BIOGRAPHY
On February 21st, 2021, Montreal-based singer, actor, dancer Lyne Tremblay will release her 2nd album, Get To It. After winning accolades for her first release, Break ’n Enter, in 2004 (National Jazz Awards and top 10 releases of the year Jazz FM), Tremblay took a different approach with her new project, a gypsy/roots-reinvention of cabaret that blends original compositions and interpretations in English, French and Spanish. Tremblay’s single-malt–soaked husk and graceful interpretations are at once intimate, joyous and sometimes subversive.
Lyne is currently creating a new show in a style she calls “Cabaret Re-dux.”
“We use the word “cabaret” with caution, says Tremblay, “it’s an art form some people think of as déjà vu—‘been there, done that, got the top hat’—but I trained in Europe where cabaret is taken very seriously and the audience takes no prisoners.”
Lyne started her career in modern dance and toured internationally with the edgy and innovative Eddy Toussaint Dance Company. She was then cast in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s original Canadian production of Cats, where she was widely acclaimed for her slinky, ethereal interpretation of the Siamese cat Cassandra. After purring for eight shows a week for a year and a half, Lyne went on to play the lead role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret (winner: Prix Molière) at the Mogador Theatre in Paris before touring Europe to spectacular reviews.
Other roles of note include Anita in West Side Story, Nava in the original Montreal production of Jerusalem the Musical and one of the Albertines in the celebrated Michel Tremblay play Albertine en Cinq Temps, which was a Dora Award finalist for best ensemble.
In 1996 Lyne created Gauche, a one-woman cabaret show that played to critical acclaim and SRO audiences in Toronto. Impresario and broadcaster Jaymz Bee called Tremblay “. . . a cabaret Goddess.”
Her feature film and TV work is equally eclectic; highlights include the role of Angel Eyes in the cult classic Night Magic, a musical fantasy written by Lewis Fury and Leonard Cohen. In 2007 a short dramatic film entitled Rise Up was written for her, premiering at an AFI screening at Man's Chinese Theatre in LA and shown at film festivals around the world. In 2014 Lyne co-starred in the Valerie Buhagiar feature film The Anniversary, with Colin Mochrie.
Tremblay also sang and recorded with the legendary world jazz nonet Manteca in 2019 as they celebrated their 41st season with the release of their 13th album, Augmented Indifference.
Lyne has been active in the cause of literacy through her work with the Blue Metropolis Foundation where, for the past 10 years, she has co-created, directed, choreographed and hosted highly original and successful fundraising events for the foundation.
In collaboration with Montreal artists Danielle Godin and Carol Jones, Lyne has co-created an original multidisciplinary piece called Conte à Rebours, which touches on spoken word, percussion, theatre and dance. It tells the story of three infamous Quebec women executed for crimes for which they were never proven guilty.
An artist with such eclectic skills is often called a triple threat. In fact, there is nothing threatening about Lyne Tremblay. Her work is informed by an immense vocabulary of experience on stage, on screen and in the studio, which is why The Globe and Mail called her “a stunning, riveting performer with a great gutsy voice.”
ALMOST A FULL MOON IN THE ROLE OF MIMI.
Photo(s) by Nanc Price. For a full list of Cast and Creative team please visit CitadelTheatre.com
CABARET-OVATION PRODUCTIONS OTTAWA
Cabaret 2023, Choreography by Tyler Pearse, Direction by Lauren Boyd, Musical Direction by Jackson Seib and Produced by Tanya Guimond
Photo: Curtis Perry
Mitch Wood, Lyne Tremblay, Max Borowski, Kirstyn Russelle Joel Cumber, Sofía Contal, Tkaia Green, Zoë O’Connor, Mei Miyazawa, Arinea Hermans, Macayla Paris, Chantalyne Beausoleil