|
|
 |
« on: October 30, 2009, 09:49AM » |
|
This was the first stop on my roadtrip through the northeast. I began my day by driving my rental car out from New Hampshire to western New York state. Not the most exciting ride, but I got to see a lot of cows.
Dropping off the rental car, Mike [Mr.Peabody] picked me up at the exact time we had planned. We would be taking Mike’s Jeep the rest of the way through the tour. After checking in at our hotel, we made a quick examination of the venue and it’s environs, and also had a nice dinner at the local Applebee’s with Ralph and his sister Connie.
Set in a city block, the Landmark Theater in Syracuse NY is a very old theater which has been partially restored. It has beautiful golden-painted finery everywhere you turn, including the ceilings, walls, and doors and doorways. There is a balcony, which extends the furthest outward that I have ever seen at a theater – the balcony front row is at a diagonal about 30-40 feet from the stage edge. The stage itself is incredibly small and cannot possibly be more than 6 feet deep from the dais to the stage-edge. The theater has a pit area which was intended for an orchestra and thus was kept empty for our show. Mike and I had row A center seats at the edge of the center aisle – you can’t get better than that at this venue. Our seats were about 12 feet from the stage due to the open pit (which resembled a drained swimming pool) and I couldn’t help having fearful visions of a Mairead jump miscalculation. I will assure you now, nothing of the kind happened.
We were met at our seats by Bruce (bpea) and Lauren (lnw91)and her parents. For Lauren and her family this would be their first show, so of course I told her it would be unforgettable.
So began the show… with the eerie but beautiful strains of “The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun.” Everything else melts away as you hear the opening to the song. It became clear very quickly that there were spotlighting issues. This has happened enough that it is almost expected now, but that doesn’t make it any less irritating. But nothing can reduce my love of this song. Though it had been only slightly more than 2 weeks since my last show and those seats had been very good, I realized now how much I had missed front row. The girls notice you so much more and can interact with you. And when they smile right at you it’s… indescribable. Mike and I gave a massive standing ovation at the end off the song.
“Coast of Galicia!!” Mairead, you are soooo awesome!! This song keeps winding it’s way deeper and deeper into my heart each time I hear it. It was clear though that Mairead was not able to maneuver so easily as she might on a less cramped stage.
Maybe it’s because of the extended balcony, or something else about the venue, but there is a bit of an echo in this theater. Chloe made use of it on the high note of “When You Believe” as her voice echoed off the walls – an almost RedRocksesque effect hehe.
The crowd had it’s moments when it was participatory, but at other times… they were lackadaisical. Fortunately they joined right in with clapping on “Dulaman” even BEFORE Ray let out his first yelp. It seemed that the biggest participation was coming from the well behind us - most of the people near the front politely clapped at the ends of the songs but didn’t want to clap along or give standing ovations.
The spotlighting was an absolute joke – especially as the show went on. Alex was missed repeatedly, and Lynn almost as constantly – I felt so sorry for them. Fortunately they were properly lighted during their solo songs! But during the group numbers… ugh.
Alex, thank you so much for “True Colors.” Every time I hear it I keep welling up with tears. It’s incredible how someone can bring such life to a song.
It was during the pipe solo that I noticed something missing – the projection screen was not working! It had been working before the show started, and to me it only became conspicuous by it’s absence when the Ellis Island images did not appear. To us it was especially noticeable at the end of “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears” when all of the girls turned toward an empty screen with only the starfield lit up behind them – it must have been especially puzzling to the casual fans, who probably wondered why the girls had turned away from the audience. Strangely, during intermission, the projector showed the usual image. It must have been a problem with the individual slides, not the projector itself.
Again, I was really moved by Lisa’s “The Blessing.” I guess three years late falling in love with a song is better than never, right?
At the end of “Mo Ghile Mear,” it was a forum member-only standing ovation until the entire stage company took it’s collective bow. Oh well, they at least knew that WE were there for them.
Second act… more spotlighting issues, but… OH LYNN!! I adore “Carolina Rua” so, so much!!
Mike noticed something interesting during “At the Ceili” and told me about it after the show: Alex and Lisa had so little stage space available during Lynn’s portion that they sat down on the edges of the piano bench.
However the lighting may have been, the acoustics in this venue were excellent (as is often the case in theaters). The little speakers that they are using on this tour are outstanding, and it was never as noticeable as on “Oh America!” when the thundering crescendo produced absolutely no distortion. Their investment in excellent sound equipment has paid off handsomely.
As always I started tearing up during “You Raise Me Up” and gave a rousing standing ovation, and the same for the “Finale” and “Spanish Lady.”
It was time for the Meet & Greet – I hadn’t talked to the girls since March at Wilkes-Barre. Also just like Wilkes-Barre, this would be Chloe and Mairead, and the meet would be in the doorway of the theater itself – very unusual. Thanks to a very special and very wonderful circumstance, I got to be in this M&G group. But best of all, I got the chance to introduce Lauren to Mairead and Chloe. I would like to give special thanks to CW and to Syracuse PBS for making it possible for me to do this.
We made our way out into the night, talking all the while. All in all, a very good evening, with some of the usual magic associated with Celtic Woman.
|
