Brian Stokes Mitchell Concert at Strathmore
I just got back from the Brian Stokes Mitchell concert at Strathmore--my song-by-song review is under the cut, since I already posted (a long one too!) today. It was quite a fun concert, with lots of energy and excitement. He's a great performer! I took notes on the song list in the dark (which I was quite proud of especially when they turned out legible, despite it being completely dark in the hall), because they didn't print one in the program (which bothers me...).
1. a jazzy version of "Some Enchanted Evening"--he opened the show with this. He walked on stage and immediately started singing. It was a good, energetic upbeat way to start the show, showcasing his rich full lower register, although his high notes were a little thin/strained.
2. "The Best is Yet to Come"--another jazzy/cabaret song. He talked in-between about spring and how he loves spring, and how he's always wanted to do a concert called "Songs I wanna Sing" and tonight is that concert (it wasn't as spontaneous as he tried to make it seem, but it was still a nice little speech!) So he was gonna mix some musical theater songs, with his cabaret songs and his jazz songs. This was a jazz song--not one of my favorites.
3. "Wheels of a Dream"--one of the highlights of the evening. It's from the show "Ragtime," in which Mitchell starred, and this is one of the showstoppers from that show. Camille, who came to the concert with me, was really hoping he'd sing this song. It's a duet, but it features the male lead, and so the flute did some of the harmony, but then some parts there just wasn't the harmony. It was still really good--he has a beautiful legit theater voice. When he was introducing the song, he talked about how his co-star and the one he sang this song with was Audra McDonald, and we all immediately started applauding, with a secret hope that Audra was waiting in the wings! She wasn't, but it was still a beautiful song. Again, he sounded a little thin on the high notes (unlike the recording on the CD) but oh well. :)
4. a jazzy version of "So in Love" from "Kiss Me Kate"--this was the one that I was waiting for. After seeing the PBS broadcast of the recent revival of it (with Rachel York and Brent Barrett in London, although Mitchell starred and won the tony for the male lead on Broadway). He told this funny story about how, near the end of his run in "Ragtime," the producer for "Kiss Me Kate" called and told him how he was trying to get the rights for a show that Mitchell would be perfect for! So a couple months later, when the producer got the rights, he called up Mitchell and told him the show was "Kiss Me Kate" and Mitchell wasn't exactly ecstatic. He was all "I don't like 'Kiss Me Kate' but the producer (sorry, can't remember the name!) loves it, so what am I missing!" So he read the script over and over before realizing that it wasn't what was in the script (he called the script/book guy for the revival, who also loved the show and the script, and again Mitchell was confused about what he was missing) that was important, but what was between the lines! I was just happy because I really didn't like the show the first time I saw the movie. But seeing the PBS broadcast of the theater show made me absolutely fall in love with it! And now it's one of my favorite shows. So I was pretty much ecstatic when he started singing this song. His voice was just as smooth and rich and gorgeous as it was on the CD, although I really didn't care for the jazz orchestrations. :( I much prefer my musical theater songs straight!
5. "Love for Sale"--a disillusioned song about a prostitute, I'd guess. Usually sung by a woman, but too bad. :)
6. "How Long Has This Been Going On?"--another jazzy/cabaret song.
7. "This Nearly Was Mine"--unplugged! He sang this without a mike, and it was straight--just him and the piano, and absolutely gorgeous! It was so neat to hear it just him, not amplified with a mic and all that. He also told some fun trivia anecdotes about the original production: how South Pacific is one of the few shows where the romantic couple never sings a duet together, since apparently Mary Martin was a little intimidated or whatever about singing a duet with the opera star Ezio Pinza, so there's no duet for the characters as a couple! And the other anecdote was about Ezio Pinza's reluctance (or outright refusal) to do 8 shows a week--after all he was an opera guy, and they only do one or two shows a week. So he went home, looked through his opera scores and whatever, and came back to Rodgers & Hammerstein and told them that he'd figured it out: he will sing 14 minutes of music in the show. And so they wrote 14 minutes of music for his character, and no more! So these anecdotes are according to Brian Stokes Mitchell and I have no clue if they are true or not, but they were amusing, so I thought I'd share. :)
8. "Twisted"--a bizarre little song about an analyst being wrong and ending in a pun: the speaker knows that he's not crazy even though he has two heads because "two heads are better than one." Funny, but bizarre. :)
9. "I Was Here"--from "The Glorious Ones." I'd never heard this song before, an actor's answer to why he chooses to act, despite the hardships, and it was gorgeous. I really liked it! Now I wanna get a copy of it. :)
10. "It's Not Easy Being Green"/"Hooray for Tom" (a kid's perspective on losing the spelling bee"--this was quite fun. Mitchell is a great actor, even as he's singing these songs. It's not a concert, it's a one man show! It was so easy to believe he was a little kid, sad over losing the spelling bee but hoping one day they'd be saying "hooray for me!" The lighting was a little distracting, going all green during "It's Not Easy Being Green" (little too obvious, don't you think?). He told a funny story to intro the medley about how he had his first school dance in 7th grade and it was just awkward and horrible and no fun at all. :)
11. "New Words"--a Maury Yeston song about teaching a child, ostensibly words but really values about how to live. From "moon" to "stars" to "love" and then "sharing," and "caring" and "kindness" and all that jazz. It's a really cute song, although a little bit saccharine and heavy hitting on the "good person" bit at the end. Mitchell was kneeling and crouching down, just as if he was talking to a child--I could almost believe there was a child on stage with him!
12. Closing Medley: "The Very Thought of You"/"They Can't Take That Away From Me"/"Embraceable You"--more jazzy cabaret songs, which I don't really like, but hey, what do you do? :) During "Embraceable You" he lay face down on the stage holding hands etc with the women (older women) in the front row. It was hilarious, especially since these women were going nuts--acting just like 13 year old fan girls, and they must have been 50 at least! It was really funny. :)
13. "I'm Beginning to See the Light"--another jazzy cabaret song. Meh.
14. "Some Other Time"/"The Impossible Dream"--"Some Other Time" was another jazzy cabaret song about the "wonderful time" we've had together but how we'll catch up "some other time." I was getting antsy and hoping for another straight Broadway song by this time, when he suddenly went into "The Impossible Dream." After starring in the "Man of La Mancha" revival on Broadway a couple years ago, he could hardly help singing this song! But it was wonderful--I love his lower register, with it being so rich and full and gorgeous. The last note wasn't the strong high note "hit out of the park" as it should have been, but it was still good. And the rest of it was wonderful, so I was happy.
Overall it was a really good concert, although I think he may have been a little bit vocally tired, since his high notes didn't seem as rich and strong as they do on the CDs, and from reading other concert reviews, as he apparently is normally. And he revealed that the acoustics in Strathmore aren't that great when he sang "This Nearly Was Mine" without the mic--it sounded a little bit dead up there in the rafters. :( And I felt so silly--as soon as he mentioned the "11 o'clock" number from "South Pacific," I knew immediately which song he was referring to, but I couldn't for the life of me come up with the title. I kept thinking "You'll Never Walk Alone" which wasn't right, since that's from "Carousel!" And I could even picture the sheet music for "This Nearly Was Mine" from my piano book, but I couldn't come up with the title. It's a good thing he mentioned it or it would have driven me crazy. :) I'm really glad I got to go--it was lots of fun.
1. a jazzy version of "Some Enchanted Evening"--he opened the show with this. He walked on stage and immediately started singing. It was a good, energetic upbeat way to start the show, showcasing his rich full lower register, although his high notes were a little thin/strained.
2. "The Best is Yet to Come"--another jazzy/cabaret song. He talked in-between about spring and how he loves spring, and how he's always wanted to do a concert called "Songs I wanna Sing" and tonight is that concert (it wasn't as spontaneous as he tried to make it seem, but it was still a nice little speech!) So he was gonna mix some musical theater songs, with his cabaret songs and his jazz songs. This was a jazz song--not one of my favorites.
3. "Wheels of a Dream"--one of the highlights of the evening. It's from the show "Ragtime," in which Mitchell starred, and this is one of the showstoppers from that show. Camille, who came to the concert with me, was really hoping he'd sing this song. It's a duet, but it features the male lead, and so the flute did some of the harmony, but then some parts there just wasn't the harmony. It was still really good--he has a beautiful legit theater voice. When he was introducing the song, he talked about how his co-star and the one he sang this song with was Audra McDonald, and we all immediately started applauding, with a secret hope that Audra was waiting in the wings! She wasn't, but it was still a beautiful song. Again, he sounded a little thin on the high notes (unlike the recording on the CD) but oh well. :)
4. a jazzy version of "So in Love" from "Kiss Me Kate"--this was the one that I was waiting for. After seeing the PBS broadcast of the recent revival of it (with Rachel York and Brent Barrett in London, although Mitchell starred and won the tony for the male lead on Broadway). He told this funny story about how, near the end of his run in "Ragtime," the producer for "Kiss Me Kate" called and told him how he was trying to get the rights for a show that Mitchell would be perfect for! So a couple months later, when the producer got the rights, he called up Mitchell and told him the show was "Kiss Me Kate" and Mitchell wasn't exactly ecstatic. He was all "I don't like 'Kiss Me Kate' but the producer (sorry, can't remember the name!) loves it, so what am I missing!" So he read the script over and over before realizing that it wasn't what was in the script (he called the script/book guy for the revival, who also loved the show and the script, and again Mitchell was confused about what he was missing) that was important, but what was between the lines! I was just happy because I really didn't like the show the first time I saw the movie. But seeing the PBS broadcast of the theater show made me absolutely fall in love with it! And now it's one of my favorite shows. So I was pretty much ecstatic when he started singing this song. His voice was just as smooth and rich and gorgeous as it was on the CD, although I really didn't care for the jazz orchestrations. :( I much prefer my musical theater songs straight!
5. "Love for Sale"--a disillusioned song about a prostitute, I'd guess. Usually sung by a woman, but too bad. :)
6. "How Long Has This Been Going On?"--another jazzy/cabaret song.
7. "This Nearly Was Mine"--unplugged! He sang this without a mike, and it was straight--just him and the piano, and absolutely gorgeous! It was so neat to hear it just him, not amplified with a mic and all that. He also told some fun trivia anecdotes about the original production: how South Pacific is one of the few shows where the romantic couple never sings a duet together, since apparently Mary Martin was a little intimidated or whatever about singing a duet with the opera star Ezio Pinza, so there's no duet for the characters as a couple! And the other anecdote was about Ezio Pinza's reluctance (or outright refusal) to do 8 shows a week--after all he was an opera guy, and they only do one or two shows a week. So he went home, looked through his opera scores and whatever, and came back to Rodgers & Hammerstein and told them that he'd figured it out: he will sing 14 minutes of music in the show. And so they wrote 14 minutes of music for his character, and no more! So these anecdotes are according to Brian Stokes Mitchell and I have no clue if they are true or not, but they were amusing, so I thought I'd share. :)
8. "Twisted"--a bizarre little song about an analyst being wrong and ending in a pun: the speaker knows that he's not crazy even though he has two heads because "two heads are better than one." Funny, but bizarre. :)
9. "I Was Here"--from "The Glorious Ones." I'd never heard this song before, an actor's answer to why he chooses to act, despite the hardships, and it was gorgeous. I really liked it! Now I wanna get a copy of it. :)
10. "It's Not Easy Being Green"/"Hooray for Tom" (a kid's perspective on losing the spelling bee"--this was quite fun. Mitchell is a great actor, even as he's singing these songs. It's not a concert, it's a one man show! It was so easy to believe he was a little kid, sad over losing the spelling bee but hoping one day they'd be saying "hooray for me!" The lighting was a little distracting, going all green during "It's Not Easy Being Green" (little too obvious, don't you think?). He told a funny story to intro the medley about how he had his first school dance in 7th grade and it was just awkward and horrible and no fun at all. :)
11. "New Words"--a Maury Yeston song about teaching a child, ostensibly words but really values about how to live. From "moon" to "stars" to "love" and then "sharing," and "caring" and "kindness" and all that jazz. It's a really cute song, although a little bit saccharine and heavy hitting on the "good person" bit at the end. Mitchell was kneeling and crouching down, just as if he was talking to a child--I could almost believe there was a child on stage with him!
12. Closing Medley: "The Very Thought of You"/"They Can't Take That Away From Me"/"Embraceable You"--more jazzy cabaret songs, which I don't really like, but hey, what do you do? :) During "Embraceable You" he lay face down on the stage holding hands etc with the women (older women) in the front row. It was hilarious, especially since these women were going nuts--acting just like 13 year old fan girls, and they must have been 50 at least! It was really funny. :)
13. "I'm Beginning to See the Light"--another jazzy cabaret song. Meh.
14. "Some Other Time"/"The Impossible Dream"--"Some Other Time" was another jazzy cabaret song about the "wonderful time" we've had together but how we'll catch up "some other time." I was getting antsy and hoping for another straight Broadway song by this time, when he suddenly went into "The Impossible Dream." After starring in the "Man of La Mancha" revival on Broadway a couple years ago, he could hardly help singing this song! But it was wonderful--I love his lower register, with it being so rich and full and gorgeous. The last note wasn't the strong high note "hit out of the park" as it should have been, but it was still good. And the rest of it was wonderful, so I was happy.
Overall it was a really good concert, although I think he may have been a little bit vocally tired, since his high notes didn't seem as rich and strong as they do on the CDs, and from reading other concert reviews, as he apparently is normally. And he revealed that the acoustics in Strathmore aren't that great when he sang "This Nearly Was Mine" without the mic--it sounded a little bit dead up there in the rafters. :( And I felt so silly--as soon as he mentioned the "11 o'clock" number from "South Pacific," I knew immediately which song he was referring to, but I couldn't for the life of me come up with the title. I kept thinking "You'll Never Walk Alone" which wasn't right, since that's from "Carousel!" And I could even picture the sheet music for "This Nearly Was Mine" from my piano book, but I couldn't come up with the title. It's a good thing he mentioned it or it would have driven me crazy. :) I'm really glad I got to go--it was lots of fun.