Simon and Garfunkel made a name for themselves as an iconic folk-rock duo in the ‘60s, establishing a discography that’s spoken to every generation since. They won 10 Grammy Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Now they’ve inspired a modern story-telling tribute show, The Simon and Garfunkel Story, that stops at the Valentine Theatre on Sunday.
“Paul Simon’s songwriting is truly timeless,” said Brendan Jacob Smith, the actor who plays Art Garfunkel in the U.S. tour of The Simon and Garfunkel Story. “I think that no matter how many years go by since he’s written the songs, I feel like they stay very relevant and his lyrics are just very human and very honest.”
Matt Lentz is the director of programming and marketing at the Valentine Theatre.
“It’s more than a tribute show. It’s really what’s referenced as a book show,” he said of The Simon and Garfunkel Story. “There’s dialogue, there’s a script, and it’s kind of a historical perspective with the artists’ music.”
The Simon and Garfunkel Story follows the complicated careers of Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon, portrayed by Smith and Jonah Bobo, and uses this narrative to drive a performance that incorporates many of the duo’s hits.
“It’s basically a concert where we play the music of Simon and Garfunkel, except it is more like a traditional musical in the sense that we are telling their story,” Smith said. “It goes through their career. We play songs from different sections of what was going on. It kind of gives context to what was happening in the world when the songs came out.”
Smith has been a part of the show since the fall of 2021. His co-star, Bobo, is a childhood best friend who shares a passion for Simon and Garfunkel’s music.
“My friend Jonah and I, we used to harmonize in the stairwell of our high school together,” Smith said. “We were doing some Beach Boys, some Beatles songs, and we kind of both discovered, by looking at different two-part harmony things, Simon and Garfunkel. So ever since my freshman year of high school I had this love for this music and we learned their whole catalog.”
Both actors are able to transform into their characters after intensely studying the musicians’ clothing, hair, and demeanor on stage. Smith said he even dyed his hair to better fit the look of Garfunkel.
“I’m naturally brunette so I had to kind of put some highlights in my hair to make it look a little more blond,” Smith said. He’s also had to incorporate some “curling cream” into his hair routine, to copy Garfunkel’s look. “It’s just about studying their performance to kind of look and sound as much like them as we can.”
While he thinks that the entire show is an incredible experience, Smith said he enjoys performing the song “America” the most as it relates to his journey across the United States for his own performances.
“The lyrics are incredible every time we sing it. It talks about traveling through America and the tour kind of goes throughout North America so we’re traveling all over the country,” Smith said. “It talks about different places that Simon and Garfunkel were at, and I really like singing about that as we’re on the road seeing all these parts of the country.”
The cross-generational quality of Simon and Garfunkel’s music and honest lyrics are what make this show special, Smith said.
“I think for some people it’s kind of a nostalgia trip so it’s a trip [to] what they grew up listening to,” he said. “For other people it’s just a night of some really beautiful music, played really authentically, and giving you some context of what was going on when the songs were written.”
Lentz said he chose The Simon and Garfunkel Story for the Valentine after coming across it in New York, and seeing its success at the Stranahan Theater in 2022.
“The Simon and Garfunkel Story has a history over the last two or three years when it started, touring larger houses, and it did play at the Stranahan and did very well,” Lentz said. “Of course there are people of a certain age and [others] that appreciate music of that era, so it was kind of a perfect choice to add to the season.”
Lentz said The Simon and Garfunkel Story can cater to audiences of all different ages and backgrounds.
“People that grew up in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s and still to this day there are younger people who appreciate the contribution they made to the industry and to music in general. I think it’s a show that appeals to a wide audience demographically, from age to interest in music,” he said.
The Simon and Garfunkel Story is staged at the Valentine Theatre, 410 Adams St., Toledo, at 7 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, $79 to $89, or more information, go to valentinetheatre.com.
Coming up:
■ Human Error: through Saturday at the Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea, Mich.
■ Guys and Dolls, presented by the Epiphany Players: through Sunday at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 915 N. Reynolds Rd., Toledo.
■ Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Friday through Sunday at the Croswell Opera House, 29 E. Maumee St., Adrian.
■ All Things Equal: The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Monday at the Valentine Theatre, 410 Adams St., Toledo.
■ Peter/Wendy, presented by the Young Rep: March 24-26 at the Toledo Repertoire Theatre, 16 10th St., Toledo.
■ Now and Then: March 24 to April 2 at the Village Players Theatre, 2740 Upton Ave., Toledo.
■ Winter Rain: Six Images of Thomas Merton, presented by Actors Collaborative Toledo: March 25-26 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 316 Adams St., Toledo.
■ The Claw, presented by the Perrysburg Musical Theatre: March 30-31 at the Juliet Beck Auditorium in the Commodore Building, 140 E. Indiana Ave., Perrysburg.
■ God of Carnage: March 31 to April 2 at Monroe Community Players at the Mall of Monroe, 2121 N. Monroe St., Monroe.
■ Airness, presented by the Children's Theatre Workshop Teen Company: March 31 to April 2 at the Ohio Theatre, 3112 Lagrange St., Toledo.
■ The Pirates of Penzance, presented by the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players: April 3 at the Valentine Theatre.
■ The Lion King: April 19 to May 7 at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., Toledo.
First Published March 16, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
