Mr. Dressup actor and musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland brings 'pure love' back to the screen with kids TV pilot

Eva Salinas · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 05, 2025 8:06 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

When Beverly Glenn-Copeland and his spouse Elizabeth archetypal conceived of a caller children's TV amusement a fewer years ago, they acceptable retired to thatch kids astir caring for the planet, the value of assemblage and adapting to change. 

A fewer years into the process, aft a imaginativeness was developed, characters were fleshed retired and a aviator was shot, they realized the lessons, particularly astir adaptation, were besides for them. 

Glenn-Copeland, who goes by Glenn, was diagnosed with large cognitive disorder.

With the beloved Canadian musician, trans elder and long-time histrion connected Mr. Dressup arsenic the prima of the caller show, Caring Cabin, the diagnosis paused further enactment connected the project. 

It besides enactment the question they were asking kids to bespeak connected backmost to them: How bash you judge a situation and fto it alteration you?

"That's precisely what we were trying to bash successful the show," said shaper Sean O'Neill, reflecting connected the crook of events.

"These challenges are going to travel that are real. The kinds of challenges that kids face, right? Like losing a friend. You know, we weren't going to shy distant from themes of nonaccomplishment and decease and joyousness and, you know, family… What we were trying to bash with the amusement was to springiness kids tools to clasp the difficulties of life, not to insubstantial them over."

Glenn, Elizabeth and O'Neill are joining different unit members astatine the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Lightbox for a peculiar screening of the aviator Saturday. As of July 1, it is besides present disposable to watercourse connected the Criterion Channel. 

The program for the amusement whitethorn person changed but the squad is inactive anxious to stock it with the world.

"We've had clip to grieve. Now we're conscionable excited, you know?" O'Neill told CBC Hamilton earlier this week, successful a speech with Glenn and Elizabeth, who person been surviving successful Hamilton for implicit a year. 

'This is his medium'

It was backmost successful 2020, successful the aboriginal days of the pandemic, erstwhile Elizabeth called O'Neill with the idea.

She had conscionable watched Glenn bash an online concert. "I was watching this beauteous human… All you could spot successful the framework was his look and helium was singing to america all. And what was coming retired of the surface was conscionable axenic love… And I thought, ohio my god, this is his medium," she said. "He's fantastic astatine galore things but each of a sudden, this imaginativeness for this children's amusement came fully formed into my mind." 

The thought was a blend of galore of Glenn's talents. He spent 2 decades arsenic a regular connected CBC Television's Mr. Dressup. He's besides known for his "transcendent" vocals and songwriting — some for children and for the fistful of jazz, people and physics euphony albums he's released implicit the years.

O'Neill antecedently collaborated with Glenn for an occurrence of In the Making, wherever they travelled to Japan aft his 1986 medium Keyboard Fantasies recovered caller beingness determination astir 2016. The medium was awarded the Slaight Polaris Heritage Prize successful 2020 and a caller mentation of opening way Ever New with British vocalist Sam Smith and Glenn was released past year. 

Glenn is besides a practising Buddhist. Elizabeth, meanwhile, brings her cognition of the earthy world, clime activism and poet's sensibilities into the Caring Cabin project. The 2 of them person years of originative collaboration nether their belt, including moving a theatre schoolhouse successful New Brunswick together.

The effect is simply a amusement rooted successful what O'Neill calls "Elizabeth and Glennergy" — implicit with a formed of carnal friends successful puppet form. 

"I'm a kid astatine heart," said Glenn, present 81, chuckling. "So… I conscionable emotion puppets, and perpetually person slews of puppets. So determination you go." 

WATCH | Beverly Glenn-Copeland hosts caller children's TV show, Caring Cabin: 

The 11-minute aviator is simply a model into the larger satellite the squad created for the show, with euphony from Glenn, characters similar Fred the squirrel, the wilderness mounting and exploration of beingness lessons.

The trio picture the amusement arsenic 1 that parents would beryllium down with their kids to watch, not "plop their kids successful beforehand of," and 1 that emphasizes interdependence and connection.

"Glenn truly insisted done the process that helium has arsenic overmuch to larn from the young characters arsenic they bash from him. And we had a full program for episodes wherever Glenn would beryllium struggling and the young radical would assistance him, and that tone of intergenerational speech was portion of our process," O'Neill said. 

"I conscionable saw it arsenic an accidental to larn things from the kids. I ever larn things from kids," Glenn added. 

Saturday's screening volition beryllium special, bringing overmuch of the unit backmost together. 

"We're each conscionable looking guardant to gathering with a radical of radical and sharing this gem that we spent 4 years moving on," O'Neill said.  

"The vigor successful that country erstwhile we made the [pilot], I inactive spell determination sometimes successful my imagination," Elizabeth said.  

A circuit and caller projects, euphony next

Elizabeth and Glenn are hopeful the show's fuller conception whitethorn beryllium realized, albeit successful a antithetic form. 

"We deliberation possibly determination is simply a mode for america to instrumentality [Caring Cabin] forward," said Elizabeth. 

In the meantime, the brace person a bid of circuit dates successful the UK and Europe acceptable for October, wherever they volition play Glenn's backmost catalogue and caller music. 

Events successful Hamilton are besides apt successful the fall, Elizabeth said, adding that Glenn is successful a caller originative chapter.   

"Glenn is successful immoderate ways adjacent much himself. So possibly helium can't retrieve sequences of things… but helium is inactive gathering neural pathways, penning euphony successful antithetic ways, and helium is adjacent much successful the contiguous moment." 

Glenn said letting spell of expectations has been freeing, successful fact, and has prompted new art. 

"I've ever been 1 of those radical that sought perfection… astir successful everything, and you cognize however grinding that is. Well, present I can't bash it, folks," helium said. 

"And that's good. I had to fto spell of that. So instead, different parts of my encephalon are developing, right? The originative parts are processing really, truly fast. Yeah, it's truly stunning to me."