Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Have a fantastic guitar? The Grand Theatre is looking to audition acoustic guitars to play in the MainStage production Joni Mitchell: River, a theatrical concert starring Emm Gryner, Louise Pitre, and Brendan Wall, which runs Oct. 21 - l Nov. 5, 2016.
Musicians, collectors, and enthusiasts are invited to drop off their acoustic guitars to The Grand Theatre for the chance at a starring role in River… the guitar that is! Bring your guitar (in its case) to The Grand Theatre Stage Door (behind the theatre off of Dufferin Avenue) on June 1 or June 2 between 5:30 and 7 pm; each guitar will be tagged, secured, insured, and treated with TLC.
The guitars will be ‘auditioned’ by renowned guitarist and musical director, Greg Lowe, who will select up to 22 guitars to be played in the show. Plus, your guitar will be profiled in our house program and in a special photo exhibit on site during the show run in the fall.
Play Like Joni: Workshop & Jam Session
On Sunday, June 5 you’re invited to a special event at The Grand Theatre MainStage for a free workshop and jam session. Greg Lowe, accompanied by Emm Gryner and Brendan Wall, will give a group workshop on the unique tuning patterns of Joni Mitchell followed by one huge jam session to play Big Yellow Taxi. Go online at www.grandtheatre.com/guitar for the cords to the song. Not sure your guitar is right for the show? Come to the jam anyway!
The event starts at 2 pm and will wrap up around 3:30. All guitar players welcome! Click here to register.
Why so many guitars for the show?
One of the major technical challenges for River has to do with Mitchell's music. In her repertoire, Joni developed more than 50 unique tunings. Instead of employing the standard E-A-D-G-B-E pitches for her guitar strings, Mitchell tunes her strings according to the sonic characteristics she wishes to create for a song. The “open string” chords to which she adds finger chords as she plays are a mark of the innovation in her music. For River, trying to re-tune a guitar for each song during the show would be impractical. As a result, River uses almost two dozen specifically-tuned acoustic guitars. And one of those could be….yours.
Why the workshop & jam session?
To celebrate music! To hang out with other guitar players for an hour or so to jam and learn something new. Join us for this casual Sunday afternoon at The Grand.
Curious, interested, intrigued – just want to be a part of it? Go online for more details at www.grandtheatre.com/guitar or contact Kate Rapson, 519 672 9030 ext. 247, krapson@grandtheatre.com.
GRANDTHEATRE.COM | 519.672.8800
Photo: Joni Mitchell.
2016-05-25
London: Guitar auditions June 1-2 and jam session June 5 at the Grand Theatre