At Canada’s regional theatres, musicals are often the bread and butter of the season—the crowd-pleasers that help boost revenues. The demand is clearly strong. So why can’t more of them be created in this country?

That was the central question that launched Vancouver’s biennial In Tune gathering in 2011. Now, as the interest in Canadian-made musical theatre has surged, the Granville Island–based event is able to hold an event with not just showcases, performances, and peeks at several local works in progress, but its first fully staged production—all open to the public. Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille is bringing its hit The Way Back to Thursday here. Inspired by Rock Hudson and Hollywood films, it’s about a grandmother and her gay grandson, with book, music, and lyrics by Rob Kempson.

“We began as, ‘Let’s talk about this issue,’ ” says Touchstone Theatre artistic director Katrina Dunn, who’s cocurating and coproducing the event with Rachel Ditor, literary manager at the Arts Club Theatre Company. She says there was little to no infrastructure for Canadian musical theatre in 2011, when the event started. “Now what’s happened is we’re picking and choosing what to continue with and for once we have one completed show. One of the things we identified was a real need for development but also for a touring network and opportunities for production.…I hope this is the start of some national discussion about how we can share new Canadian musicals across the country.” Dunn adds there’s a demand among smaller theatres for more intimately scaled works.

The key, Dunn points out, is that a new generation of highly skilled young artists is interested in musical theatre. But there are always obstacles: “The truth is developing and producing new musicals costs a lot more money than developing a new play.”

Touchstone Theatre has found this out firsthand: this fall, in a collaboration with Patrick Street Productions, it’s premiering The Best Laid Plans as part of its 40th-anniversary season. Based on the novel by Terry Fallis, with book by Vern Thiessen and music and lyrics by Benjamin Elliot and Anton Lipovetsky, it’s about a burned-out political strategist’s plan to get out of politics by managing an unelectable candidate. In the works for two years, it’s been a case study in how complicated it is to build a new musical.

“The fear that it will cost more and take more time is true,” admits Dunn. “It’s the largest show that Touchstone Theatre has ever produced; the budget for the show in September is double any other show.”

Audiences will have the chance to preview an excerpt from the production in an In Tune showcase that also offers a sneak peek at Onegin, the major new musical by Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille that the Arts Club will present next season. The second showcase features a look at the new jukebox-style Route 66: The Musical, by Rick Antonson and Shawn Macdonald, and Love Bomb, by Meghan Gardiner and Steve Charles (in development by shameless hussy productions).

Another highlight for the public will be the Blame Canada! concert, hosted by Jay Brazeau, featuring work by the members of the Canadian Musical Theatre Writers Collective (CMTWC), founded by Vancouver’s own Landon Braverman and Joseph Trefler (now based in New York City). And In Tune kicks off with a short keynote address by composer, actor, and educator Marek Norman about the future of the art form, followed by a cabaret of selections from the Canadian songbook chosen by leaders in the field from across the country.

“The idea was ‘Let’s unearth these gems because we don’t know these older Canadian musical works,’ ” says Dunn.

Elsewhere, singer, songwriter, and composer Hille hosts a songwriters’ salon, and experts lead master classes throughout the week.

Clearly, the event is “in tune” with an artistic movement that’s building momentum in Canada. And, according to Dunn, a lot of the exciting work is happening right here on the West Coast. “I was talking to an eastern theatre artist who pointed out Vancouver’s history of involvement in Canadian musical theatre started because John [MacLachlan] Gray was here,” she says, referring to the composer behind Billy Bishop Goes to War, which made its way to Broadway in 1980.

“He was doing small-scale musicals rooted in rock ’n’ roll, not necessarily in Broadway style. And now that voice is happening with a new generation.”

In Tune 2015 runs from Friday (June 12) to June 21 on Granville Island.