Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest on Day 4: Grievous Angel’s Chemistry Is Strong
Telling the life story of the rock legend Gram Parsons in the form of a concert that includes story-telling results in some pretty hefty monologues for Anders Drerup. Acting in theatre is not always a part of the repertoire for local artists who write songs and perform with bands.
The two young 20-something musicians who portray the roles of Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons in the musical theatre production Grievous Angel:The Legend of Gram Parsons come from different backgrounds with varying levels of theatre experience. That hasn’t hindered their ability to perform together with all of the chemistry and realism that depicts the strong bond that existed between Gram Parsons and his young understudy Emmylou Harris. In fact, it has assisted each of them in terms of learning a new skill-set and expanding personal horizons.
Not such a bad outcome for some incredibly hard work outside of their comfort-zones.
As for Gram Parsons, his outstanding talent as a singer-songwriter, his charisma and his incredible voice was not enough to gain him recognition in terms of record sales and popularity compared to his counter-parts when he was alive. The story of his downward spiral and his morbid compulsion to die like his hero, Hank Williams became the public’s focus after his death. The former journalist who conducted one of the last recorded interviews with Gram just weeks prior to his death in 1973, Michael Bate (of Frank Magazine fame), was inspired to tell the story of Parson’s life and this production was born.
The production stars Anders Drerup and Kelly Prescott as Gram and Emmylou Harris. Featured musicians include Al Bragg, Chris Breitner, Darwin Demers and Tom Martel. The musical score is by Gram Parsons, the Rolling Stones, Hank Williams, the Louvin Brothers, Chris Hillman, Chris Etheridge, Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Dan Penn, Elvis Presley, Ric Grech and Bob Buchanan.
An incredible amount of music history is represented in this musical theatre concert and that has impacted these young performers who have learned so much about Gram Parsons and also about themselves as well.
I sat down with Kelly and Anders in their very busy dressing room prior to show-time, and here are some highlites from our conversation:
Ottawa Tonite Video: Grievous Angel – The Legend of Gram Parsons creates artistic connections from cheryl gain on Vimeo.
Video footage shot using Flip Video ™ Camcorder
Tags: Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Grievous Angel:The Legend of Gram Parsons, local theatre in Ottawa, musical theate in Ottawa
