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It was standing room only at Evergreen Theatre May 12 when Cliff LeJeune took an amazed and appreciative crowd on a rollercoaster ride of emotions through his interpretations of the songs of Leonard Cohen. The actor and singer was backed by the Blue Engine String Quartet and pianist Paul Simons. Above, LeJeune performs Story of Isaac.
LeJeune packs Evergreen, delivers Cohen goods

Audience awed by interpretations of songs by Canada's greatest poet

By Lawrence Powell

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

There was a packed house atop the North Mountain at Evergreen Theatre Saturday evening. A standing-room-only crowd witnessed the amazing and emotional theatrical performance of Cliff LeJeune as he delivered his heart-stopping, soul-piercing interpretations of the songs of Leonard Cohen.

First of all, let us just say that LeJeune was working with some of the best material in the world. Cohen's lyrics are considered several steps above the gold standard. So LeJeune, even if he was mediocre, was bound to please.

He did far more than that. It was an emotional ride that alternated between tears, heartache, lumps in throats, and sly and knowing smiles. And that wasn't just LeJeune, that was the audience too as they shared the beauty of Suzanne and Song of Bernadette; the pain of Joan of Arc; the spirituality of If it be Your Will; the release of Paper Thin Hotel; the anger of Everybody Knows; and the power and triumph of First We Take Manhattan.

No props. No costumes. No microphones. The only thing electric was the piano. LeJeune wore black denim jeans topped by a white, collarless shirt in the first half. After intermission he came back with a black sleeveless T-shirt. The sparseness of atire sharpened the focus on LeJeune himself whose gestures, body movement, and facial expressions became the physical manifestation of the lyrics -- the trembling lip, the twitching muscles, the outstreatched arm. LeJeune drew the audience in and didn't let go, even at intermission when he simply walked off stage -- keeping in character.

But LeJeune was painted against a background of violin, viola, cello, and piano that on its own would have stirred the hardest heart and the darkest soul. The Blue Engine String Quartet from Halifax, along with pianist Paul Simons, lifted and let go as the songs demanded, sometimes a single note from first violin Jennifer Jones seeming to hold LeJeune from falling -- collapsing from the burden of the lyrics.

Both sets were strong throughout with a clever selection of Cohen material covering a broad section of the master's early to mid career. LeJeune's voice had an edge, and his deceptively broad vocal range made the listener believe it was impossible for him to reach that next note -- but he always did.

Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, and Take This Waltz dominated the second half, but LeJeune finished with Tower of Song, a moody, lonely tribute to music itself. The standing ovation brought LeJeune back for one last expression, and this time the quartet didn't lift their instruments, rather they formed the choir for LeJeune's heart-wrenching version of Hallelujah, the Cohen song of recent k.d. lang and, most recently, Rufus Wainwright fame.

And suitably, it was his best of the night as the song built on his strengthening voice, and built on all the previous songs to complete the picture he had been painting all along -- the soul revealed in all its nakedness, its appetites exposed, its needs voiced. And then it was over. The towering LeJeune became a medium-height, slender man -- small in stature -- with his voice and his emotion tucked back into that place where all true artists hide things.

UPCOMING AT EVERGREEN

Stephanie Hardy is next up at Evergreen Theatre. The Litte Bras d'Or singer/songwriter steps into the spot light June 1 at 8 p.m. and brings with her songs from her debut album Brand New Skin. Tickets are $12.