Image sourced from firehallartscentre.ca

Attention Leonard Cohen fanatics: The classic that puts the spotlight on Canada’s most beloved poet-crooner-novelist is back for a holiday run in Vancouver.

The Chelsea Hotel returns to the Firehall Arts Centre, Dec. 15-Jan. 9. The wildly creative musical is pieced together from Cohen’s acclaimed music and poetry. It premiered in 2012 to rave reviews (the Globe and Mail praised its “overwhelming inventiveness”) and has since played to sold-out shows across the country.

At the start of the musical, we encounter young Cohen suffering from a serious case of writer’s block. In fact, a literal mountain of crumpled paper rises next to his bedside at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. As the story progresses, he’s visited by a series of characters and lovers, all drawn to his outsized creative gifts and magnetism. Women are picked up and discarded; serious heartbreak and reflection ensues. And, in the process, Cohen discovers his artistic voice.

The plot, as it is, is fairly free form. But what really drives the musical forward is the interpretations of Cohen’s classic songs. The six performers pick up and play 17 different instruments – from guitars to cello, accordion, keyboards and even kazoo – as they work their way through the iconic Cohen catalogue.  Continue reading:
Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen Musical Returns to Vancouver for the Holidays