WINNIPEG -- It's surprisingly easy to sit back and go with the flow of Prairie Theatre Exchange artistic director Allen MacInnis' romantic imagery for theatrical concert Joni Mitchell: River. But the vision thing isn't all that crucial to enjoying the show.
Three actor-singers and a solid quartet of musicians perform 28 Mitchell songs, playing on seven themes -- war, big business, social ills and four stages of doomed love from woozy infatuation through to post-breakup recovery.
The show opens on a pedestrian note. Singers Thom Allison (Side by Side by Sondheim), Andrea Menard (Godspell) and Corrine Koslo collaborate on a stiffly choreographed version of Help Me that would be right at home on'70s easy-listening radio. But each performer gets to showcase different strengths as the concert progresses through Carey, Woodstock, Big Yellow Taxi, River and Both Sides Now.
Allison, who'd be perfectly cast as a perfume-ad angel, gets laughs in a comically frustrated turn on Be Cool; Menard's powerful take on The Fiddle and the Drum gave an opening night audience chills and Koslo brings a wry drama to A Case of You and a whiff of homespun humour to Come in From the Cold.
Guitarist and musical director Greg Lowe with Don Benedictson (bass), Daniel Roy (percussion) and Leonard Shaw (keyboards and saxophone) are essential to the performance, and rightfully positioned in a pit at centre stage.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Wed. - Sat., 7 p.m. Tues., & Sun. Feb. 10, 2 p.m. Sun., and 3 p.m. Sat. Feb. 3. Tickets cost $18.25 - $30.25 at the PTE box office (942-5483).
Printed from the official Joni Mitchell website. Permanent link: https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=730
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