Andrew Penner, Divine Brown, Hailey Gillis, Ben Caplan and Travis Knights are part of the ensemble of musicians in The Secret Chord.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
- Title: The Secret Chord: A Leonard Cohen Experience
- Created by: Frank Cox-O’Connell, Marni Jackson and Mike Ross
- Performed by: Divine Brown, Ben Caplan, Hailey Gillis, Travis Knights, Andrew Penner, Jacob Gorzhaltsan, Joel Joseph, Tom Moffett, Lowell Whitty, Roger Williams
- Director: Frank Cox-O’Connell
- Company: Mirvish Productions
- Venue: CAA Theatre
- City: Toronto
- Year: Runs until Aug. 16
Who was Leonard Cohen?
Like any great musician, it depends on whom you ask. To some, he was one of Canada’s greatest poets; to others, he was a chronic womanizer, a vagabond with an unruly, uncontainable heart; to others still, he was synonymous with his biggest hit, 1984’s Hallelujah.
In The Secret Chord, a rich ensemble of Canadian musicians puzzles out Cohen’s catalogue and writings, searching for the truth of a man who wrapped his life in poetry. Part verbatim play, part tribute act, the piece traces Cohen’s career from top to tail, digressing into song when mere words couldn’t possibly capture the artist’s spirit.
Last year, Mirvish found a surprise hit in Inside American Pie, a similar docu-concert with roots at Harmony House in Prince Edward Island (and, more distantly, Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto). Conceived by Mike Ross and Sarah Wilson, the show was a forensic deep dive into Don McLean’s eight-minute opus. Ross and Wilson’s personal stake in the matter at hand was palpable – Ross, who narrated the production, was utterly engaging, his passion for music evident not only in the way he spoke but in the care he took as an arranger, remixing beloved songs into entirely new sonic experiences.
While Ross’s fingerprints are all over The Secret Chord – he’s credited on the Soulpepper-born production as a co-creator and, again, as the arranger – it’s tough not to feel his absence onstage. Although director and co-creator Frank Cox-O’Connell has constructed a tight, elegant production that makes stylish use of Mirvish’s CAA Theatre, The Secret Chord feels somehow less personal than its star-spangled predecessor. The songs are gorgeous; the spoken interludes flow like wine. But especially in the afterglow of Inside American Pie‘s success off-Mirvish and beyond, it feels as though something’s missing.
The Secret Chord is part verbatim play, part tribute act, featuring an array of talented performers including Jacob Gorzhaltsan, left, and Travis Knights.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
While The Secret Chord is arguably too long at 90 minutes – it could carry the same wallop at 75 – there’s plenty to appreciate, from Travis Knights’s extraordinary tap dancing in Everybody Knows to Ben Caplan’s gravelly take on Take This Waltz. Caplan is particularly engrossing to watch and listen to: His ability to capture Cohen’s sound and spirit without coming across as an impersonator is close to virtuosic. His voice, deep and grumbly, is striking and seductive – Caplan’s songs are The Secret Chord’s indisputable highlights.
Other gems include Bird on the Wire, sung with bluesy verve by Divine Brown, and The Future, orated through a bullhorn by Andrew Penner.
Hailey Gillis, a familiar face to musical theatre buffs in Toronto, shines brightest when she gets to show off the remarkable control she has over her voice: In Famous Blue Raincoat, for instance, the singer flips easily between a deep belt and her trademark, more velvety mix.
Hailey Gillis in The Secret Chord.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
As with Inside American Pie, The Secret Chord delights most when Ross’s arrangements detonate an existing song, assembling something truly novel from the shrapnel. Trumpeter Tom Moffett supplies some of the show’s most dazzling musical breaks; Jacob Gorzhaltsan, meanwhile, demonstrates just how abstract something as simple as a clarinet can become under appropriately jazzy circumstances.
The whole thing comes together on a vintage-feeling stage, lit in moody sepias by Simon Rossiter and filled with nostalgic projections designed by Frank Donato.
All in, I left The Secret Chord with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Cohen – mission accomplished, as far as the show’s creators are concerned. And while I found myself missing Ross as the concert unfolded – his warmth on stage, his playfulness at the piano – I couldn’t help but hum a certain four-syllable exaltation under my breath as I walked toward the subway.
Not sure which word I mean? To quote Cohen himself: “It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth…”