It seems as though audiences across the Prairies are coming together in unison to tell Robert Munsch they’ll love him forever.
Munsch — the Canadian author who has penned classic children stories such as Love You Forever, The Paperbag Princess and Mortimer — came clean about his addictions to alcohol and cocaine in a television interview that aired just 10 days before he embarked on a storytelling concert tour across Western Canada.
And fans have been rallying behind the 64-year-old since his admission.
“We’re just blown away by the public support,” said Greg Jones, a promoter with Munsch’s management company Don Jones Productions.
Jones, who called this week from the tour starting point in Regina, said the feedback they’ve received so far has been 99 per cent positive.
“When someone comes out and talks about this in the public, there’s always going to be somebody that doesn’t like it,” he said.
“We didn’t know what the reaction was going to be, but overall, it’s been amazing and the public support has been awesome.”
Jones admitted the management company was a bit hesitant about the feature that aired on May 15 on the Global Television series 16:9, but they but are committed to their author’s wishes.
“We stand by Robert and he said he wanted to come out and talk about his story,” he said. “We support him 100 per cent.”
Munsch said he had been clean for 119 days at the time of the televised interview, in which he also talked about suffering from a stroke in 2008 and being diagnosed as obsessive-compulsive and manic-depressive.
None of the shows scheduled for the 11-city tour have been cancelled since the revelation, Jones said. He added, in fact, that numerous schools have called in to request a performance since Munsch opened the book about his troubled past.
Munsch will bring his show to Red Deer on Sunday and ticket sales have remained steady since the author’s confession.
“I think, really, his sales are right where they have always been,” said William Trefry, executive director of Central Alberta Theatre, who is providing the venue for Munsch’s stop in the city.
“I don’t think it’s been a negative impact at all.”
“I certainly commend him on a personal level,” he added.
“I think it’s great that he came out. That’s me personally, I think it speaks highly of the individual.”
Munsch usually tells up to 15 stories in his hour-long interactive, high energy performance.
He has wrote more than 50 children books and Love You Forever has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and will perform two shows Sunday at the Memorial Centre, which can hold 704 people, at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Tickets are available through the Black Knight Ticket Centre and cost $24.80.
Trefry anticipates near capacity audiences for both performances.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com