RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE MOVIE

When internationally renowned landscape painter Ed Mell agrees to translate Grey’s iconic canyons into scenery for the artistic realm of Puccini and Mozart, this unlikely grand opera of the Old West accelerates toward its world premiere.įrom the windswept locations on the Arizona Strip and the Navajo Nation where Zane Grey first drew inspiration to backstage at Phoenix Symphony Hall, where voices, scores and story are meticulously aligned, RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE: THE MAKING OF A WESTERN OPERA traces the metamorphosis of making a great story stand up and sing.ĭirected by Kristin Atwell Ford. What began as a friendly artistic challenge between a composer and his lyricist becomes a creative posse of performers and artisans working together for a monumental goal. There, amidst posters from Grey-inspired Hollywood Westerns, Bohmler finds the same excitement readers felt years earlier - but with one compelling difference: in Riders’ romantic scale, violence and untamed landscape he saw the dimensions of an opera. With its themes of frontier justice, spiritual purity, and self-reliance it is the origin story of the Western genre.Ī century later, in Payson, Arizona, classically-trained composer Craig Bohmler dives into the Zane Grey Museum during a rainstorm. Riders created the archetype of the lone gunman. Readers in cities around the world were captivated by Grey’s descriptions of open skies and sprawling canyons, and characters struggling to survive in a vast and beautiful landscape. Zane Grey’s tale of a devout rancher being harassed into marriage by her churchmen and the mysterious gunslinger who empowers her flew off bookshelves in the early 20th Century. RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE: THE MAKING OF A WESTERN OPERA follows Zane Grey’s classic Western dime-store novel as it is reborn onstage in fully orchestrated glory. If you dig the classic boogie numbers, they've got you covered with a danceable take on Ray Charles' 'I Don't Need No Doctor' as well as a hip-shaking take on Robert Hunter's 'Kick In the Head.America’s cowboy culture and opera's hallowed traditions converge in a story that celebrates a timeless legend and the collaborative power of art. Songs like the harmonious 'I Don't Know You' and of course the Riders' reefer-themed hit 'Panama Red' prove that the band was much more than Northern California's answer to the Burritos.

And the live version of 'She's No Angel' boasts some lightning-fast picking that almost rivals the skills of the late, great Sneaky Pete Kleinow from the Flying Burrito Brothers. But the good news is that this updated compilation comes with five awesome bonus tracks, the best of which includes an alternate version of 'Linda' with a psychedelic pedal steel. The bad news is that for some reason, the epically funny (and catchy as hell) 'Lonesome L.A. Riders of the Purple Sage is the story of Jane Withersteen, a Mormon woman who runs a large cattle ranch she inherited, and Jim Lassister, the gunman who.

RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE MOVIE

For the more dedicated disciples of New Riders, we have some good news and some bad news. Riders of the Purple Sage Photos View all photos Movie Info Betrayal forces a woman (Amy Madigan) struggling to run her Old West ranch to turn to a mysterious drifter (Ed Harris). film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by David Weisberg and Douglas S. For the curious country rocker or the casual fan, The Best of New Riders of the Purple Sage delivers on its title.

Riders of the purple sage