05/12/2026
Grab your tickets now! Daniel Cabena Countertenor and Asitha Tennekoon among the fabulous cast in this cool new show!
Dear Friends, come one, come all to Madame Caeneus’s Canteen!
A transy chamber opera set in the q***r world of Madame Caeneus’s, a ‘locker club’ in WWII America, where host/ess Lucy (‘Madame Caeneus’) holds space for transformation in the midst of a polarized world.
Two intersecting gender transitions unfold against the backdrop of the sexual, gender, and racial politics of the 1940s U.S. — and beyond that, against the backdrop of the bronze-age transition story which a group of soldiers is acting out in a ‘blueprint special’ drag r***e.
A story of q***r solidarity, love, and chosen family, this opera resonates in and for our own time.
Presented by the Open Ears Festival of Music & Sound at The Registry Theatre in Kitchener.
See you on June 5th at 9pm. All are welcome!!
Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/mme-caeneuss-canteen-tickets-1986283259699?aff=oddtdtcreator
music by James Rolfe | words by Luke Hathaway with contributions from asitha tennekoon අසිත තෙන්නකෝන්
directed by Henry Oswald Peirson | musical direction by Juliet Palmer | technical direction and lighting design by Jasmine Rajaballey | stage management by Paula Bornacelli | costume design by Rachel Kaufman Behling | artist-care consultant Claire Yurkovich | poster designs by Anisa Francoeur
Featuring: Martin Gomes (Lucy), asitha tennekoon අසිත තෙන්නකෝන් (Eugene), Lesley Emma Bouza (Remi), Paul Genyk-Berezowsky, Conductor (Ben), Ryan McDonald (Pat), Daniel Cabena Daniel Cabena Countertenor (Bird), and Mme Caeneus’s canteen house band: Phil Albert (electric bass), Richard Burrows (percussion), Juliet Palmer (bandleader/clarinet), Matti Pulkki (accordion), Philipp Samutin (violin)