More Than Words – Winnipeg Free Press

Love is the sweetest gift of life, according to the theme of an old TV series Love boat.

Prairie Theater Exchange aims to share some of those romantic gifts with a one-night Valentine's Day concert on Wednesday, featuring the musical prowess of some of the most talented performers in Winnipeg's theater community.

These Eyes: Manitoba Love Stories. Canadian Love Songsas well as heart-to-heart stories – whether they're the catalyst for a life-long relationship between couples who've become close – tell stories submitted by audience members.

“During the evening, we read those love stories and then play a song that complements the story,” says Paul De Gource, the quintet's musical director, who trains some of the most famous singers. love songs in the Canadian music canon.

“It's a concert, of course, but it's a concert told.”

In particular These are the EyesThe Guess Who hit in 1968, written by Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, was the inspiration for the PTE in concert performance.

These are the Eyes Urban music fans discuss the iconic Winnipeg tune, and De Gurse says there's a reason the song resonates with fans.

“(These are the Eyes) beautiful song. It has two separate sections, a fun verse and a solemn chorus. Both give a lot to lean on,” says De Gource. “Guess Who can't play a show in Winnipeg with Canadian love songs.

“Is there pressure to perform it?” Of course, there's always pressure to perform a Guess Who song in Winnipeg, but I support the version we're doing.”

Wednesday's show will read 14 popular stories and 12 songs by artists including Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne.

De Gurse is the musical director and pianist of the city theater Outside Joke, where he combines music and improv. A Christmas Carol: Big Dickens Energy in partnership with PTE in December.

This collaboration led PTE Artistic Director Thomas Morgan Jones and Managing Director Lisa Lee to ask De Gource to reach into his soul and musical catalog to deliver a Canadian-style evening of love.

It will be on the keyboard These are the Eyes Also joining her is vocalist Julia Davis, who portrayed Ariel on the Rainbow Stage. Under the sea last summer and Jerilyn Bulaong, who is part of the production team for it Ma-BuhaiIt will come to the rainbow in 2024.

“Both of them have crystal clear voices. They fly, fill the space, sing in harmony, says De Gurse.

Duncan Cox, actor (Rental, Lighting), multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, and cellist Patricia Vanucci, a graduate student at the University of Manitoba's Desautels School of Music, rounded out the group.

“I'm so blessed to have made music with so many great artists,” says De Gurse. “This is what every artist dreams of, to find positive partners. I'm happy to have found them.”

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Alan Jr
Reporter

Alan Small has been a journalist with the Free Press for over 22 years in various roles, most recently as a reporter for Arts and Life.

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