Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 interesting facts about Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen's heartfelt theatrical hit

Firehall Arts Centre’s fan-favourite production returns to Vancouver in celebration of more than 300 performances

By Emily Lyth

Adrian Glynn McMorran (left) and Jack Garton in Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Western Canada Theatre 2021). Photo by Barbara Zimonick

The Firehall Arts Centre presents Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen from February 3 to March 3, with post-show talkbacks on February 8, 15, 22, and 29

FROM HIS EVER-EVOCATIVE “Hallelujah” to the tender “Bird on the Wire”, it’s no doubt that Leonard Cohen is one of the greatest singer-songwriters in Canadian history.

The poet-turned-musician was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and maintained a decades-long career full of successes and evolution up until he passed away in 2016.

Devout fans can once again experience the late musician’s breathtaking poetry and lyricism onstage in Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen. Conceptualized in 2011 by Tracey Power and produced by the Firehall Arts Centre’s artistic director Donna Spencer, the show follows a writer who checks into the infamous Chelsea Hotel. Finding himself stuck in New York City and plagued by memories of a love life gone awry, Cohen searches for musical inspiration. The transcendent performance starring Adrian Glynn McMorran, Jack Garton, Marlene Ginader, Michelle Bouey, Steve Charles, and Power gives way to drama and poetry in a search to cure love’s pain.

Ahead of the Firehall’s remount of Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, here are five facts about the show’s background and Cohen’s history.

Chelsea Hotel. Photo by Otto Bettmann

#1

The Chelsea Hotel was pivotal to Cohen’s life and music

As most music enthusiasts know, New York’s infamous Chelsea Hotel was once a thriving artist hub unlike any other. By the late-1900s, the mixed housing co-op and hotel space had hosted everyone from Jackson Pollock and Jim Morrison to Iggy Pop and Jimi Hendrix. The 12-storey building, now a revamped luxury hotel, was ground zero in the city for flourishing artistry, rampant drug use, and dramatic encounters—Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious allegedly stabbed and killed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in Room 100, and Bob Dylan penned “Visions of Johanna” while living in Room 211. It was also where Cohen’s beloved song “Chelsea Hotel #2” came to be. The musician was living in Room 424 in 1968 when he encountered Janis Joplin, the resident of Room 411, and the pair engaged in a sexual encounter. The pivotal time in Cohen’s life is well-captured in his intimate lyrics:

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were talking so brave and so sweet
Givin’ me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines wait in the street

#2

In a likeness to Cohen himself, audience members kiss and tell

Directed and choreographed by Power, Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen premiered in February 2012 to extremely positive reception from viewers. It became a pattern that audience members would be caught kissing outside the Firehall afterwards, earning the passionate production a nickname as “the make-out show”. With the poetic fusion of song, dance, and drama crafted by Power and musical director-arranger Steve Charles, a whole host of romantic moments await.

From left: Steve Charles, Tracey Power, and Jack Garton in Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Western Canada Theatre 2021). Photo by Barbara Zimonick

#3

Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is an award-winning production

Power’s show has secured local Ovation Awards for outstanding director and ensemble production. Other accolades include a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Calgary Theatre Critic’s Award, and Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award. Chelsea Hotel has sold out theatres across the country, from Toronto to Victoria. Audiences can expect creative reinventions of Cohen’s most classic songs.

Marlene Gineader (left) and Adrian Glynn McMorran in Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (2012). Photo by David Cooper

#4

Adrian Glynn McMorran resumes the role of Cohen

Any artist portraying Leonard Cohen has some pretty big shoes to fill, and impressively, Vancouver-born and -raised actor Adrian Glynn McMorran has now played the role on countless occasions since Chelsea Hotel’s debut in 2012. McMorran’s acting credits span theatre to television, and he’s appeared in the likes of Supernatural, Smallville, and Arrow. He’s also a professional singer-songwriter, and a core member of the East Van acoustic folk-roots quartet the Fugitives; the Juno Award nominees released their sixth album, No Help Coming, in October 2023.

Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (Western Canada Theatre 2021). Photo by Barbara Zimonick

#5

Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen has been performed more than 300 times

With six years of touring history across Canada, Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen has been performed 342 times. Audiences across Vancouver, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, and Toronto have all had opportunities to witness the show. In commemoration of Cohen and the show’s cross-country legacy, the Firehall Arts Centre is hosting a special event, Endless Love, on February 23. A performance of Chelsea Hotel will be preceded by a reception with Spencer featuring complimentary canapés and bubbles, then followed up by a post-show mingle with the cast and crew. Tickets to the fundraiser, which are $100 with a $25 tax receipt, are available through the Firehall.  

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