Text and direction by David van Belle, songs by Cal Cavendish and Kris Demeanor.
Performed by Kris Demeanor, Chantal Vitalis, Dianne Kooch, and Mark Igglesden. Design by Sandi Somers. Stage Management by Danielle French.
Produced with the assistance of the Calgary Folk Festival.
80 minutes, 1M with band (small roles played by band).
A hundred records. A hundred pounds of manure. A hundred feet in the air above 9th Avenue. The story of the greatest publicity stunt in Calgary history.
It’s 1975, during Calgary’s first oil boom. Pierre Trudeau hasn’t dreamed up the National Energy Program yet, and the city’s awash with money. Everybody’s making a buck—except singer/songwriter Cal Cavendish. He’s had success—he’s put out four self-financed albums, wrote the theme for CBC Radio’s Wild Rose Country, and was even the subject of a 1973 National Film Board short, Cavendish Country. But Cal makes his living as a security guard at a K-Mart and dreams of the big time that just isn’t coming. He’s fed up.
On April 11, 1975, Cal Cavendish took matters into his own hand. He jumped into his single engine Luscombe 8A aircraft, took off illegally from the Springbank Airport, and headed for Calgary, hopping hedges and flying under power lines, on his way to carrying out the greatest publicity stunt in Calgary history.
Singer/Songwriter Kris Demeanor played Cal Cavendish in a wild 80 minute musical retelling of the story, featuring songs by Cal Cavendish and original songs by Kris Demeanor. Special appearance by the real Cal Cavendish in a post-show set.