Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

WESTERN CANADA THEATRE

Western Canada Theatre invites Cohen fans to check into the Chelsea Hotel

Nov 23, 2021 | 4:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — Western Canada Theatre (WCT) takes to the stage next month with a performance Leonard Cohen fans will appreciate.

Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, will kick off the main stage season for WCT from the Sagebrush Theatre.

The music-centric performance centres around a writer who checks into New York’s infamous Chelsea Hotel, desperate to find inspiration. The production features fresh arrangements of Cohen’s music — performed by six artists playing 17 different instruments.

Director, chorographers and performer Tracey Power says there’s something for everyone in this show.

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“Even those Leonard Cohen fans who know every single song, these are new arrangements specifically for this show,” Power notes. “I think it is a feeling of hearing them for the first time. And it’s about love and we all have different kinds of love in our lives so it’s very very relatable, and just a very special night in the theatre.”

Performers gave a preview into their rehearsal Tuesday (Nov. 23) and Steve Charles, the production’s music director, arranger and performer, says audiences will not only appreciate the musical side of the songs but they will also get a new look into Cohen’s lyrics.

“His music and his poetry in his songs kind of strike that balance of being specific and universal. I think the more you mature as a human being you understand different things about them. You know, what he meant by the same phrase,” Charles explains. “Even now when we’re doing the show and we start talking about a song, someone will say something (about it), and you go, ‘Oh, I’ve never thought about it from that direction before.'”

Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, will take to the stage from December 2 to 11 at the Sagebrush Theatre. Tickets can be bought online at www.wctlive.ca.