Marvin Hamlisch concert 12/31/12

Marvin Hamlisch concert

I suppose people who saw this concert on TV actually saw more of it than I did.  It seems silly to review what everyone already saw on TV, so I'm just going to comment on the things I saw that weren't on TV.

One thing that might not be apparent from the video, though shouldn't be surprising for those of us who know Josh, was that Josh was the only adult vocalist not to try to join the chorus line at the end.   He just sort of came on at one point & tipped his hat.  The camera made it look like he might have been dancing, but he wasn't.  

I was up in the third tier in a box on the side.  When I asked the lady in the box office whether this seat had an obscured view, she said no.  She lied.  The only way I could see the entire stage was to stand up and lean out over the railing -- a bit nerve-wracking given how far up we were.

Audra, the hostess, was in the extreme corner of the part of the stage I could not see, so sometimes I did stand up to see her.  She sounded especially impressive to me, though, obviously, everyone did a great job.

Still, despite the obscured view, the sound was, for the most part, excellent, except for the very first solo, where I could not hear the vocalist over the orchestra for part of the song.  They seemed to get that fixed as the show went on.  I heard all of the vocalists after that.  I have to commend the sound people who figured out that something was wrong & corrected it.  I've been at concerts where they don't do that.

I thought the high notes Joshua Bell's solo were particularly beautiful.

It was somewhat interesting watching the cameramen on stage.  I suppose they weren't visible on TV.  They were quite intrusive live.  They hopped on the stage intermittently and seemed to prefer backing away from the performer of the moment.  I always thought that cameras making that type of motion needed to be on wheels to avoid jiggling about, but these guys were just carrying the cameras.  I suppose they must have known what they were about.  The cords seemed to be a huge tripping hazard.

There was a larger camera installed in the orchestra that I could see.  There might have been another one under me.  That one was truly huge.  It looked more like a canon than a camera.

I did remember to bring my binoculars to this concert.  It's interesting to me looking at the videos afterwards and comparing what I was seeing through the binoculars.  I think I got better sound quality than what you get on TV, but somehow looking down on Josh from above, even with binoculars, just does not convey his stage presence the way looking at him head on does.  For instance, that one gorgeous, sparkling smile that he flashed at the camera during the chorus line number I never saw at all.

I had been quite concerned about the temperature up there in the 3rd tier so I dressed with layers: halter top, short-sleeved sweater with coordinated long-sleeved sweater, and a second sweater that was also mid-thigh length.  I ended up in the short-sleeved sweater, never having to strip down to the halter top.  The ventilation was good, not at all stuffy.  I keep my house absolutely frigid, so I get hot easily.  I could have put on the first long-sleeved sweater, probably.

I got there early and saw Josh go in.  There were only two of us Grobies out there.    

I tried to give him a present that i had brought for him, but he said he couldn't take it at that point. 

Josh was dressed casually with glasses and was accompanied only by a security guard.  He wasn't wearing a hat or scarf, which especially surprises me, now that I learn, reading twitter, that he was ill at the time; but he was not outside long.  There were no reporters that I could see.

Then I muffed things by checking my coat & using the bathroom on the way out, so I missed him & couldn't try again to give it to him.  I felt pretty stupid about that, given that I had been planning to give him this particular present for months.  

At least I got to see Megan Hilty and maybe Audra McDonald (not sure) come out & was able to congratulate them on a great show.   I didn't even think of getting them to autograph my program. I'm too focused on Josh.   

There were no ushers at this performance, so I had to go around and hunt up a program afterwards. Looking at the program I picked up, I seem to have missed the critical insert that had the bios of the performers, anyway.

I feel like a totally incompetent fan.

My neighbors in the box could not speak English.  Some were Asian and the others seemed to be Italian.  That was interesting to me.  I guess foreign tourists are more likely to go to concerts on New Year's Eve than locals. 

It was also hard to find my seat without an usher, especially since the ticket said box 8F, but there did not seem to be any indication of "F" anywhere about, though perhaps it was redundant, merely indicating that box 8 was in front of box 10.

I did use those binoculars to scan the audience to see if I could find any of Josh's friends or family, but I did not see anyone.  This doesn't mean anything though.  First, it's hard to recognize people from the tops of their heads.  Second, about 1/3 of the audience was obscured from view, from where I was sitting.  He could have had 30 people there and I might not have noticed.

Leaving Lincoln Center, I walked back to Grand Central Station.  I started walking down Broadway, but it was barricaded starting at Columbus Circle.  Barricades kept me from walking south until I got over to Sixth Avenue.  There were people lined up trying to get through the barricades to walk to Times Square, but I think their effort was futile, as I think you have to get there 5 or 6 hours early if you want to get to see the ball drop in person.

I thought about hanging around on Sixth Avenue looking towards Times Square until midnight, but I decided not to.  I did pick up a vuvuzela horn, which I had been interested in since Josh tweeted about them in the context of soccer.