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Night Walk
Jan. 3rd, 2016 04:29 pmEvery so often I look up Global TV's Night Walk. If you've never heard of this (and I hadn't, until a few years ago), Global is a Toronto-based network that in the mid-1980s became one of the first channels in Canada with a 24-hour broadcast license; which meant that they needed to fill the slot after the Late Late Show, they needed to fill their Canadian Content quota and, since they weren't expecting anyone to watch this Canadian-made filler, they needed to produce it on the cheap.
Their surprisingly-good solution was to periodically send someone out after dark to wander downtown Toronto with a steadycam, score it with a smooth jazz soundtrack and run chunks of it as needed under the title Night Walk or Night Moves. The result is sort of like a film noir where nothing happens, you just walk the streets at night while a smoky contralto (Sharon Lee Williams) sings songs composed by the producer, Michael Spivak, who had a talent for Broadway-esque solos like "I Need You Now." The music is probably what makes it work; someone described it filling them with the need to make love on a shag-pile carpet.
Night Ride was the car version.
Now I'm wondering if it would be feasible to turn it into a stage musical. The songs could probably be worked into some kind of romance plot, Ms. Williams and the musicians are probably still available, and the original show has a cult following. Of course, to get the full effect you might have to stage it at three in the morning.
Their surprisingly-good solution was to periodically send someone out after dark to wander downtown Toronto with a steadycam, score it with a smooth jazz soundtrack and run chunks of it as needed under the title Night Walk or Night Moves. The result is sort of like a film noir where nothing happens, you just walk the streets at night while a smoky contralto (Sharon Lee Williams) sings songs composed by the producer, Michael Spivak, who had a talent for Broadway-esque solos like "I Need You Now." The music is probably what makes it work; someone described it filling them with the need to make love on a shag-pile carpet.
Night Ride was the car version.
Now I'm wondering if it would be feasible to turn it into a stage musical. The songs could probably be worked into some kind of romance plot, Ms. Williams and the musicians are probably still available, and the original show has a cult following. Of course, to get the full effect you might have to stage it at three in the morning.
