Written By Michelle F. Solomon
Originally published on artburstmiami.com.
Two stuffed chairs with a guitar leaning against one of them; a small table between with a large retro ceramic lamp with a white shade; two microphone stands; at stage right is a baby grand piano; Oriental rugs of different sizes are underneath. This is the atmosphere that sets the scene for GableStage’s “Both Sides Now: The Music and Lives of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.”
Billed as a “theatrical concert,” it’s more of a salon-listening room show than a theatrical presentation although through the storytelling we learn about the legendary musicians with tales interwoven by Danielle Wertz and Robbie Schaefer; the performers developed the piece at Washington D.C.’s Signature Theatre. It’s played smaller concert venues such as The Ark in Ann Arbor, Mich., and will kick off a tour after its three-week run at GableStage — The Concert Hall at City Winery, Atlanta; The Music Hall Lounge in Portsmouth, The Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath, Maine, and other venues.
While a bit of a departure as GableStage is the purveyor of staged theatrical works, Wertz and Schaefer’s musical cabaret about the two folk singers keeps the duo’s writing and musical selections intact; GableStage contributes its expertise in scenic design (Frank J. Oliva), lighting design (Tony Galaska, whose lighting must be mentioned with its soft spotlights on the performers, sometimes even mimicking a flickering candle), set dressing (Marcela Paguaga) and sound engineering (Hector Martinez).
The genial pair enter the stage as Wertz carries a candle, which she places on the table, then lights it. Both are holding mugs with teabags hanging out of each cup. They sit, set down the tea. Schaefer grabs his guitar.
Before the show began at the first Friday performance, GableStage artistic director Bari Newport confided that she had been looking for a Leonard Cohen “theater piece” since she was 22 years old and believed she found it with “Both Sides Now.” She also told the audience that Schaefer was ordained as a rabbi only days before the GableStage appearances.
“Both Sides Now” weaves in stories and biographies of Mitchell, now 80 years old, who started her career as a painter and Cohen was a poet and novelist before becoming a defining musical voice in the folk scene during the 1960s; he died at the age of 82 in 2016.
With 15 songs and an “encore,” the show opens with Wertz on vocals singing Mitchell’s “A Case of You” while Schaefer accompanies her on guitar. The song is from Mitchell’s 1971 “Blue” LP, her fourth studio album and considered her greatest work.
“Both Sides Now” features nine of Mitchell’s songs and seven of Cohen’s.
Schaefer says that the performing duo met two years ago through their shared love of each of the icons’ music but “Jonie and Leonard met decades before.” Lovers for only weeks, according to Schaefer, their friendship lasted a lifetime.
This is where “Both Sides Now” connects – through the earnestness of Wertz and Schaefer conveying their personal stories as they weave through stories of Mitchell and Cohen’s careers and personal lives.
Wertz’s admission: “I was a teenager listening to Duke Ellington’s ‘Melancholia.’ What teenager does that?” she jokes. And commentary courtesy of Mitchell about how she felt regarding stardom: “If they are going to put me on a pedestal, they should know who they are worshipping,” she said of her laid bare lyrics.
Schaefer is a gifted storyteller painting a vivid image of a hiking trip he took to the top of a volcano in Nicaragua. He says he imagined Leonard Cohen sitting next to him as he lay at the summit crater staring into the black hole.
He talks about spending his childhood outside of the U.S. until he was 11 years old and when playing his guitar then for a girl at school, she told him his voice sounded like singer-songwriter James Taylor. He wanted to impress the girl and acknowledged the compliment – then reveals he didn’t know who James Taylor was.
Schaefer does have a bit of Taylor in his vocal delivery, but he has the soul of Cohen.
The pair hit all the high notes in the song choices, Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” with Wertz at the piano and the two singing it as a jazzy-tinged duet, “Little Green,” which Wertz prefaces by telling the story of Mitchell writing the song in 1966 shortly after she signed the papers to give up her daughter for adoption.
There’s a beautiful rendition sung a capella by both of Mitchell’s “Fiddle and Drum” and another memorable styling as the two join together vocally each time for the chorus of Cohen’s “Lover, Lover, Lover.”
Then there’s Schaefer’s arrangement of Cohen’s 1974 “Who By Fire,” which he pairs with Jewish prayer, the only song the duo recorded because, they say, it was difficult for them to obtain the rights to the Mitchell and Cohen library. It’s by far the most moving piece in the evening.
Of course, no Cohen show would be complete without “Hallelujah,” which he wrote in 1984, and has been covered by artists of every genre from Willie Nelson to k.d. lang, the most famous rendition by Jeff Buckley released in 2007.
More concert etiquette than stage bow, the duo ends the show with “Hallelujah” and leaves the stage. The audience stands and applauds (some who thought the show was over began to leave – not unusual for Miami audiences who frequently duck out before curtain calls.). The pair returns to perform the “encore,” which is listed in the program – Mitchell’s 1966 “Circle Game.” The audience is asked to help out with the chorus: “And the seasons, they go ’round and ’round, and the painted ponies go up and down, we’re captive on the carousel of time.”
“Both Sides Now: The Lives of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen” will be a Rock 101 introduction to the troubadours for some and a revisiting of the legends for others. A few small tweaks could add dramatic flair and create more of a theatrical experience. Perhaps projections (we never do see photographs of the real pair); maybe sound clips of Mitchell’s and Cohen’s voices speaking from the countless audio interviews available.
Wertz, a vocalist with jazz influences who has Miami ties – she graduated from University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and Schaefer, a rock-folk musician, do here what they do best. They are musical performers and their interpretations of the songs of these modern music legends are worth spending 75 minutes in GableStage’s cozy listening room.
WHAT: “Both Sides Now: The Music and Lives of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen” by Danielle Wertz and Robbie Schaefer
WHERE: GableStage in the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables
WHEN: 2 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 18 and Tuesday, Dec. 24; 7:30 p.m., Thursday (except for Thursday, Dec. 19), Friday, and Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Through Jan. 5.
COST: $45, $50, $55, $60, all with additional $10 service fee (discounts for students, teachers, artists, military and groups).
INFORMATION: 305-445-1119 or gablestage.org
