Harvest Jazz & Blues has teamed up with Theatre New Brunswick to bring fans a hybrid musical experiences to celebrate the festival’s 25th anniversary.
Life, Death and The Blues was created by Maple Blues Award winner Raoul Bhaneja with performances by the Juno award-winning Divine Brown. The show, which combines theatre performances, autobiography, interview, music and multi-media all in one, explores a man’s journey through the blues.
“We have presented music in many forms and by artists from around the world and we have also done blues in schools for more than a decade now. They (the kids) have had exposure to the history and culture of blues in a much deeper way than our adult audiences have,” says music programmer, Brent Staeben.
First developed by Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto, Life, Death and The Blues is unlike anything Harvest goers have seen before. Staeben says the show is a valuable learning experience for blues fans.
“Raoul is half-Irish and half-Indian. He is falling in love with the blues, he’s making the same discoveries of the music and the culture and where it came from—he’s also a musician – in a similar way we are exploring that with him throughout the play,” says Staeben.
Theatre New Brunswick says they’ve been looking forward to making this plan a reality since last year, and they’re proud to finally be bringing it to Fredericton audiences.
“This plan has been in the works if well over a year now. Caleb Marshal got the idea going last year and still, it’s quite a young performance its been hitting the Canadian theatre scene by storm since last fall,” says general manager, Susan Ready.
Ready says the response from the theatre community has been positive. She says that Life, Death and The Blues is unlike anything the city has seen before.
“It’s an autobiography that has music that comes in and pushes it forward and the narrative pushes it forward. Raoul is so talented and he meshes those all together in such a lovely flow.”
The show will run during regular Harvest Jazz & Blues programming Sept. 17 and 18, and will take place in the Playhouse.
“This is a neat way to really expose us adults who love this music, the history of it and that experience as well,” says Staeben.
