In the play, directed by Eric Coates, Johnny (J.D. Nicholsen) is dealing with a bushel-full of troubles: Things are very rocky with his wife (Rebecca Auerbach) and an old flame of hers is in town from the big city, trying to buy up land in advance of a new superhighway being built in the area. Will Johnny have to sell the farm? And will he lose his wife too?
Cultivating a long-term relationship is hard enough; keeping your marriage alive while trying to keep the family farm solvent – now that, holy cow, is a challenge worth singing about. Dear Johnny Deere is a jukebox musical by playwright Ken Cameron, based on the songs of Fred Eaglesmith, a Juno Award-winning alt-country singer/songwriter from Southern Ontario (he has a devoted fan base of Fred-Heads). Mr. Cameron, who lives in Calgary, explains that he secured permission for the project from Mr. Eaglesmith in 2010 by agreeing to the musician's one condition: "I hate theatre. I don't want to be involved in any way," Mr. Cameron recalls him saying (in a study guide for the play). "I don't want to see a script and I'll never come to a rehearsal. But you go nuts."
Three years later, Mr. Eaglesmith finally saw the show – and loved it. "I lived this play," he writes in the foreword to its publication, due out this year. Now you can live it too – or at least see it, with Dear Johnny Deere finally having its Western Canadian premiere next week at Theatre Calgary. In the play, directed by Eric Coates, Johnny (J.D. Nicholsen) is dealing with a bushel-full of troubles: Things are very rocky with his wife (Rebecca Auerbach) and an old flame of hers is in town from the big city, trying to buy up land in advance of a new superhighway being built in the area. Will Johnny have to sell the farm? And will he lose his wife too? Through songs such as White Trash, I Wanna Buy Your Truck and Time To Get A Gun, the story unfolds. It's narrated by Johnny's cantankerous local newspaperman next-door neighbour (Jeff Culbert), whose meddling ways help fuel the action – and you can bet the farm on some fertile results.
Dear Johnny Deere is at Theatre Calgary April 28 to May 31 (in previews in April; opening night is May 1; no shows May 18-25).
Marsha Lederman