Wicked Part 1

 My son and I saw this in a laser theater.  Now, I feel like I should see the regular version to compare -- except I didn't really enjoy it enough to see it again right away.  I can't say for sure how the picture might have differed from regular movies, but there was certainly nothing wrong with it.  

It was interesting looking up in the projector booth and seeing that the image was coming from a rectangular source, where something similar to the image on the screen was visible on the source.

This was the 8pm show.  The theater was more than half full, I think, which was encouraging.  I do like going to movie theaters.  The three that were closest to my house have closed, which I find very discouraging, tho one has reopened under new management.

I had read that there was a lot of singing in the audience in some theaters.  This one had an up front announcement not to sing -- and no one did that I could hear.

The instrumental music, unfortunately, seemed anemic to me.  At home, I have a big woofer on my computer right over my head and I'm used to hearing more bass.  I missed that sense of depth.

The great news was Cynthia Erivo. She is such a fabulous performer!  She really drew me in with her portrayal of the bullied Elphaba.  I should say that I have *not* seen the original musical on stage.  I might the only person in NYC who hasn't.  Still, I have heard Edina Menzel sing. I'm not a big Menzel fan. I'm glad I saw Erivo first.  Here's a short YouTube video about Erivo being cast

I think these people are supposed to be high school or maybe college students.  The performers all look considerably older.  You have to suspend your disbelief.  Jonathan Bailey (Fyero) is really 36 according to google. You can see a few wrinkles starting to form in his face -- definitely not a young student -- lovely voice, tho, and suitably sweet and high for a very young man -- also very attractive.  Erivo is 37.  There's no way either of them comes off as high school or college.

The special effects were excellent -- totally believable -- loved them.  I also enjoyed the sets and costumes.

They didn't use little people for the Munchkins, I noticed.  I'm still back in the old Wizard of Oz.  Little people would have been a nice touch, I think.  I did like the costumes and hairstyles of the Munchkins tho.

This tries to be a prequel to the Wizard of Oz.  I have never read the Frank Baum sequels, tho. This might be consistent with the original movie as a prequel -- but I wonder it it fits in with the other Baum novels.

My son was frustrated that this was only part  1.  He wondered how they were going to take a 2 hour play and make it into a 4 hour movie.  He had seen the original somehow, even though I hadn't.  He was annoyed by the parts that were added to make it longer.  I, obviously, couldn't tell the difference, not having seen the original.

I was surprised at what a high voice Ariana Grande has.  I haven't listened to her much -- but she can really do those very high notes. She often sounds more like a classical singer than a pop singer in this, which surprised me -- as I had taken her for a pop singer.  She does a good job as the affected, rich, stuck up, mean girl, Galinda.  I'm not sure it's entirely believable when she decides to be nice to Elphaba.  She just suddenly starts feeling sorry for her.  

I saw a youtube video about the filming of the library scene.  That was quite a magnificent scene, which required a lot of work.  They pointed out in the video that this scene was filmed on a stage. 

The sets were very striking and beautiful.  I came to believe that it was all filmed indoors, but in fact no.  Here's a video about the sets.  I'm just watching this now. Turns out that at least the flower fields were in fact outdoors

I guess people know that there was a wonderful tribute cameo by Menzel & Chenoweth.  Here's a nice vido about that

As usual, I might come back and edit this.  

@fylfoundation benefit with @joshgroban 241029

This event was held in the Appel Room, which is on the 5th & 6th floors of 10 Columbus Circle, above an upscale shopping mall.  I like this mall because it's one of the reliable places to find an attractive restroom during business hours -- something that's not obvious in the city.

When I got to the room, I realized that I had been there before.  It used to be called the Allen Room.  Josh performed there once before -- I think in 2012.  That performance was amazing and was shown via simulcast in movie theatres throughout the country.

Google AI says that room seats between 410 and 900 people.  I would say it was configured on the low end for this event, because there were tables near the stage.  Presumably the tables were the more expensive seats.

The room features a huge window behind the stage overlooking central park and the Manhattan skyline.  It's a very beautiful venue.

Even tho the room is not that large, I made heavy use of binoculars, because I was in the back row.  I like to sit in the back row because I'm a germaphobe and I don't want people breathing on me.  

To get the commemorative program you had to give your credit card and get an auction paddle.  You didn't actually have to pay, so I figured that I would do this, thinking I wouldn't participate in the auction.

I only bought this ticket about a week or two before the event.  At that time, there were still a lot of seats available, which worried me.  By the time I got there, it was pretty much full.  I wonder what changed.

There was no announcement not to take pictures or record.  There were people recording I think.  I did not.  I was probably the only person taking notes.  Probably you can see some of these performances later on social media

The event opened with a film by Chris Groban, about the mission of FYL.

Then Josh performed the first number: Granted, playing the piano.  He had a large band behind him, including 2 backup singers, a pianist, a guitar, 3 percussionists.  

Josh's voice sounded great.  Those of you who have followed this blog might remember that I haven't always thought he sounded so great -- but he's gotten the kinks out

One of the groups that FYL helps is "Broadway Bound Kids."  They sang chorus on Granted and then later did a number of their own

Natalie Tennenbaum, pianist, played variations on Thriller.  Instagram video This was the type of music that originally brought me to Josh -- cross between pop and modern classical.  I really loved this piece.  I wish Josh would get back to that type of music.  She was introduced as the musical director for the performance.  That was a bit strange for me, because it's usually Tariqh Akoni, but he was not at this performance -- nor was Mark Stephens, who is usually on piano in Josh's band.  It felt like an all new band. 

Lin Manuel Miranda did not perform.  He just gave a short speech and introduced SAY -- a group for young stutterers.  They had a group of four of them come on stage and tell their story.  I gather that one of the ways that they get confidence is that various artists/performers come in and work with them, so it's not exactly about them performing.  It's the arts as a strengthening of the person, which Josh often talks about.

India Carney, who mostly sang backup, got a solo of  "A million dreams" --rich alto voice. Here she is on instagram link.

  

Joanna “JoJo” Levesque sang a song.  Unfortunately, I recognized neither her nor the song, tho I see that she has 2.8 million followers on Instagram link. I did hear a repeated lyric of "Through the Fire," so maybe that was the title of the song? Both Levesque and Carney were heavy on the melisma, which isn't really my thing. 

Then Matthew Whitaker, a blind jazz pianist, played a loud rollicking number.  I'm not sure why but it sort of reminded me of the music from the Peanuts movies.  He was a fun performer.

Josh came back to introduce Misty Copeland, who was identified as the  1st African American prima ballerina at the American Ballet Theater. She is one of those fairly light skinned people who I wouldn't necessarily have identified as "African American" if she hadn't said so.   She didn't actually dance, tho.  She introduced a group of  young dancers from one of the organizations that Find Your Light Supports.  They danced. 

Josh sang Somewhere over the Rainbow, while Whitacre played the piano and the kids danced.  They looked very competent to me -- tho I felt the stage was too small for good dancing.  There were two boys and two girls.  The dance was unusual because sometimes the boys got lifted by the other dancers -- not just the girls.  I think the dance was a ballet, as the dancers pointed their feet a lot -- tho it might have been modern dance.  I'm not sure. Here's a link to MOVE NYC on Instagram. Also this post on X has a photo of the 4 dancers 

Then arrived Harry Santa Olalla, who is apparently a famous auctioneer.  He was a very peppy guy who was able to do a "God Voice" and warm up the room.  He started out with a a reverse auction of nothing.  He just asked who would agree to pay $50k.  After several donations at that level, he asked how many would pay $25k.  He gradually lowered it until he got to $500.  Josh said he would match any $500 donations, and said "ouch" after anyone raised their paddle, which was rather funny.  At that point, I did raise my paddle, which I hadn't expected to -- but Josh really has sold me on the importance of arts education.

I went into that show really depressed, because I am very afraid that Trump is going to win the election -- but by the time we got to the auction I cheered up at the thought of all these kids whose lives have been transformed by arts education, so I got willing to donate.  The ticket was $250, so the contribution brought me up to $750, which is a lot of money for me, but I hope it's going to a good cause.  I went to the restroom during the auction.  I didn't have any trouble getting back in, which has been an issue during the prior concert at the "Allen Room," mostly, I guess, because that was simulcast.

Then they Auctioned off a painting of the statue of Liberty, which an artist made upside down while Josh was singing at Madison Square Garden.  Here's a video. 

During this auction, Joseph threw in his razor prop from his performance on Broadway from Sweeney Todd.  Here I felt he made a strategic error. I think he would have gotten more for the razor on its own.  The razor was much smaller, and therefore more attractive as a souvenir.  Also the razor would have appealed to a different audience from the painting.  I suppose this was likely due to Josh's perennial lack of confidence in his own work,  valuing the painting more than the razor, while I suspect many people there would have valued the razor more than the painting.

  

After the auction, the Broadway Bound Kids performed a song, but I didn't write down the title

The next speaker was Chasten Buttigieg, advocate, teacher, and Broadway aspirant. This is Pete Buttigieg's husband.  He talked about his history of having a theater degree and what his arts education brought him, even though he's not now working as an actor.  He also introduced Sara Bareilles.

I see that Sara has less followers on Instagram than JoJo Levesque.  That's a pity, because I really like Sara.  She's one of the few people who Josh has chosen to duet with who I think really sounds good with him.  I feel that their voices and their talents are well-matched.  Josh has a tendency to think that he can duet with anyone, which isn't quite right.  Quite often he chooses altos whose voices aren't well distinguishable from his when they duet.  Then, also, his voice is so loud and the audio engineers often don't compensate for that, so you can't hear the woman -- or even sometimes the men.  I remember he once performed with Leslie Odom, Jr, who tends to sing quietly and 

I think that the song that Bareilles sang solo was  "I wanna see you be brave."

Then Sara and Josh did a duet of "Both Sides Now."

Then surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States, was given an award for Arts in Healing.  He also gave a speech.  I have seen him on TV before, but I had no clue what an excellen speaker he is.  He talked quite movingly about the role of the arts in his life and his children's lives.  He really is an outstanding speaker.

It turns out that he plays an Indian drum in a South Indian classical music style.  I think the drum is called a mridangam.  He took off his shoes and knelt on the floor to play this instrument, which was an odd thing to see for a distinguished surgeon general.  He joked that Josh might have made an error in judgment having him play, but it sounded like he played quite well.  Later Josh said he wanted to learn to play like that.

He accompanied Josh and the band in "Peace Train," which was really a wonderful rendition, with *four* percussionists.  Josh didn't sing on this one.  Vuyo Sotashe did.  He sang very beautifully.

Vivek & Josh talked about hitting it off -- "brother from another mother," was what they said -- that they felt like brothers.  In a way, I feel they do have similar personalities, at least in the way they present themselves.

Then they had Angel Blue, introduce Renée Fleming, another honoree.  Blue is an opera singer, currently at the Met, who did a Puccini aria.  I didn't get the title.  I often don't like opera singers, but she was very impressive.  She sang without a mic and seemingly effortlessly filled the hall with her voice. Josh said that she was in his high school class, which was an impressive fact.

Renée Fleming got a Find Your Light award.  She was a lot thinner than I remembered her.  She sang a duet of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" with Josh. The last time I heard her sign with Josh, she sang as an operatic lyric soprano style.  This time was more of an alto belt, but they sounded good together.

The finale was "Bridge over Troubled Water," with Josh singing and all the kids as chorus, along with the band and professional backup singers. 

As usual, I may modify this blog later.  I found my program and realize I have the names of all the kids who performed, tho strangely not the name of the soloist from "Peace Train," who may have been substituted at the last minute due to the illness of other performers.

I never found out if any other Grobanites were gathering for dinner before the show. I probably missed an important socialization opportunity.

Everett Bradley was there performing.  I forgot to write down what he was known for. Maybe he works with Broadway Bound Kids? I think so.  He was doing percussion, but there were 2 others as well.

They announced the total take for the event at the end.  I think they said $1.37 million.  Plus they said some donor had paid for the entire event, so that the amounts collected at the event would all go to @FYLFoundation.  I forgot the name of the donor.

The event ended well after 10.  I gather it ran over.  It wasn't supposed to be more than 90 minutes -- but I didn't feel bored.  The people next to me left early.  I wonder if they paid full price for their tickets.  I certainly wasn't going to leave early.

I took a couple of pix.  First we have the techies and their console.

Here is Matthew Whitaker on stage with part of the band.  Behind him is Natalie Tenenbaum, whose performance I liked so much. I didn't get the whole stage or the view out the massive windows.  

I just found the names of the band in the smaller program:  India Carney (vocals); Vuyo Sotashe (vocals); Justin Goldner (Guitar); Alex Echkart (bass); Shawn Pelton (drums -- but I thought I saw 3 percussionists, confused)  

Probably I should have taken more pix.  I felt shy about doing that since most venues don't allow it, but they didn't say not to in fact.

I found the names of the kids, too.  I wonder if I should put them here.

Here's a nice video from Instagram with brief clips of a lot of what I discussed here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Find Your Light Foundation (@fylfoundation)

I just listened to a Facebook video from this concert.  https://www.facebook.com/share/r/QE95xwU3zZ4kTqom/?mibextid=UalRPS

Josh absolutely does not sound the same on this video as he did in person.  I'm realizing that he's a victim of the same phenomenon that many sopranos suffer from: high frequency clipping.  His high harmonics are cut off.

I guess all the times before when I thought something was wrong with his voice it might really have been the recording equipment. 

@joshgroban & @ItsBMcKnight

 then

now (granted with worse sound quality)

It's interesting to hear how both men's voices have evolved over the years.

I would say that they're both louder and both have a more operatic sound, more vibrato, less reediness. 

@tonyann @lprnyc May 23, 2024

 Just in case you haven't yet heard of Tony Ann, here's a recent video

I found out about him on Instagram.  One of his videos was suggested to me and I was hooked. Actually, a lot of his compositions sound similar to each other, but I like listening to them all anyway.  

Let me just say a few warnings about this venue.  

1. It's super dark.  I couldn't read the menu without my cell phone flashlight.  (People at tables were required to order food) 

2.The salted almond appetizer was *way* too salty

3. I sat near the stage, but they were making artificial fog, which I now know makes me feel ill.  I had sort of thought that this concert was going to be my first crowded indoor even with no mask.  I ended up putting on the mask because of the artificial fog on stage.  I felt much better with the mask on.

4. The air conditioner was kind of hyperactive, which was good in terms of the artificial fog getting into the audience, but it was also pretty chilly.  

 5. The start time they tell you is one hour before the concert 

6. The bathrooms are all gender and the men don't necessarily close the stall doors when they pee, which strikes me as rude.

A friend later told me that this venue used to be called The Village Gate.  

If you sit at a table there is a required minimum order.  I knew that going in, so I wasn't surprised.

Tony was booked for 2 concerts that night, and they had to leave time for seating & ordering food before the concert; and buying albums and song books and getting autographs and selfies.  They allowed 3 hours for the early concert, but that really only allowed for about an hour of actual concert -- and Tony tried to chat between songs, so really there wasn't much playing.  There is supposed to be a concert at the Town Hall theatre in October, so, hopefully, that will be a full show, as that is a Broadway Theatre.

Tony didn't really have too much worked out to say.  People shouted questions at him.  I turns out that he doesn't like personal questions.  You might want to ask him professional questions, if you get a chance.

He did answer that he's from Toronto and is not married, but he never did tell us the answer to the question of what his ethnicity is.  He is clearly of Asian extraction, but more than that I do not know.  He is fairly tall.

He could use some joke telling training, but that might not fit in with his improv mentality.

He did tell us that he took up piano because he wanted to be a composer.  

He also told us that he improvises most of the pieces that we see on Instagram.  That possibly explains why they end without a formal ending.  That's been one of the things that I find curious about his music. There isn't a final chord at the end or ending sequence.  It just stops abruptly or fades out, for most of the pieces.  

The ending sequence that we're used to is just a convention, really.  There isn't a real reason why a piece can't just stop abruptly, but I'm not used to it.

He doesn't like to describe himself as particularly talented.  He just thinks that he worked very hard and practiced a lot -- tho I feel that that level of focus is a kind of talent in and of itself.  I personally don't have that kind of focus, to be able to master something to the point that I  would be able to truly excel at it.

He said he's going to be adding more instruments to an upcoming piece.  It will be interesting to hear that, tho it may obscure his extraordinary piano playing.

@officialdfoster and @katharinemcphee in Staten Island

The voyage to the St. George Theater in Staten Island was pretty long for me, coming from Westchester.  I chose to go on public transportation, because I otherwise would have been driving down there during rush hour and that might make things difficult from a restroom point of view.  Also, I wanted to ride the Staten Island Ferry, which I have not been on for many years.

The weather was good for a ferry ride.  It was neither hot nor cold and the water was quite calm.  

Everybody else looks so young on public transportation these days.  Maybe older people like me aren't back on yet.

The St George is a very beautiful historical theater, with ornate decorations.  It's a very short walk from the ferry, though a shopping mall and a park and then one more block.

The Fosters were good, tho the repartee sounded tenser than it used to. I hope their marriage is ok. They did mention that Dave was on oxy for back pain, though, and they had both just gotten over a virus, so that might have affected their mood.

I like to sit in the back row of the upper balcony, so no one is breathing on me. Unfortunately this meant that the video material they were showing was partially blocked with scaffolding. They showed an interesting video of the history of the artists that David worked with. I couldn’t see all the faces, though I recognized some anyway.

They had their three year old son, Rennie, out there playing drums briefly. He’s obviously taking after his dad who was playing with adult orchestras at age six. 

They also had Daniel Emmett singing, and some audience members.  Originally, Dave said he would have 2 audience members sing.  He ended up letting 2 more sing.  They were all 4 really good.  Kat said it made her nervous that there were so many good singers, but it was New York after all. One of the women was only 18.  Dave told her she was going to be singing on Broadway.

The concert was supposed to end at 9:30, but they got out closer to 10, maybe because more audience members sang.  Some of the audience members said that they were going to sing a capella, but the band was always able to pick up and join in.

There were three eminent band members whose history they also discussed and played excerpts from. We often don’t get to hear about studio musicians who are typically amazing.  Unfortunately, I didn't write down the names of these band members. They had a bass, a drummer, and a synthesist. 

I'm searching around the internet to find the names of the other performers.  I think the bassist was Keith Nelson.  The drummer was JR Robinson, who bills himself as Michael's drummer.  I'm still searching around to find the keyboard/synth player, who was very impressive filling in orchestral sounds.  

Daniel Emmett was on AGT, I think.  He was introduced as a new Josh Groban.  I would say Emmett has a wonderful voice, but he's not Josh Groban.  Josh has a fabulous ability to convey emotion with his voice, in addition to having a beautiful voice.  Emmett is good at conveying emotion, too, but he's just not Josh Groban.  

Dave has said before that he's tried to find another Josh Groban, but hasn't.  I still don't think he has, but Emmett is worth listening to nevertheless. 

It was a good show, overall. I think Dave was discouraged that it wasn’t a bigger venue and wasn’t full, tho he didn’t say so. He likes to be a hit, though he’s always used famous singers as foils, disguising his role behind the scenes, because his singing isn’t so great, though it’s definitely improving.

I was impressed that his Russian counterpart, Igor Krutoy, is actually a wonderful, emotive singer as well.  I think Dave might be getting there.  It sounded to me like his voice was resonating more than it used to.

Kat sounded fabulous.  They said she had been singing through a cold on that tour, which made me nervous.  I once read a story about Placido Domingo's father damaging his voice singing through a cold.   

In several cases, they played songs that had lost, rather than won.  They did the number where they were kicked off Masked Singer, which Dave blamed Kat for, which I didn't like so much.  It didn't sound like he was joking around. They played a song that had lost for an Oscar to a song from Top Gun.  Dave blamed the casting of the movies for the fates of the songs, so he showed scenes from Top Gun during his song, to try to illustrate how his song might have won with a better movie.  He said his music had been nominated for Oscars 3 times and had always lost.  That's ok.  He has plenty of Grammys.