Homeward bound

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This article was published 18/05/2024 (854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To prepare for the role of Paul Simon, Elliot Lazar had to work on his calluses.

“This is my first time playing this much guitar in a show,” says the Winnipeg-born actor, singer and co-star of the travelling Simon & Garfunkel Story.

“The music has been with me for a while, but it was a lot of drilling the guitar and (learning) Paul’s specific finger style, which is called Travis Picking.”

The Simon & Garfunkel Story is a concert-style tribute show that follows the folk-rock duo from their humble beginnings in New York to their global stardom and dramatic split in the 1970s.

The show originated in the U.K. and has been staged in 50 countries over the last decade.

Lazar, 29, has been on the road with the North American tour since January and is excited to perform in front of a hometown crowd at the Centennial Concert Hall on Tuesday. He’s particularly chuffed to have his dad in the audience.

“My dad went to law school in New York and happened to be there when they did their famous concert in Central Park,” he says, referring to the band’s free 1981 benefit concert for the park, which attracted half a million people.

“We pay homage to it in the show, so that’s a cool little connection.”

Lazar — a University of Manitoba and Boston Conservatory music grad — grew up in Garden City and has graced many local stages, including, most recently, last summer’s Rainbow Stage production of Rent.

He moved stateside to further his musical theatre career and now resides in Boston with his husband and dog — when he’s not on the road, that is.

For the last two years, Lazar was touring with a production of Fiddler on the Roof. He would be gone for months at a time with precious few weeks at home.

There are two Art Garfunkels and two Paul Simons cast in his current production, making the schedule a lot more manageable. The musical pairs trade off monthly.

“It’s nice; I can have a little more balance in my life,” he says

During his recent month off, however, Lazar was whisked away to Glasgow to fill in for one night only on the U.K. tour.

“Their Paul got really sick and lost his voice, so I flew out with less than 24 hours notice. It really felt like a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” he says of his first trip across the pond.

The Simon & Garfunkel Story has had its longest run in the U.K. and attracts many repeat customers. While the level of audience engagement ranges from place to place, Lazar was prepped for a raucous evening ahead of curtain.

“I was told by the band members ahead of time that Scottish audiences are really fun and rowdy, but also that I wouldn’t understand a word,” he says, laughing. “And it was just that.”

The show features nearly 30 songs from the multi-Grammy Award-winning band, including hits Mrs. Robinson, Cecilia and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Lazar and his Garfunkel co-star, Max Pinson, play with a live band and offer biographical details alongside archival video between songs.

“It’s a nice nostalgia trip, or if you’re from my generation, you really get a window into that world and the heyday of folk-rock singer-songwriters,” Lazar says.

While local fans shouldn’t expect cameos from any of the original musicians, Art Garfunkel did make a surprise visit to a recent show in Staten Island, N.Y.

Lazar wasn’t performing on that leg, but the 82-year-old musician joined the cast onstage and met the crew after the show.

“Before that happened, we would have said there’s no chance in a million years we’re meeting either of them. But Art came, so maybe Paul will make it one day,” Lazar says.

When the Free Press spoke with Lazar, he was in Boston preparing to reconvene with the cast and crew. It’s a lean touring outfit with 11 people bussing overnight from venue to venue.

When he rolls into Winnipeg, he’s hoping to catch up with family and see as many friends as possible.

“I’m still really connected with the theatre community in Winnipeg,” he says. “I feel like they’re my artistic community.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @evawasney