Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre-Media Centre
“Rubaboo is music, life, love, laughter, celebration, and remembrance all marinating at perfect temperature in this unforgettable feast.” – Culture Gecko

Derived from the Michif word for “leftovers stew”, singer-songwriter Andrea Menard's feast for the senses blends master storytelling with the beauty of Métis culture through music, dance and art. Featuring the sounds of drums and guitar, this joyous celebration includes songs of reconciliation, unity, love and resilience.

EnrichmentGuide.jpg
Warnings: 
Mature content, occasional crude language. Details under 'Your Visit'.

 

Running time: 
Approx. 90 mins (no intermission)



Accessibility initiatives: ASL-interpreted performance on Sun May 10 at 2pm; Relaxed Performance on Fri May 15 at 7:30pm

Opening Night sponsor:



 

Moon Dancers by Leah Marie Dorian

Photo: Robert Walsh, Andrea Menard & Karen Donaldson Shepherd in Rubaboo - A Métis Cabaret. Set Designer: Cimmeron Meyer, Costume Designer: Samantha McCue, Lighting Designer: Emilie Trimbee. Photo by Dahlia Katz.


Cast & Crew

Production
Andrea Menard photo
Andrea Menard

Creator

Creator Andrea Menard
Andrea Menard photo

Andrea Menard

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Great Expectations, Evita, Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Persephone); Rubaboo (Grand/Arts Club/Citadel); Anne of Green Gables, Stories from the Red Dirt Road (Charlottetown Festival); The Orchard, Thanks For Giving (Arts Club); The Velvet Devil (NAC); The Velvet Devil, The Wizard of Oz, Governor of the Dew (Globe Theatre); The Velvet Devil, 400 Kilometers, Wawatay (Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre); The Rez Sisters, Joni Mitchell: River, Godspell (PTE); Street Wheat, The Selkie Wife, The Shipbuilder (Dancing Sky).

FILM/TV Sullivan’s Crossing, Blackstone, Supernatural, Hard Rock Medical, Moccasin Flats, Rabbit Fall, The Velvet Devil.

ET CETERA Andrea Menard is an actor and singer-songwriter whose Métis roots originate in Red River. She is currently a member of MNBC.

Robert Walsh photo
Robert Walsh

Music Director

Music Director Robert Walsh
Robert Walsh photo

Robert Walsh

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

ET CETERA Robert is an Edmonton-based singer-songwriter, producer, educator and author. He has released five solo albums; is creator/producer of Robert Walsh and the Fabs (re-imaginers of Beatles music); a member of legacy groups Walsh/Trodd, Allez Ouest and Two Blue. Theatre credits as a co-creator include: Catalogue de Société (with Alain Pomerleau); Le Petit Champlain (University of Alberta); The Velvet Devil (with Andrea Menard – Globe Theatre/Broadway Theatre/CBC Movie of the Week); Forbidden Phoenix (with Marty Chan – Citadel/Lorraine Kimsa Theatre/MTYP/Gateway Theatre); and Rubaboo (with Andrea Menard – Grand/Arts Club/Citadel). Related credits: Sound Designer and Musical Director for various productions; Songwriter/Composer for TV and film; Musician (Disney, ESO, Edmonton Opera, Alberta Ballet).

Alanis King photo
Alanis King

Director

Director Alanis King
Alanis King photo

Alanis King

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Alanis King is an Odawa director, playwright and Artistic Producer with the Wikwemikong Nawewin Gamik (The Language House). Directing credits include: Awoowaakii (TC); Rubaboo (Grand/Arts Club/Citadel); Kiistsistinonniks – Our Mothers (Making Treaty 7); Powwow, The Velvet Devil, Wawatay, BDawg, Bye Bye Beneshenh (Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre). She created To Noozhe for NAC Indigenous Cities online production; playwright of The Artshow (Native Earth) and The Manitoulin Incident (Debajehmujig). Her three plays publication includes If Jesus Met Nanabush, The Tommy Prince Story and Born Buffalo.

Cimmeron Meyer photo
Cimmeron Meyer

Set Designer

Set Designer Cimmeron Meyer
Cimmeron Meyer photo

Cimmeron Meyer

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Cimmeron Meyer’s work has been seen on stages across Canada and in Europe. The set design for Rubaboo was realized in collaboration with Métis visual artist Leah Dorian and brought to life by scenic artists Richard Lawler and Craig Guthrie. Cimmeron is grateful for the opportunity to work with these talented artists and acknowledges their invaluable contribution to the design. Other design work: The Guardsman (set – Bluebridge Rep Theatre, Victoria 2024); Pawakan – 2019 to present on tour across Canada (set – Akpik Theatre); Kaasinooniks (set/lighting/projection – Making Treaty 7); Iceland (lighting – TC); The Unplugging (lighting – Gwaandak Theatre); Twelfth Night (lighting – TC/NAC); Bakkahi (lighting – Stratford).

TRAINING Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.

ET CETERA She is indebted to her daughter, Eve Marie, a talented theatre artist in her own right. In June of 2025 Cimmeron premiered her first Original Musical for the stage Hearafter – A Cabaret of Divine Love in collaboration with and starring Eve Marie.

Samantha McCue photo
Samantha McCue

Costume Designer

Costume Designer Samantha McCue
Samantha McCue photo

Samantha McCue

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Select design credits: Women of the Fur Trade (Stratford); Maggie (TA); Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer (TC/NAC); The Breathing Hole (NAC); Kamloopa, Where the Blood Mixes (Soulpepper).

TRAINING Graduate of York University’s Theatre Production program in 2017.

ET CETERA Samantha McCue (she/her) is Anishinaabekwe from the Chippewas of Georgina Island and Ned’u’ten from Lake Babine First Nation, and is currently based in Ottawa.

Emilie Trimbee photo
Emilie Trimbee

Lighting Designer

Lighting Designer Emilie Trimbee
Emilie Trimbee photo

Emilie Trimbee

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Lighting Designer: Legally Blonde (Theatre Sheridan); Big Stuff (Baram & Snieckus/Crow’s); Queer Youth Cabaret, Sympathy for the Devil (Soulpepper); Antigonick, Bright Lights, Overruled (Shaw Festival Directors Project). Associate Lighting Designer: Romeo & Juliet (Dream in High Park – CS); Big Fish: The Musical (Theatre Sheridan); What the Constitution Means to Me (Soulpepper); Rubaboo (Grand/Arts Club). Assistant Lighting Designer: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Crow’s/Musical Stage Co./Mirvish); Alligator Pie (Soulpepper); Nabucco/Faust, Romeo and Juliette/Orfeo ed Euridice (COC); multiple seasons at the Shaw Festival Studio Theatre (2022/2023) and Stratford Festival Avon Theatre (2024/2025).

ET CETERA @emilietrimbeedesigns + emilietrimbee.com

Anika Binding photo
Anika Binding

Associate Lighting Designer

Associate Lighting Designer Anika Binding
Anika Binding photo

Anika Binding

ROYAL MTC Lighting Designer: Holland (with TPM). Assistant Set Designer: Murder for Two. Assistant Lighting Designer: Little Women, The Recipe (with TPM), among men (with TPM). Apprentice Lighting & Video Designer: The Lehman Trilogy. Apprentice Lighting Designer: The Mountaintop.

OTHER THEATRE Production Design: Afterlight (The Keep). Lighting Design: The Undeniable Accusations of Red Cadmium Light (PTE); Prophecy (TPM); Croquis (Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers); Women of the Fur Trade (Magnus). Costume Design: Every Christmas Story Ever Told, Liars at a Funeral (Magnus); Macbeth, Waiting for Godot (SIR). Lighting & Costume Design: Miss Shakespeare (WST). Costumes & Set Associate Design: Serving Elizabeth (PTE). 

TRAINING BA Hons. in Theatre and Film from the University of Winnipeg, with specializations in Design, Stage Management & Production, and Directing.

ET CETERA Anika would like to thank her friends, family and mentors for their endless support.

Mary Jane Coomber photo
Mary Jane Coomber

Sound Designer

Sound Designer Mary Jane Coomber
Mary Jane Coomber photo

Mary Jane Coomber

ROYAL MTC First engagement.

OTHER THEATRE Recent commissions: fledgling and face it, tiger (Dory Haley/Blueridge Chamber Music Festival); play{hers} passage (Rachel Iwassa/Canadian Music Centre BC & SUM Gallery). Upcoming: i am beauty (opera adaptation of the HIV In My Day oral history project).

TRAINING Composition and Theatre graduate of Simon Fraser University.

ET CETERA Mary Jane (they/them) is a collaborative composer who primarily works on the unceded, sovereign territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people. They are a member of ADC659.

Katie Schmidt photo
Katie Schmidt

Stage Manager

Stage Manager Katie Schmidt
Katie Schmidt photo

Katie Schmidt

ROYAL MTC Assistant Stage Manager: ELEVATE: Manaaji’idiwin, The Lehman Trilogy, The Sound of Music, Into the Woods, The Runner. Apprentice Stage Manager: The Cottage, A Doll’s House, Sense and Sensibility. Apprentice Costumer: Sarah Ballenden.

OTHER THEATRE Stage Manager: Gather, The Lightning Thief, A Year with Frog and Toad, Snow White, Frozen River, Tiny Treasures (MTYP); The Magic Flute (The Little Opera Company); The Prom (Dry Cold). Assistant Stage Manager: Frozen, The Wizard of Oz (Rainbow); Die Fledermaus (Vancouver Opera); The Outside Inn, Bad Parent, VOICE (PTE). Apprentice Stage Manager: Ghost Light (PTE). Costumer: Mary’s Wedding (TPM). Props and Set Coordinator: Much Ado About Nothing, The Player King, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Romeo and Juliet (SIR).

TRAINING University of Winnipeg Theatre and Film.

ET CETERA Thanks and love to Mom, Dad, Raya and Felix.

Tia Morann photo
Tia Morann

Assistant Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager Tia Morann
Tia Morann photo

Tia Morann

ROYAL MTC Apprentice Stage Manager: Murder on the Orient Express, Life of Pi, Indecent.

OTHER THEATRE Tiny Beautiful Things (PTE); Sleeping Beauty (RWB); Countess Ory, Rocking Horse Winner (Manitoba Underground Opera); Rock of Ages (Rainbow); La bohème, Carmen, Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North, Così fan tutte (MB Opera); A Year with Frog and Toad (MTYP); The Cunning Little Vixen (COC); The Magic Flute (Little Opera Company).

TRAINING B.A. in Theatre Production and Stage Management from University of Winnipeg.

ET CETERA Special thanks to all the family for their support!

Summer Bressette photo
Summer Bressette

Indigenous Cultural Consultant

Indigenous Cultural Consultant Summer Bressette

Summer Bressette

Cast
Nathen Aswell photo
Nathen Aswell

Performer

Performer Nathen Aswell
Nathen Aswell photo

Nathen Aswell

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Rubaboo (Grand/Arts Club/Citadel).

ET CETERA Nathen is a performing songwriter based in Vancouver and is honoured to be a part of this production of Rubaboo. He would like to thank and bless Andrea Menard, and her songwriting partner, Robert Walsh, for one more rich opportunity to serve the world with healing words and music. nathenaswell.com

Performer Karen Donaldson Shepherd
Karen Donaldson Shepherd photo

Karen Donaldson Shepherd

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

ET CETERA Karen is a composer, vocalist, violinist/violist and budding harpist. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Composition from MacEwan University. Karen is a status Nihiyaw (Cree) Indigenous Canadian (Treaty 6) who was born in Saskatoon and adopted. She also has Métis ancestry dating back to the origins of the Red River Settlement in Manitoba. Raised in Manitoba, she has called Edmonton home for the past decade. Her original music has appeared on short films and documentaries, including Nathaniel Hehir’s The Stonekiller (2020) and Chehala Leonard’s documentary Living a Legacy (2021). She also created an arrangement for Laura Vinson’s song “Meegwitch” (The Awakeners, AMI, 2022).

Andrea Menard photo
Andrea Menard

Performer

Performer Andrea Menard
Andrea Menard photo

Andrea Menard

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

OTHER THEATRE Great Expectations, Evita, Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Persephone); Rubaboo (Grand/Arts Club/Citadel); Anne of Green Gables, Stories from the Red Dirt Road (Charlottetown Festival); The Orchard, Thanks For Giving (Arts Club); The Velvet Devil (NAC); The Velvet Devil, The Wizard of Oz, Governor of the Dew (Globe Theatre); The Velvet Devil, 400 Kilometers, Wawatay (Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre); The Rez Sisters, Joni Mitchell: River, Godspell (PTE); Street Wheat, The Selkie Wife, The Shipbuilder (Dancing Sky).

FILM/TV Sullivan’s Crossing, Blackstone, Supernatural, Hard Rock Medical, Moccasin Flats, Rabbit Fall, The Velvet Devil.

ET CETERA Andrea Menard is an actor and singer-songwriter whose Métis roots originate in Red River. She is currently a member of MNBC.

Robert Walsh photo
Robert Walsh

Performer

Performer Robert Walsh
Robert Walsh photo

Robert Walsh

ROYAL MTC First appearance.

ET CETERA Robert is an Edmonton-based singer-songwriter, producer, educator and author. He has released five solo albums; is creator/producer of Robert Walsh and the Fabs (re-imaginers of Beatles music); a member of legacy groups Walsh/Trodd, Allez Ouest and Two Blue. Theatre credits as a co-creator include: Catalogue de Société (with Alain Pomerleau); Le Petit Champlain (University of Alberta); The Velvet Devil (with Andrea Menard – Globe Theatre/Broadway Theatre/CBC Movie of the Week); Forbidden Phoenix (with Marty Chan – Citadel/Lorraine Kimsa Theatre/MTYP/Gateway Theatre); and Rubaboo (with Andrea Menard – Grand/Arts Club/Citadel). Related credits: Sound Designer and Musical Director for various productions; Songwriter/Composer for TV and film; Musician (Disney, ESO, Edmonton Opera, Alberta Ballet).

Loading ticket information
Production ID: 35885
Start Date: 4/29/2026 10:09:38 AM
End Date: 5/23/2026 10:09:51 AM
Title: Rubaboo - A Métis Cabaret
Playwright: By Andrea Menard 
Music by Andrea Menard & Robert Walsh 
Billing:
Directed by Alanis King
In partnership with Persephone Theatre
Warnings: Mature content, occasional crude language. Details under 'Your Visit'.
Synopsis: “Rubaboo is music, life, love, laughter, celebration, and remembrance all marinating at perfect temperature in this unforgettable feast.” – Culture Gecko

Derived from the Michif word for “leftovers stew”, singer-songwriter Andrea Menard's feast for the senses blends master storytelling with the beauty of Métis culture through music, dance and art. Featuring the sounds of drums and guitar, this joyous celebration includes songs of reconciliation, unity, love and resilience.

EnrichmentGuide.jpg
Facility: John Hirsch Mainstage
Alternate URL: https://royalmtc.ca/Current-Plays/Rubaboo-A-Metis-Cabaret.aspx
Play Image:
Word Mark: 1e9544c4-c95e-4a62-b879-ec09831c4884
Rotator Image: e3a7622a-d3e2-488c-adae-df55968f5b06
Display Rotator From: 3/21/2026 5:02:00 PM
Display Rotator To: 5/23/2026 11:59:00 PM
 

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