Most people understand there's always more to a super star than meets the eye. And most people want to know what's behind the image. That's why there are tabloids, paparazzi stalking stars, and television shows all about the celebrities we love.
Now there's a multi-media show, My Father and The Man In Black, coming to the Treasure Cove show lounge May 31, offering Johnny Cash fans a whole new perspective on country music legend.
Cash, considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, had a manager, Saul Holiff, who had the foresight to collect memorabilia like gold records, photos, gifts, and even voice recordings of conversations with the Ring of Fire singer.
Now Jonathan Holiff, Saul's son and Cash's namesake, has all the collectibles in his possession and decided to make a feature-length film, offer an exhibit of memorabilia, a live tribute performance, and a question and answer period to give insight into the Cash legacy.
"Obviously, it was a very emotional experience to hear my dad's conversations with Johnny Cash," said Holiff, who grew up in Ontario. The recordings are very confessional in nature, he added.
"For me, it was an unprecedented opportunity -- one that so very few of us have -- to meet our parents before they were our parents and then after they were our parents in a way they never showed themselves to us as children," said Holiff. "So I was able to go on a journey of discovery, if you will, that was very cathartic, that ultimately led to forgiveness and reconciliation with a cold and distant father who was dead."
With no note of explanation, Saul killed himself at his home in Nanaimo, at the age of 75 in 2005.
Holiff discovered a storage locker filled with items from Saul's life as Cash's manager and those treasures are what he used to create the show he presents now.
"The movie culminates with a very long piece of tape that my father recorded," said Holiff. "Let's call it his last recording before he died at the age of 75. I call it Saul's final confession. I still get up and leave the theatre when it plays because I still find it difficult to listen to."
During the process of making the movie, Holiff said he was afraid that he wouldn't emotionally connect with the audience.
"And at times, I wasn't sure if I was making a movie about Johnny Cash, or making a movie about my father or making a movie about myself," said Holiff.
Holiff realized through the very personal nature of the questions asked during the Q&A, that he was on the right track.
"It seems that it is, in fact, a universal story that fathers and sons can relate to, mothers and daughters, and I get a lot of people either asking me to go into more detail about the personal part of the story or they themselves want to share common experiences," said Holiff, who took seven years to make the movie. "So it's been a very touching and very personal experience that is shared between me and the audience. It's the most satisfying outcome one could imagine as a film maker, to not just entertain but also to inform and touch people and get them thinking about their own family connections."
The exhibit includes three gold records, including Boy Named Sue, and a huge scrapbook ,with photos, as part of the Johnny Cash memorabilia.
Two shows take place Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets are $50 at Treasure Cove's customer service desk.
