Mark Allan
Special to the Record
Finding enough great Canadian songs for a tribute to commemorate our nation’s 150th anniversary was no problem for Leisa Way.
The veteran singer and music theatre writer, who’s bringing her Oh, Canada, We Sing For Thee production to the Sid Williams Theatre on Sept. 24, tells a revealing anecdote.
“A friend of mine had a friend who was visiting from the States, and she didn’t want to see the show. ‘I don’t know any of the songs,’” said the U.S. woman. “There were only two songs in the whole show the American girlfriend didn’t know,” Way laughs.
“She didn’t know they were written by Canadians.”
The breathtakingly broad sweep of songs reaches back into the 1950s for Little Darlin’ by the Diamonds, rocks through the ’60s with Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild and keeps going with one unforgettable gem after another.
This tribute to Canadian music includes songs by Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, Céline Dion, Michael Bublé, Shania Twain, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, The Guess Who, Ian and Sylvia, Neil Young, Don Messer, Bryan Adams and Bachman Turner Overdrive.
“We go through all the decades of Canadian music – the ‘50s and the doo-wop music to the folk music … and we celebrate indigenous music. My drummer Sam (Cino) and his family are Mi’kmaq and Métis.
“We celebrate French-Canadian music,” she continues. “My fiddler (Aaron Solomon) comes from a long line of fiddling immigrants who came from Europe over to Canada.
“I didn’t realize there are so many kinds of fiddling in Canada,” Way chuckles, her passion and love of music evident in her voice.
Judging from reviews, the strikingly versatile and talented ensemble led by the Wayward Wind Band excels at bringing to life a series of iconic classics from a variety of genres. There are also plenty of anecdotes and historical notes peppered with humour.
There is no question, though, about who is the inspiration and focal point for this stirring presentation from Way to Go Productions.
As a veteran of music theatre, Way looks the part as well as sounds it.
“I become Shania Twain when I put on the black wig and the leopard mini-skirt and the boots,” she laughs, “but I don’t pretend to be her.”
Way comes from a large, musical family that always had something playing in the home as she grew up.
“We always had records playing, always … and my mom’s family is all musical. When we got together on the weekends, there were always 40 or 50 people there. Everybody had a banjo or a fiddle or a mandolin.”
She was drawn to the storytelling aspect from an early age, “the possibilities of music to touch people and take you into another world.”
Getting involved in music theatre came naturally, especially with the invaluable assistance of an excellent singing and drama teacher who had moved near Way’s Ontario home.
Realizing her “light” voice would preclude her from singing lead roles in opera, Way discovered that, “In musical theatre, I could play the lead role in anything.”
Twenty years of touring the world singing numerous roles gave her invaluable experience, although her diminutive, girlish appearance prevented her from being cast in the more mature roles for which she was otherwise suited.
So she started writing her own shows.
“What I do for audiences is … to simply whisk people away for two hours and put a smile on their face and make them happy.”
If you want to be happily whisked away, check out the Courtenay stop on a 28-city tour from Glace Bay to Vancouver Island.
The Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay presents Oh, Canada, We Sing For Thee on Sept. 24, part of the 2017 - 2018 Blue Circle Series. For concert details and tickets, visit sidwilliamstheatre.com, phone 250-338-2430 or visit 442 Cliffe Ave.