Life, Death and The Blues

Raoul Bhaneja leads the audience through the history of blues, and tells the story of some of his heroes in Life, Death and The Blues, a fusion of conversation, theatre, live music and multi-media, now on stage at Theatre Passe Muraille. Bhaneja's banter with Canadian R&B/Soul singer Divine Brown brings laughter and tears as they explore stereotypes and different cultural experiences and Bhaneja talks about what made/makes him a bluesman. Of course, the blues can’t be explored without musicians Jake Chisholm (guitar), Tom Bona (drums) and Chris Banks (upright bass), whose talents bring the music to life.

Many of the stories centre around harmonica players, as Bhaneja demonstrates his own talents. One story follows the Haitian born, Canadian raised Paul Frappier (aka Bad News Brown), a Montreal-based entertainer known for his pairing of harmonica with rhyme and hip-hop beats. With video footage as the back drop, the audience watches a Bad News Brown performance while the musicians and cast on stage perform the music, and tell the heartbreaking story of Frappier’s life, career and murder.

Life, Death and The Blues is a unique and moving production that has a run time of about two hours. During intermission be sure to stay in the theatre and listen to local blues artists from the Youth Blues Challenge. And as an epilogue to the show there are also performances by featured blues legends that jam with the band.

Life, Death and The Blues runs until October 19 at Theatre Passe Muraille. Visit passemuraille.ca for more information and to buy tickets. Show Dates: Sept. 25 – Oct. 19 Tour Dates: Jan. 21 – Feb. 8, 2015, Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg) Feb. 11 – Mar. 1, 2015, Citadel Theatre (Edmonton).

You may also like

Interview

Q&A: Life, Death and The Blues

Raoul Bhaneja pours his heart and soul into a new show with Theatre Passe Muraille