Gordon Lightfoot Forums - Behind the Bohemian Embassy

Tonight on BRAVO (canada) at 9 till 11 p.m.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Behind...28321293868685

http://behindthebohemianembassy.com

Starring:Margaret Atwood, Mark Breslin, Jackie Burroughs, John Robert Colombo, Joanne Crabtree, Don Cullen, David French, Greg Gatenby, Paulette Kirkey, Dennis Lee, Gordon Lightfoot, Gwendolyn MacEwen, George Miller, Bram Morrison (continued in plot outline below)Screenplay By:Christopher Valley BanDirected By:Christopher Valley BanProduced By:Christopher Valley Ban & Gaby AndraosAwards:Bohemians of the World Cultural PrizePlot Outline:Amy Pitt, Robert Priest, Chick Roberts, Sylvia Tyson and Nancy White

88 minutes / Colour and Black and White/ HDCAM

The Bohemian Embassy was the funniest and most irreverent venue for launching a career as a performer in Canada.

Tracing the phenomenal rise, fall, and lasting influence of this sometimes infamous, now legendary, 1960s avant-garde Toronto coffee house, Behind the Bohemian Embassy is an original, inspiring and humorous feature length documentary.

For a generation of songwriters, poets, dramatists and comics this was the place to test their mettle. Many legends hung out and performed there, including folk singer Gordon Lightfoot, poet Margaret Atwood, playwright David French, and comic Lorne Michaels.

Canada’s most promising English speaking talent was nurtured under its roof, first at 7 St. Nicholas Street (1960-66), then at Rochdale College (1970), Harbourfront (1974-76) and Queen Street (1991-92).

“When we started out there were very few opportunities for our talent,” said Don Cullen its impresario. “We wanted to create a nurturing environment where they could stay in Canada if they chose to and eventually did. As late as the 1980s Canadians did not accept their homegrown talent, it took time for this idea to evolve and the opportunities to present themselves.”

Behind the Bohemian Embassy is a tribute to Canada’s wordiest landmark.