ROAD TO AVONLEA (RTA) is adapted from L.M. Montgomery's short stories on Avonlea. Spanning 7 seasons, 91 episodes in all, this series follows the life of its three main protagonists - Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley), Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna) and Felix King (Zachary Bennett), from the time they're around nine years old till they reach adulthood. Jackie Burroughs, Cedric Smith, Lally Cadeau, and Mag Ruffman, who play the rest of the King family, also have dominant roles in the series. Many of its themes and issues have been shown from their perspective. For those familiar with Kevin Sullivan's 'Anne of Green Gables' and its Sequel, RTA is meant to be a show that explores life in Avonlea after Anne Shirley has left to settle elsewhere. Therefore, some of the 'Anne' characters do appear in RTA like Marilla Cuthbert (Colleen Dewhurst), Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton), and Muriel Stacy (Marilyn Lightstone).
One of the many reasons why this series is so endearing and memorable is its right mixture of drama and comedy. The comic element is explored thoroughly through the characters of Felix and Hetty King and also through those working at the White Sands Hotel - a venue for many an Avonlea adventure! Jackie Burroughs has given one of the best performances playing Hetty King - a school teacher who is at times a rigid, even shrewish spinster and the next, an eloquent novelist of popular romance! Her character fluctuates from the impossibly strict to the ridiculously silly! The series started with the focus on Sara Stanley and then shifted to Felicity King and it is her life that has been most faithfully charted - from being a typical, bossy elder sister to a sensitive, young woman. Micheal Mahonen plays Gus Pike, Felicity's love interest. His character is granted all the elements of a romantic hero - a passion for the seas, a lighthouse dwelling, mystery, initial orphanhood, and then a fortunate family lineage. The characters of Sara and Felix have been given almost equal treatment; with Sara, being an independent, self-seeking woman exiting the show in Season 6 to seek a literary career in Paris. Felix's story is one of gradual maturation through what seems like an endless series of scrapes and messes!
From Season 6, the show focused more on other characters in Avonlea, like the town gossips, the Pettibone family and Davy and Dora Keith. What made RTA interesting was its social and historical realism - from focusing on the suffragette movement, to the scientific inventions explored through the character of Jasper Dale (R.H. Thomson), to the encroachment of builders wanting to turn Avonlea into a city.
Supported by an amazing team of costume and location designers and five music directors, RTA is as authentic as any period show can get. I loved the music given for this series, especially the tune given by John Welsman for Gus Pike's character - a violin tune, it evokes all the beauty and pathos of his character. RTA ended on a bitter-sweet note. The sweet note being the much-awaited marriage of Felicity to Gus and the bitter note being the planned departure of one of the show's sweetest couples - Olivia and Jasper Dale. Their decision to leave Avonlea is a metaphorical announcement that things have changed in Avonlea - with the cannery disaster being a milder version of what Avonlea will face with the advent of the World War I. One can say that Kevin Sullivan has explored that element in his RTA reunion movie 'Happy Christmas Miss King' and in 'Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story'. As to the cast of RTA, they're all brilliant in their roles. I found myself especially identifying with Sarah Polley and Gema Z's character and the various predicaments they fall into.
RTA is a representation of Kevin Sullivan at his best - never has the combination (in a TV costume drama series) of romance, comedy, and social and historical realism been more entertaining, endearing, and authentic! Road to Avonlea is one of my all-time favourite shows. So much so that, when I visited Prince Edward Island, I took time out to visit Dalvay-By-The-Sea - Avonlea's White Sands Hotel. Visiting the hotel was a surreal experience. I felt like (or rather wished) Hetty and Felix would walk right past me arguing over some nor something! Avonlea will always be special for me - always there to provide comfort and companionship when I need it.
One of the many reasons why this series is so endearing and memorable is its right mixture of drama and comedy. The comic element is explored thoroughly through the characters of Felix and Hetty King and also through those working at the White Sands Hotel - a venue for many an Avonlea adventure! Jackie Burroughs has given one of the best performances playing Hetty King - a school teacher who is at times a rigid, even shrewish spinster and the next, an eloquent novelist of popular romance! Her character fluctuates from the impossibly strict to the ridiculously silly! The series started with the focus on Sara Stanley and then shifted to Felicity King and it is her life that has been most faithfully charted - from being a typical, bossy elder sister to a sensitive, young woman. Micheal Mahonen plays Gus Pike, Felicity's love interest. His character is granted all the elements of a romantic hero - a passion for the seas, a lighthouse dwelling, mystery, initial orphanhood, and then a fortunate family lineage. The characters of Sara and Felix have been given almost equal treatment; with Sara, being an independent, self-seeking woman exiting the show in Season 6 to seek a literary career in Paris. Felix's story is one of gradual maturation through what seems like an endless series of scrapes and messes!
From Season 6, the show focused more on other characters in Avonlea, like the town gossips, the Pettibone family and Davy and Dora Keith. What made RTA interesting was its social and historical realism - from focusing on the suffragette movement, to the scientific inventions explored through the character of Jasper Dale (R.H. Thomson), to the encroachment of builders wanting to turn Avonlea into a city.
Supported by an amazing team of costume and location designers and five music directors, RTA is as authentic as any period show can get. I loved the music given for this series, especially the tune given by John Welsman for Gus Pike's character - a violin tune, it evokes all the beauty and pathos of his character. RTA ended on a bitter-sweet note. The sweet note being the much-awaited marriage of Felicity to Gus and the bitter note being the planned departure of one of the show's sweetest couples - Olivia and Jasper Dale. Their decision to leave Avonlea is a metaphorical announcement that things have changed in Avonlea - with the cannery disaster being a milder version of what Avonlea will face with the advent of the World War I. One can say that Kevin Sullivan has explored that element in his RTA reunion movie 'Happy Christmas Miss King' and in 'Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story'. As to the cast of RTA, they're all brilliant in their roles. I found myself especially identifying with Sarah Polley and Gema Z's character and the various predicaments they fall into.
RTA is a representation of Kevin Sullivan at his best - never has the combination (in a TV costume drama series) of romance, comedy, and social and historical realism been more entertaining, endearing, and authentic! Road to Avonlea is one of my all-time favourite shows. So much so that, when I visited Prince Edward Island, I took time out to visit Dalvay-By-The-Sea - Avonlea's White Sands Hotel. Visiting the hotel was a surreal experience. I felt like (or rather wished) Hetty and Felix would walk right past me arguing over some nor something! Avonlea will always be special for me - always there to provide comfort and companionship when I need it.