With past productions including 'Lennon: Through A Glass Onion' and 'Belly Of A Drunken Piano' (a Tom Waits homage), Stewart D’Arrietta returns with his newest show, 'My Leonard Cohen'.
What attracted you to create a Leonard Cohen tribute show?
Well, firstly I loved his songwriting and after reading Sylvie Simmons book ‘I'm Your Man. The Life of Leonard Cohen’, I became totally entranced with his being, his philosophies, his humility, his spirituality and his humanity, qualities I have rarely found in successful songwriters and performers. This guy has the goods. So I went on an exploration of the man’s songwriting.
The show also incorporates stories about Cohen and his motivations… Do you need to be a Cohen diehard to enjoy the show?
No, you don’t. I mean obviously if you are diehard fan of the man you will love the show, but as is quoted in The Australian Arts Review, come along and: 'experience the remarkable Stewart D’Arrietta in live performance'. Now I didn’t say it, it was said about me and I have always found it hard to blow my own trumpet so to speak.
Did the experiences of your previous tribute shows play in part with piecing together My Leonard Cohen?
Only in the sense that having done shows on Jacques Brel, John Lennon, Tom Waits and Randy Newman, I have learned the craft of keeping an audience intrigued with what is happening in front of them.
Cohen has had a prolific career with album releases… how much of the new stuff do you explore?
Not a lot. I do the one song, 'Show Me The Place', because it is such a great song but mainly I draw on his well known songs such as 'Suzanne', 'Everybody Knows', 'So Long Marianne', 'I’m Your Man, 'Hallelujah' and many more.
Talk us through the six-pice band you'll have with you on tour?
Firstly, all the musicians in the band besides being close mates are all excellent at their instrument. Don Miller Robinson plays a mean guitar; he and I along with the drummer Hughie Benjamin were in a band in 1989 called Big Storm. We were signed to WEA and opened for INXS. Tony Mitchell, who has got to be one of the greatest bass players in the world and ex-Sherbet. We met each other in the early '80s when I was playing in Vanuatu. Sunny Amoreena sings backing vocals and sometimes lead and has the voice of an angel, which is appropriate for the balance when working with devils. Lastly, the unbelievable talent of Michael Kluger on piano Accordion. It has been wonderful to find a genre where Michael can excel in.
Have you seen Cohen perform live previously?
I saw Cohen in the Hunter Valley and I was pretty dumbstruck at how he commanded the band and audience and also the varying age group that had come to see him from teenagers to older types. Look, a lot of his feel and arrangements of his own songs I don’t quite get knocked out by but I love his songwriting.
Is it to early to ask about your next project… or is the Cohen show the focus for foreseeable future?
I am working with Louis Nowra on a musical that we hope to have out in the near future. It’s a labour of love and we both enjoy working with each other on a creative venture.
The legacy of Leonard Cohen… what has he meant to popular music?
He sets the example of a man who has a balance of grace in his life. He is one cool dude.
We have you cornered; you must give us your favourite Cohen song before we end the interview… it is?
'Dance Me To The End Of Love'. It’s a killer.
'My Leonard Cohen' plays at the Judith Wright Centre (Brisbane) 20, 21 May and The Event Centre (Sunshine Coast) 22 May.
