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« on: March 17, 2013, 02:47AM » |
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The usual very short sleep of Friday night was to be followed by two shows on Saturday in Boston. Since this would be a double header, I shall report things I noticed that I hadn't recalled immediately from Wallingford, and also things which differentiated the two shows.
I had gotten in so late that my sister hadn't seen me yet since I arrived in the northeast (in fact, she hadn't seen me in nine months). I walked into the kitchen in the morning and groggily said "You ever have one of those mornings where you are wake up totally refreshed from a good night's sleep? This isn't one of those." LOL I told her about the glory that was my Friday night experience, and she made me breakfast. Very soon I got picked up by Mike and Scott M and we rode about an hour down to the Boston area where we met up with Annie and Kelly. After talking at Applebee's we rode the Green Line into Boston to arrive in the historic theater district. This would be a significant day for me, since I hadn't been to a CW show in Boston since June 2007; I joked that I hadn't seen them there since "Caledonia" was in the set list... lo and behold, it was in the set list again haha!
The Wang Theater (officially the Citi Center For the Performing Arts) is one of the stately old theaters of America. Restored in 1992 to the grandeur that it knew in the days of Vaudeville, this theater is nestled in an old run down building. But when you enter, you are ushered into another world: marble everywhere you look, beautiful pillars, ceiling depictions, and ornamentation mouldings everywhere. Every crevice of this place is a story in itself. The stage is only about average height, but wide enough to handle the largest dance productions. The pit was sectioned off but had standing chairs. A dramatic balcony extended far out, but not quite as far as the one at Syracuse. The place screams of Phantom Of the Opera. When I first saw the place on the 2007 tour, I considered it the most beautiful building I had ever seen; now, having seen such amazing places as the Shea PAC, Majestic Theater, the Landmark Theater, and Fox Atlanta, the Wang still rates second only to Buffalo among the old theaters, and that's pretty good company to be in. Speaking of company, I'd be seated with Mike to my left and Moscapoet to my right for the first show, with them reversed for the second show. For the first show I had row 3 in the pit; for the night show I'd have row 5 at the back of the pit (so it can be said that I was a creature from the pit today), both shows being about halfway from the center, on the band side. This would give me a good vantage point to see the lighting better than I had the day before.
And it began: I love the slow buildup of "Awakening" much more than last year, and WOW!!! The lighting was amazing from a few rows back... Chloe asked us before "Nocturne" to go ahead and sing and clap during the songs, and that if you get into trouble for it, blame her haha... during the first "Coast of Galicia" the crowd was led to clapping by the efforts of forum people, and at the end I leaned over to Mike beside me and whispered "Best Galicia EVER!!!" but then during the night show the crowd was even more into it (again with certain cheerleaders helping) so I'd have to rate the night one even better; we gave standing O's to both just to be sure haha... love love LOVE the return of the stormy weather sound effects to the intro to "Orinoco Flow"... Mike's streak of getting Lisa Lambe to attend to him during TAR finally came to an end today, but then a streak must by definition have a beginning and an end, wouldn't you say Mike?... I sinned yesterday in not giving the recognition due "Granuaile's Dance" which Mairead brings to life so passionately; well, consider recognition given... I made sure to remember the way Lisa Lambe introduced "Danny Boy" and she said that Irish songs have love, land, loss, and hope; nor is she incorrect... well, during the afternoon session of "Mo Ghile Mear" the new choir girls actually did seem to be looking into the immediate audience, yaay!! Girls, we're down here!
The first crowd had been perhaps the most animated afternoon crowd I'd ever seen for a matinee, although it blew hot and cold being as some songs they clapped in the wrong place; the night shift had a pretty lousy first half and a much, much stronger second half. Sometimes this happens. Both crowds averaged out to being very good, and much better than the first night at Boston in 2007 that I had seen (though not perhaps up to par with the night of Chloe's birthday in '07). But in my own opinion the Wallingford crowd the night before was better, as crowds go. Lighting was about the same for both shows, namely very awesome; and sound played out quite well, with the wooden floors of the pit producing that nice Philadelphiaesque surround-sound that rises through your feet; it's incredible when it does that! During the second intermission I spent some time talking with the two ladies at the aisle edge, who had begun clapping during the first act after watching me do it; rarely have I ever felt so good about bringing my own brand of enthusiasm to the shows.
Also during the intermission of the second show, Moscapoet, Mr.Peabody, Steven, Dee, and myself were BAD boys: we went someplace we weren't supposed to inside the venue, but we wanted to see certain amazing, dazzling artwork inside the theater that is not usually able to be seen. I'll leave it at that. I guess I can finally say that Celtic Woman is contributing to the delinquency of... an adult? Well, as Mike and I made our way down the grand stairs I turned to him and said in my best Judd Nelson voice: "Feels good to be bad, eh?" LOL
Second act(s)... the brilliancy award for the year goes the whispering couple behind us in the first show, where the husband says to the wife as Anthony walks down: "That sounds like real bagpipes, I think" to which I felt like saying "Ya THINK??"... I still love everything about "She Moved Through the Faire" and I think even twice a day isn't enough of it... though I gave standing ovations in both shows to "Circle of Life", the performance and the crowd reaction in the second show was fantastic!!!!!! Lisa you are beyond amazing!... "Nil S'en La" is rocking far up the charts as one of my favorite Celtic Woman songs and I would NEVER have thought so if you said this to me just three days ago; but the changes made to this song have totally changed it and it's energizing, it's engaging, and it's fun... The standing ovation for Chloe's "Ave Maria" during the second show just overwhelmed her, but it was very well deserved; I also thought of the great old Wang Theater and the great old operatic "Ave Maria" just go together perfectly and that my grandfather may have seen a very similar performance here in the late 1920s; same place, different time... For now I'll say that Susan's performances of "The Voice" are beyond complaint, but I want to touch on something else about the song near the very end of this report... "You Raise Me Up" is emotion made of sound to me, and that was so today as I thought of my companions from my 2007 shows in Boston as Mairead began... well, the audiences in both shows ALMOST stayed standing for "Encore Finale" but that makes what we got in Wallingford with this song all the more precious to me.
Clapping for most of four complete hours in one day tends to wear you out (I hate to say it, but I hope the girls never schedule a triple feature). Before leaving for the night we were noticed and called to by Bubba, and talked to him for a moment. After the first show we made our way to the local food court: the very same one I had gone to with Mel back in '07. After the night show we headed out near the back to wave to the cast as they went to their buses. Even standing well off to the side, Ewan and Dermot both came over to talk with us... Dermot gave us hugs! He is such a friendly young man. Later, Chloe, Mairead, and Lisa came out the stage door; I myself got a quick goodbye hug from Lisa, and I told her I'd see her tomorrow of course. I did wave and got waves back from Chloe and Mairead as well. Very nice.
Our group gradually dwindled with the distance until Moscapoet, Mike and I went to Denny's for a late dinner before they dropped me back off at my sister's... but now to one piece of unfinished business.
During the afternoon show, when Susan began "The Voice" it finally occurred to me why this song HAD to be included in this show, and tears flooded down my face, though I kept this to myself until I could articulate it into writing. Consider these sample lyrics: "I am the voice of your history/Be not afraid, come follow me/Answer my call, and I'll set you free" and "Ne'er do I sleep thoughout all the cold winter long/I am the force that in springtime will grow." I know you've heard these lyrics before, but think about them for a minute. What are they telling us? It can be described with one word: BELIEVE. It is wonderful that we discuss all of the who's and how's of this song, but in the end the WHY of this song is clear to me; and this song, as much as any, is truly the anthem of what the Believe show is, and always will be. Susan McFadden and David Downes, thank you both; that standing ovation this afternoon for "The Voice" wasn't just for the performance. It was also because I was blind, but now I see.
It's late, or rather early, and I need to get at least a little sleep with a massive, monumental show coming up, the biggest day of the Celtic Woman year happening for the first time ever in my old home state. Since it's now March 17th I can now say it: Happy St.Patrick's Day, everyone.
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