gimby's trumpet (he wrote the 1967 centennial song Ca-na-da) will be there and Glenn Gould's peaked cap, scarf and finger gloves will be there. So it sounds like it will profile more than just that crazy rock and roll that the kids love so much!

I'm willing to grant that the article may not be completely thorough as to the detailed plans, but I have a sinking feeling that musical theater (writers, producers, performers) will be completely overlooked. For crying out loud, we don't even have a category at the Junos, unlike the Grammys...

What about Brent Carver who won a Tony for The Kiss of the Spider Woman? Or Louise Pitre who started this whole Mamma Mia! phenomenon in Toronto? Or Leslie Arden? Or Garth Drabinsky? Or Anne of Green Gables? Billy Bishop Goes To War? Or Galt MacDermot who wrote the music for Hair? Or Plane Crazy?

If you visit Jim Bett's Web site you'll see that Canadian Musical Theater is alive and well! Would it kill them to devote just a teensy weensy corner to it?

The article goes on to say:

I think if we had a different location that wasn't quite as sexy as Yonge and Dundas, it might be more of a challenge.

Now I have many words to describe the corner of Yonge and Dundas but "sexy" isn't one of them...

Technorati tags: Broadway | Music | Movie Musicals | Musicals | Blog | Blogs | Theater | Theatre | Entertainment