Jordie Lane will play Gram Parsons in the stage production of Grievous Angel.
Grievous Angel
The production has already had a run in Canada and the East Coast of America and will now play Australia with the Australian cast.
“Being given the chance to play Gram in this production is a humbling experience. As a musician he has inspired me not just in my music but as a source of energy,” Jordie says.
Clare Reynolds will play the role of Emmylou Harris in the story.
The show gives a unique perspective into the life of Gram Parsons. The writer and director Michael Bate was the last person ever to interview Gram Parsons. “He is doing this for the right reasons,” says Jordie.
Gram Parsons was 26 years old when he died from a morphine overdose. According to a biography, the amount of drugs in his body would have killed three people.
In a bizarre twist, Gram’s friends stole his body from Los Angeles International Airport while it was being shipped back to Louisiana for burial. They drove it to Joshua Tree in a borrowed hearse and as per Gram’s wishes attempted to cremate the body by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a match inside. Ironically, as there was no law at the time against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing a coffin instead.
The site of the attempted cremation has become a shrine to Gram Parsons.
Gram Parsons was a close friend of Keith Richards. Keith once played him an early version of ‘Wild Horses’. Gram covered the song and released it before the Stones version came out on ‘Sticky Fingers’. Gram was a visitor at Keith’s house in France when the Stones were recording Exile On Main Street.
He died on September 19, 1973.
‘Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons’ will be performed at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne from July 20 to 29, 2012.
