Scott Roos
Special to the Herald
Prince Albert audiences are going to get their own version of one of rock music’s most celebrated concert events when The Last Prairie Waltz comes to the E.A. Rawlinson Centre on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Inspired by The Band’s legendary 1976 farewell concert The Last Waltz, the production brings together an impressive collection of musicians to celebrate the songs, the spirit and the distinctly Canadian musical heritage behind the original event. But there’s an important twist: no two Last Prairie Waltz shows are exactly alike. For producer Heidi Munro and musical director Scott Patrick, that is very much the point.
“The point of it is to bring community together, to bring different musicians that don’t necessarily, you know, even for us, it’s kind of like, well, who would we like to have to play on the show that you don’t normally get to play with?” Patrick explains.
That philosophy is particularly important for the Prince Albert performance, which features a cast largely drawn from the city’s remarkably diverse music community. Munro and Patrick are joined by Rich McFarlane, Dean Kushneryk, Mick Gratias, Ross Folkersen, Brenner Holash, Connor Newton and Lauren Lohneis, along with guest performers Eliza Doyle, Scott Roos, Jaynaya Trudel, Dennis Adams, Doyle Ironstand, Shania Cabilao, Paul Lomheim and LJ Tyson.
Munro, who spent 25 years in Prince Albert and remains closely connected to its arts and music scene, says putting the lineup together was both exciting and challenging.
“I’m so excited to take the show there with the people we have for that community,” she says. “PA was really great to me.”
The result is a production that brings together musicians from different corners of the local scene.- performers who may know and admire one another but don’t necessarily get the opportunity to share a stage. That musical cross-pollination is at the heart of Last Prairie Waltz.
“It’s just that kind of real, like, music kind of community,” Patrick says. “PA has like a wealth of music.”
And audiences shouldn’t expect to simply hear a note-for-note recreation of the original concert. While iconic songs such as “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Cripple Creek” and “Ophelia” are part of the musical DNA, the Prince Albert production also incorporates original material from the local artists who are involved.
“We didn’t want it to be just another, well, for lack of a better term, a tribute-type show,” Munro says. “We wanted it to really highlight being Canadian and the musical heritage in our country.”
That means the evening is as much a celebration of Prince Albert musicians as it is a celebration of The Band. Patrick has also deliberately created more opportunities for individual performers to step into the spotlight, rather than simply reproducing the structure of the original concert.
“We like to spread it around a little bit,” he says. “We’ve given room for everybody, like the guests and all the players up there, to kind of have a little spotlight on them.”
For Munro, however, the real magic happens when the musicians and audience become part of the same experience.
“There’s certain things that happen on stage that you can feel – such an electricity in a room, in the whole room,” she says. “I think communities need that.”
Patrick agrees.
“You’re going to get wrapped up in that multiple times during the show,” he says. “Even I get choked up at the end of the show.”
On Oct. 22, Prince Albert gets its own Last Prairie Waltz. It’s going to be a night of legendary songs, local musicians and, perhaps most importantly, a chance for the city’s musical community to come together and celebrate what it can do.
And judging by the enthusiasm of the people putting it together, this is one waltz that shouldn’t be missed.
