A musical tribute to Canada celebrating the nation’s 150th birthday is stopping in Tisdale as part of a 28-city tour.
Oh Canada, We Sing for Thee!, hosted by the Tisdale Arts Council, will be performed at the Maurice Taylor Performing Arts Theatre on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The show will feature 60 years of Canadian music from artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Rita MacNeil, The Guess Who, Anne Murray and Celine Dion.
Leisa Way, one of the performers and the writer of the show, said she didn’t actually write the show with the 150th anniversary in mind. The writer, who created nine different shows including tributes to Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline, said she created the show back in 2015 at the request of an artistic director near Ottawa where she debuts many of her shows.
“When he asked me to write a Canada show, a show celebrating Canadian singers and songwriters, I thought: wow, that’s going to be hard. How are you going to pick?”
Way said with hundreds of Canadian artists, the show could have been eight hours long. The final product is two hours long – and the reaction of the debut was overwhelming.
“[The audience] all said, ‘You have to take this show across Canada. It makes us feel so proud, it’s a joyous show and Canadians need to celebrate who we are, what we are and how lucky we are to live in this beautiful country.”
So Way looked at the dates, saw that Canada was having its 150th birthday and spent 18 months developing the tour. The writer said one of her favourite parts of planning the show was research about the artists so that she could tell their stories during the performance.
“That’s what I love the most about the shows that I started creating for myself, was telling the story about how the song came to be, what was going on in that artist’s life when they wrote that song because when an audience member hears the story, the song takes on new meaning.”
Another favourite part of the show for Way is how she changes her costume 12 times – with 11 wig changes – to play the parts of Canadian musicians.
“The biggest reactions are Shania Twain because I come out in the mini-skirt and the boots and the big leopard cape, so they just take one look at you and just know who you are,” she said, adding it’s so cool to change her look and become anyone. “In the second act, I come out as Rita MacNeil. Again, that gets a great reaction – and no, I don’t put on a suit or anything but I wear a gown that’s iconic to her and a hat that was iconic, and the wig.”
Way said the show includes a large variety of music done by Canadian musicians, including country, folk and rock. Many will be songs people have heard before – and might not realize are Canadian.
“Some of those iconic songs, when you hear them, it doesn’t matter what age you are, your toes are tapping, heads are bobbing, people are singing along and for me, to see a whole audience singing along to these songs, my heart explodes,” she said. “I love that.”
The show also includes some self-deprecating humorous asides where people learn facts about Canada and how it’s the greatest nation in the world – with the nicest and humblest people.
“Yes, the focus is music but audiences laugh and they learn something about Canada that they didn’t know.”
Backing up Way are lead guitarist Fred Smith, who has played backup for acts like The Mommas and the Papas, and Chuck Berry and the Supremes.
“He’s the most amazing singer but all these years, he was with these high profile stars that he wasn’t featured, so he is having a blast doing these shows.”
Also backing her up are pianist Bruce Ley, an arranger and pianist who has composed for Sesame Street and the Polka Dot Door, fiddler Nathan Smith, Bobby Prochaska and Sam Cino. Way said she selected all of them not only because they can play their chosen instruments, but also because they can sing.
The show is at the Maurice Taylor Performing Arts Theatre on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at Clothesline and ticketpro.ca. There’s also a show in Melfort Oct. 7.
