Originally from Nova Scotia, Allen Cole has worked variously as composer, musical director, lyricist and/or book writer on musical theatre works such as The Wrong Son (NAC), Mimi (with Rick Roberts and Melody Johnson), Anything That Moves (with Ann-Marie MacDonald and Alisa Palmer), and Pélagie (NAC and CanStage ). Pélagie, co-written with Vincent de Tourdonnet and based on the Goncourt winning novel by Antonine Maillet, toured the Maritimes and Québec in 2005 with a bilingual production presented by Two Planks and a Passion Theatre Company. Allen has also composed music for many companies, including the Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival and Soulpepper. He has won numerous awards, including four Doras, and a Best Film Score Award from the Atlantic Film Festival. His musical Rockbound won five Merritt Awards in Nova Scotia, including Best New Play, Best Music and Best Production. Rockbound was published by Scirocco Press and was a Finalist for the 2010 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award. His funk musical comedy, The Bricklin (co-written with Paul Ledoux), premiered in Fredericton, New Brunswick in July 2010, and will open in Poland in December, 2012. Allen currently teaches musical theatre at Ryerson University in Toronto. He was also Artistic Director of the Caravan Farm Theatre in Armstrong, B.C. from 1996–1999.
