'Secret Path' to return with 're-creation' concert telling Chanie Wenjack's story
New version incorporates original band from Gord Downie's shows, dancers and surprise guests
Gord Downie's Secret Path concert is returning to the stage as part of a live "re-creation" project.
Three years after the late Tragically Hip frontman performed his concept album at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, some of the artists who brought the story of Chanie Wenjack to life are planning an encore of sorts at the same venue Oct. 19.
The new version incorporates the original band from Downie's Secret Path shows, a cast of dancers and surprise guests who will "create a fully immersive and cultural experience that celebrates Indigenous history and commemorates the lives of Gord and Chanie."
Downie launched his Secret Path project in October 2016 after revealing he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The album recounted the story of a 12-year-old Ojibwe boy who died while trying to escape an Ontario residential school in 1966.
The project was comprised of a music album, a graphic novel by Jeff Lemire that illustrated Wenjack's life, and an animated film featuring Downie's songs.
Following its release, Downie's brother Mike launched the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund to encourage reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.