Corey Payette spotlights songs from his acclaimed musicals at Closest Thing to Home, January 28
The renowned theatre artist and composer offers a stirring collection of tunes from acclaimed shows such as Children of God and Starwalker
Corey Payette. Photo by Luke Fontana
In association with Urban Ink, Raven Theatre presents Corey Payette: Closest Thing to Home at The Cultch’s Historic Theatre on January 28 at 7:30 pm
THEATRE ARTIST AND COMPOSER Corey Payette, a member of the Mattagami First Nation with French Canadian and Irish ancestry, is known for creating deeply moving musicals from Indigenous perspectives.
When Stir reviewed Payette’s production Children of God last year, we noted that his music “serves as powerful underscoring to heighten the drama throughout” the story, which offers a haunting historical account of life in the residential school system. And at the premiere of his Indigi-queer drag love story Starwalker in 2023, we called the show “as jampacked with big, showstopping songs as its main characters’ wardrobes are bursting with sequinned gowns.”
So it’s a real treat for audiences that he’s bringing a concert called Closest Thing to Home, which encompasses favourite songs from all of his musicals, to The Cultch’s Historic Theatre on January 28. At the event, presented by Raven Theatre in association with Urban Ink (of which Payette has been artistic director for over a decade), Payette, special guests, and a small chamber orchestra will perform hits from Children of God, Starwalker, Les Filles du Roi, Sedna, and even On Native Land, an up-and-coming musical that follows the intertwined stories of a lawyer, a Chief, and a singer-songwriter.
When Stir touched base with Payette before a workshop performance of On Native Land at last year’s TRANSFORM Festival, he told us that since he began his creative process for the musical in 2019, it has “grown into a layered narrative” that “explores Indigenous identity fraud by revealing how false claims disrupt legal efforts, erode community trust, and challenge personal authenticity.”
On Native Land is set to premiere at The Cultch’s York Theatre from April 8 to 19, making Closest Thing to Home the perfect opportunity to get a taste of what’s to come. 
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