News
The Grub-Stake Revisited Spring 2013 Tour was a huge success for YFS
May 28, 2013
The Yukon Film Society is pleased to announce the success of its most recent tour of
The Grub-Stake Revisited. The innovative silent film, theatre and music production amused and awed audiences across Canada,
playing to more than a thousand people in the three shows combined.
The stellar performance at Calgary's Plaza Theatre was followed by a sold-out showing at Ottawa's 1920s deco Mayfair Theatre as part of the National Arts Centre's Northern Scene festival of performing and visual arts from Canada's 3 Territories. Named one of the top five shows to see by Ottawa Magazine,GSR attracted a line-up around the block and a standing ovation from audience members. Lastly, the riveting performance at the Toronto International Film Festival's Bell Lightbox Theatre included a lively conversation and Q&A with TIFF’s head of programmes, Jesse Wente.
Support for this tour was generously provided by Yukon Arts Fund through the Yukon Government department of Tourism and Culture, Telefilm Canada, and Air North, Yukon’s Airline.
The Yukon Film Society is now at work on a performing arts documentary hybrid of The Grub-Stake Revisited that will feature live recordings gathered during the April 29th performance at the Yukon Arts Centre. The film release will allow even more audiences to enjoy this multidisciplinary piece. The Grub-Stake Revisited is a modern take on the original 1923 Northwoods melodrama The Grub-Stake, which is set in the Klondike. The original was written by and starred Canadian silent screen iconoclast Nell Shipman. Shipman’s entertaining film pre-dates Chaplin's classic film Goldrush by two years, and was one of only a handful of Canadian feature films made in the first half of the 20th century. The story follows a gal who journeys North during the Gold Rush for love and prosperity to find that greed and villainy rule the day in Dawson City.
The Grub-Stake Revisited was the brainchild of Whitehorse-based filmmaker and composer Daniel Janke. It features a company of 11 live performers.
Musicians include Janke on piano; Jordy Walker on guitar and banjo; Andrea McColeman on marimba and percussion; violinist Jesse Zubot; and cellist Peggy Lee. The film is simultaneously accompanied by six voice-actors, with Sarah Moore in the lead role alongside some of the hottest voice talent from the Yukon: Celia McBride, Roy Ness, Eric Epstein, Aaron Janke, and Dave Haddock. The actors breathe life into the on-screen characters by performing dialogue from a script adapted from Shakespeare by Janke, Eric Epstein and Celia McBride.
The creation of
The Grub-Stake Revisited was commissioned by the Yukon Film Society to celebrate the 10th anniversary Available Light Film Festival in February 2012. Creation, development and production funding has been generously provided by Yukon Artsfund, Culture Quest Yukon and Canada Council for the Arts.
TIFF filmed the performance at the Bell Lightbox and produced a beautiful trailer/ performance document.
See it here. Thanks TIFF folks!
Press from the Tour
“An act of inspired creative repurposing, a live event that uses Shipman’s melodrama as a springboard to
something else,” Geoff Pevere,
The Globe and Mail
“More than a film, this is an event!”
Ottawa Magazine
“A wonderful opportunity to see a Canadian classic recontextualized into an exciting and imaginative new
beast,”
BlogTO
“A unique event that pairs Shipman’s original Klondike saga with a new live score,”
Toronto Star
The Grub-Stake Revisited in the
National Post