Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen

A crowd favourite when it premiered here at The Firehall in 2012 followed by a successful Canadian tour, Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen returns this winter from Saturday, February 3 to Sunday, March 3, 2024. To toast Mr. Cohen’s legacy and their 342 performances of Chelsea Hotel, The Firehall is holding a special pre-show reception on Friday, February 23. Haunted by memories of his tumultuous love life, a writer checks into New York’s infamous Chelsea Hotel desperate to find the words and inspiration for his next song. Wading through past relationships, he reluctantly comes face to face with the love of the present – a love he wishes he could not only forget, but erase from memory. Leonard Cohen’s powerful and inspirational music is the heartbeat for Chelsea Hotel. Through Cohen’s transcendent songs and the honesty of his lyrics, audiences will be transfixed by this eclectic cabaret of loves won and lost and become witness in the search for the words to cure love’s pain. Directed by Tracey Power, with musical arrangements by Steve Charles, and produced by The Firehall’s Donna Spencer, Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is an inventive fusion of music, dance, and theatre that invites its audience into the hotel room of a creative mind and takes them on a poetic musical journey. The production premiered in February of 2012 and was nicknamed ‘the make out show’ as patrons were often caught kissing outside the theatre after the show. It was remounted by popular demand in autumn of that same year and went on tour to Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, and Toronto. “When Tracey Power brought her concept to me in 2011 for what was to become Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, I didn’t expect the original 2012 Firehall production to have such a long and wonderful life,” says Spencer. “Between its premiere and over the six years that followed, over 300 performances were done in theatres across Canada from Victoria to Toronto — and the amazing Ben Elliott was in all of them. When our colleagues at Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops produced the work in 2022, I was reminded how much our audiences loved Chelsea Hotel and how fabulous the creative artists involved were, so I wanted to bring it back home. And while Ben (having just completed a run of As You Like It for Bard in Washington, DC) will not be with us for this run, the production is fabulous and audiences will fall in love with it once again.” Since its premiere, Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen has played to audiences of all ages and received praise across the country for its imagination and creativity. It received Ovation Awards for “Outstanding Ensemble Production” and “Outstanding Director”, and received numerous nominations for awards including a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Calgary Theatre Critics’ Award, and Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award. The production, a tribute to one of Canada’s remarkable writers, has played to sold out houses across the country, with patrons returning again and again. February 3 – March 3 | Firehall Arts Centre | 280 E. Cordova Media Opening: February 7 at 7:30pm Previews: February 3 at 7:30pm | February 4 at 3:00pm | February 6 at 7:30pm | February 7 at 1:00pm Performance Times: Tuesday-Saturday, 7:30pm | Saturday & Sunday, 3:00pm | PWYC on Tuesday at 7:30pm & Wednesday at 1:00pm Tickets: From $30 at firehallartscentre.ca | 604.689.0926 Post Show Talkbacks: February 8, 15, 22, & 29