Youkali Hotel

Youkali Hotel
GenreMusical drama
Written byPatricia Fogliato
David Mortin
Directed byDavid Mortin
StarringPatricia O'Callaghan
Albert Schultz
Theme music composerKurt Swinghammer
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersPatricia Fogliato
Stephen Onda
CinematographyKim Derko
EditorsDaryl K. Davis
Mike Munn
Running time47 minutes
Production companiesWestWind Pictures
Enigmatico Films
Original release
NetworkCBC Television
ReleaseDecember 4, 2003 (2003-12-04)
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Youkali Hotel is a Canadian television musical drama film, directed by David Mortin and broadcast by CBC Television in 2003.[1] The film stars Patricia O'Callaghan as Trish, a waitress at a formerly opulent but now run down hotel bar in Northern Ontario, who learns about a mysterious unsolved murder of a cabaret singer that took place at the hotel in its glory days, and begins to imagine the story with herself as the singer.[2]

The film also features musical performances by Mary Margaret O'Hara, Hawksley Workman, Kurt Swinghammer and Albert Schultz,[2] with numbers performed in the film including songs by Kurt Weill, Randy Newman, Rufus Wainwright and Elvis Costello.[1]

It was loosely based on O'Callaghan's own history of having worked as a waitress before attaining success as a singer and actress, with Youkali having been the title of her first album.[3]

Although set in Northern Ontario, it was actually filmed in the old Grant Hall hotel in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.[4] The film received a private screening for cast and crew in Moose Jaw on November 26, 2003,[4] before premiering on December 4 as an episode of CBC's Opening Night arts anthology series.[5]

  1. ^ a b Mandy Higgins, "TV special filmed here debuts in city: Youkali Hotel shot in former Grant Hall". Moose Jaw Times-Herald, November 27, 2003.
  2. ^ a b John Doyle, "A British take on Arnie's triumph". The Globe and Mail, December 4, 2003.
  3. ^ Debbie Pell, "Iroquois Falls native starring in CBC special on Thursday". Timmins Daily Press, December 3, 2003.
  4. ^ a b Joyce Walter, "All the world's a stage; Moose Jaw represented". Moose Jaw Times-Herald, November 28, 2003.
  5. ^ "Come to the cabaret on Opening Night". Telegraph-Journal, December 4, 2003.