Women To Look Up To!

Reviewed by Marilu Murphy

I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into the theatre for the opening performance of Divine Women 2. The back drop of the stage was simply set with three panels of draped white sheer chiffon flowing to the floor with a look of pure elegance.  A beautiful white grand piano was to the left of centre stage and to the right was a line up of five white padded chairs.  Is this going to be an interview of famous successful women?  My curiosity is certainly piqued. Divine Women 2 is now on stage at the Victoria Playhouse, Petrolia.

Have you ever wondered what drove women to a career in theatre, television, writing or production? What about when they “made it”, were successful and highly coveted? What were their lives like as children and the paths that they followed to get them to where they are today? What do they do when they aren’t on stage?  If you are like me, and wanted to know, Divine Women 2 will take you down their path of life. Canada’s legendary female artists will entertain you with their signature songs reminiscent of their musical theatre and concert performances accompanied by the all female Starbright Band.

David Rogers, the co- artistic director is the only male in this performance. He is the first one on stage and after belting out “All I Need Is the Girl”, he introduces each of the five Divine Women: Marianne McCord , Ma-Anne Dionisio, Lisa Howard, Leslie Arden and Valerie Boyle.  The ladies join David singing the popular Carpenters song, “Sing”.

These dynamic ladies personally share with the audience how, why and when they wanted to sing.  The desire started as early as childhood, they tell us.  Their influence was their family mostly. The love of their music leads them to very successful careers in the field of theatre, television, music, production and composing.

Leslie Arden has a very successful career and has written and composed well over a dozen musicals. In 1990 she was one of 13 musical theatre writers chosen from around the world to study with Stephen Sondheim at Oxford University. She has composed for choirs all over the continent and has spent six seasons composing for the Stratford Festival. She was writer in residence at the Queens University Dan School of Drama and Music. In 2024 she was invited to the United Arab Emirates to develop a new musical for the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy. Leslie also accompanied the Starbright Band beautifully on the grand piano.

Valerie Boyle has had numerous roles in theatre and television. I first saw her performance as “Mother Superior” in Nunsense. She is absolutely fabulous; her hilarious sense of humour and wit comes across as natural and you soon realize that it’s her personality. When you see her on stage, you immediately love her. She has played “Mother Superior” in Nunsense here at the VPP and on tour throughout Canada for 40 years. She has performed in many theatre productions and traveled around the continent.  She has also performed and had lead roles in well known television series and movies. Valerie’s unique voice has been used in animation and audio books. Her wit and wonderful sense of humour have led her to cabaret performances and involvement with the Comedy Bar. I wasn’t surprised to see this charming actress, Valerie Boyle, as one of the Divine Women.

Ma-Anne Dionisio, a Philippine born Canadian actress is best known portraying the role of “Kim” in the Canadian Premier production of Miss Saigon at the Princess of Wales Theatre. She has since graced stages all over the world and has earned a Dora Award for her portrayal of “Diana” in Next to Normal (Mirvish, Musical Stage Co) in Toronto. She was most recently seen as “Woman” in the World Premier of The Tale of the Gifted Prince at Theatre Calgary. Ma-Anne has had roles in animation and well-known movies, one being Mama Mia.  Her TV credits include Schitt‘s Creek, Remedy, Flash Point, Boston Blue and The Coroner.  Ma-Anne’s stage presence is playful but at the same time, she portrays a graceful elegance.

Lisa Howard returns to the musical theatre stage for the first time in four decades with this production. She last appeared in a title role of a national tour revival of Gigi alongside Louis Jourdan. Working exclusively in television and film over two decades, she appeared in dozens of leading roles including a three-year run on NBC’s soap opera, Days of our Lives as April Ramirez. She was also a regular on the series Earth: Final Conflict and Highlander. Lisa also played a recurring role opposite Brooke Sheilds in Suddenly Susan and a role in the award-winning production of Moonstruck. She now serves as Vice President of Ever After Productions in Los Angelos alongside her husband, writer- producer Daniel Cerone developing projects, such as The Black List, Dexter and The Mentalist. This production has reunited her with her high school classmate David Rogers with whom she discovered her love of musical theatre. It is a delight to listen to Lisa as she shares with us her story of fame. She is warm, engaging and connects with the audience.

Marianne McCord has just recently appeared at the St. Jacobs’ Hildebrand Schoolhouse Theatre as Cindy Lou Huffington in the Marvellous Wonderettes. Marianne has a long list of musical theatre productions, including Chicago which played on Broadway, Las Vegas and the US National Tour. Included in her list of musical theatre is Mamma Mia, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat alongside Donny Osmond, Crazy for You, Hairspray, Rocky: The Musical, Narnia, White Christmas, Norm Foster’s The Love List, Evita, Anne of Green Gables, Guys and Dolls, and more. Marianne says that she is thrilled and honoured to be at the Victoria Playhouse sharing the stage with these Divine Women.

The Women of the Starbright Band include Leah Grandmont (violin), Sandra Morgansen (keyboard), Bethany Harrison (bass), and Devon Roulston (percussion).

I found this production of Divine Women 2 fascinating and very interesting. It is a tribute to these very successful iconic artists. It’s thrilling to hear the dynamics of their vocals, the music and the antics on stage.  Their ability to engage the captivated audience and hold their attention seems easy.  After each performance the audience exuberantly claps and heartily joins the ladies singing a song or two when asked.  Everything went together without a hitch except for poor Valerie’s top slipping down.  Valerie makes a crack that she has no class and yanks on her top to bring it up to where it’s supposed to be. She easily makes a mistake look like it was meant to be.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the production. It was fascinating to see actual video clips from each of the ladies’ theatre, movie and television performances on the monitors that hang on either side of the stage. At the end of the two-hour performance, these five remarkable ladies are rewarded by the audience with a standing ovation. I highly recommend seeing Divine Women 2, I will be patiently looking forward to Divine Women 3.

Divine Women 2 is playing at the Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia from April 21 to May 1 at 2 PM and on May 1 there is a showing at 7:30 PM with a cabaret following the performance. You can order tickets online at thevpp.ca or call the Box Office at 1-800-717-7694 or 519-882-1221.

Photo:  Divine Women 2 (Leslie, Marianne, Lisa, Ma-Anne and Valerie) and the all-female band.  Photo by Diane O’Dell.

Divine Women 2
Created by David Rogers and the Divine Women
Directed by David Rogers and David Hogan
Choreographed by David Hogan
Musical Direction and arrangements by Mark Payne
Victoria Playhouse, Petrolia
April 21 to May 1, 2026
Reviewed by Marilu Murphy