WARNING: MUSICAL THEATER DORK ENTRY. Heroes are particular to every person.
Maybe that sounds like a no-brainer, but if you look at it realistically, one person's hero is another person's mortal enemy. Think about the person whose hero is Nelson Mandela versus Scarface. To me, a hero lives by a personal code. One that he or she has developed and refined over years, the person who is still willing to learn and question. But one who knows how to be decisive and chose quickly. Heroes make YOU think, change the way you look at life. Inspire you to be and act differently. And a lot of times, you're lucky as hell to meet one of your heroes. (Cause a lot of the time, they're dead or imaginary. I mean, Gene Kelly is a hero of mine.)
Well peeps, I got lucky. My parents have been getting a Season Membership to Broadway by the Bay ever since I started doing more theater.** And this year, BBBay featured a concert by the composer and lyricist of Wicked, Stephen Schwartz.
**I don't know if it's some sort of odd way of supporting my habit or trying to understand it. I'd like to think it's a version of one of those. Although, it makes me cringe a little when they come home from one of the shows going, "Oh, your (insert name of friend here) was soo good!" Especially since I've never done a show at BBBay. It's an Asian parent thing. Wicked is one of those rare Broadway phenoms of being absolutely %100 commercially successful. One of the few musicals that has become part of the mainstream, by, ironically focusing on the story of a heroine who is so notably NOT mainstream. And is also a beautifully rendered story; funny, sweet, life-changing and has one of the most powerful orchestrations ever. It's a doozy of a vocal workout, but has so many alchemical seminal songs - ones that demand your full artistic commitment - that when you have it, you HAVE it.
This music has changed my life.
It was the first musical that asked me for more that I thought was humanly or physically possible for myself. And it was the first musical that I HAD to do. Where I did not care about the time or dedication it would take to fully absorb all the music - I had to have it. Hours of going over the musical motifs, vowel modifications and acting choices. The only music that I go through constantly, trying to refine and the only songs that I never ever tire of singing. That give me chills whenever I hear the opening chords.
In other words, the music that made me a singer.
Stephen Schwartz gets criticized by some people in the musical conservatory community for being way to prophetic about a few of his choices. He's written such religious themed musicals such as: Children of Eden, Godspell, the LSD crapfest known as Pippin (sorry, I am SO not a fan of Pippin), the lovely but slightly ambivalent morality tale, The Baker's Wife, The Magic Show and finally, Wicked. I will not go into my love for Wicked, because that would be about 40 pages long, but the music, the musical and the story is GENIUS.
The theme of the concert yesterday, also starring: the INCREDIBLE Liz Calloway, Scott Coulter and (Tony award winning) Debbie Gravitte, was finding the new in the old. So accordingly, all of the songs were Schwartz's heavy hitters.
To me, the greatest find of the night was Scott Coulter. A sweet gorgeous tenor with a timbre pure, clear controlled top - Scott's phrasing and musicality (he also played piano at one point) seemed odd to me at first, but won me over by the end of the show. His voice paired lovingly with Calloway in a Children of Eden/Wicked medley. And during all the group members. Self-effacing and gentle, he easily stepped into making fun of himself for playing Pocahontas as he did knocking the socks off the audience. Singing the difficult love song from Enchanted, 'So Close', Coulter handled himself with aplomb. He's a nationally winning Cabaret star and justly so.
Calloway is a legend in her own right. Starting with the musical Baby and continuing to work with New York up and comers to this day (Scott Alan), her voice is as sweet and crystalline as ever, whether used on duets or singing the Chenoweth inspired yodel of 'Popular'. But it's her rendition of, 'Meadowlark' which, admittedly, Schwartz likes the best out of all the divas who have ever sung it - that blows everything else away. As the composer himself admits, the reason so many female singers are drawn to it, is that 'Meadowlark' is so many things rolled into one: full character arc, tons of acting pivot points to play, vocal pyrotechnics - it is a good test of a singer and pianist as well (it's the way I test my accompanists) since the accompaniment is a bitch to play.
Gravitte was introduced as the Tony Award winning actor, and she gave a winning version of the waitress song from Working. A true, New York broad-she also sang with Schwatz on a duet and in person was absolutely lovely. She was also given Schwartz's current anthem, "Defying Gravity" to sing and told a great story about her 11 year old and menopause. With her flowing red locks and impressive stage presence, she's perfect for a Mama Rose or Mrs. Lovett - roles I hope she gets to play soon.
And of course, there was the man himself, Stephen Schwartz. He opened the show with a beautiful rendition of, "Beautiful City" from Godspell and interspersed the show with duets and in a sweet surprise, 'Forgiveness' Embrace.' (a song I often sing for church service) He also gave a short workshop on the evolution of 'the Wizard and I' - and even in this, listening to his inflections, I found where he wanted emphasis and he definitely puts a breath before the last "good" in Wizard and I. Schwartz's voice is obviously not as refined as his stage counterparts, but he has a soul and it's true and slightly Country with a yodel when he switches to falsetto. One of Schwartz's greatest gifts is to be the Obama of musical theater. He is constantly writing about and emphasizing humanity's ability to be great, to find spirituality and faith in god. Often he does this by contrasting it with the more subversive parts of humanity, but with an understanding that it is all the same thing and it is within all of us to choose. Choose the path we take, and we can take the high road.
To close out, and here, even Schwartz sheepishly admitted he knew he was going to do an encore, he sang his version of 'For Good'. What's most important to Schwartz in this song? The "handprint on my heart" line - he sang it slightly sweeter and with a lovely smile. Inspired by his teenage daughter, this song evokes the musical's actual theme more than any of the others. It fully realizes that we will never be in the places that our lives are in today without knowing all the people we know along they way-good or bad. And what seems bad can turn out to be good. Then, all three singers came back out for a gospel stirring rendition of, "Someday" - a song that was eventually cut from 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.
Versions by Laurie Beechman can be found on YouTube.
Of course we were given the opportunity to do a quick meet and greet with the artists - for the low low price (I'm being sarcastic) of $20 a cd. Which did a pretty brisk business. One of the coolest moments of my life will be going up to Liz Calloway and asking her to sign my cd, telling her I admire her work with Scott Alan and her Swan Princess (hey, I was 14 - gimme a break) And having her look at me and go, "You're a singer, aren't you?" And then getting to meet Shwartz himself. He was visibly and vocally upset about California's recent decision on Prop 8,
quoting Melissa Etheridge's bold threat to not pay her state taxes. I didn't know what to say. I feel for all of my friends and family members who are gay and I certainly voted No on Prop 8 - but I wanted to tell this man that he changed my life and he was so upset. Then I remembered, this is what he's about. The good fight, doing what's right, the justice for others and being so concerned and heartbroken about it, that a signing session was not front in his mind. But I asked to shake his hand, and he broke out of his reverie and did it, with a firm hold and a gentle smile.
At the end of the day, that's what the world needs.
Well peeps, I got lucky. 
