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Post by Injeanious on Apr 4, 2013 5:38:11 GMT 9.5
I love the bit where it says "he comes with a hefty price". Wonder if this is just a quick trip back to Oz or if he is coming back permanently. Fredus - is Beechworth anywhere near you? If so I bet you will be starting to save to go there.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Apr 4, 2013 6:40:20 GMT 9.5
Beechworth is just a half hour(ish, more like 45 to an hour depending, I think?) from us Inj; we head down there for day trips occasionally, cruising around stores and getting honey (if you guys go to the honey shop, you should really try their icecream. I prefer the one with macadamias ). I don't think Fred would object if a couple of you guys crashed here, as we've got two spare beds (admittedly, one's fold-up, but it's got a good metal frame), and provided that whoever does stay doesn't object to hanging around 3 cats and a dog. (And a turtle. But he's practically wallpaper.)
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Post by Fredus on Apr 6, 2013 15:59:21 GMT 9.5
What Marie-Cris said, Inj! It's close enough that we'll do a day trip just to stock up on honey, and close enough that I saw the last opera in the Alps advertised and considered going... so, yes, we'll be going. For sure. And ditto for the 'if anyone wants to crash here' thing. I know we're a bit of a drive away, so I guess anyone who goes will want to stay in Beechworth, but still, the option is there. Our house may be swarming with cats though. Particularly considering the fact that January is in kitten season, so there's good odds that there will be foster kittens swarming everywhere.
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Post by windbelle on Oct 22, 2013 4:17:02 GMT 9.5
I sooooooo wish he'd give us a concert on broadway too, but it looks that wouldn't happen. Oh well, you guys have fun. BTW, I heard he's doing a show next year in Oz, so you should be secured. I do hope he would come back to broadway in the not-so-far-away future.
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Post by Injeanious on Oct 22, 2013 6:56:59 GMT 9.5
I wondered if he was going to take over the lead in the King and I. I read somewhere recently that Teddy Tahu Rhodes was going to play the King and then someone else from overseas was taking over for (I think) the Perth and Adelaide shows.
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Post by windbelle on Oct 22, 2013 15:41:27 GMT 9.5
Yeah, I read about that too, but Anthony is definitely not someone "overseas" to you. I read somewhere that he's likely to do something by Lerner & Loewe.
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Post by Injeanious on Oct 23, 2013 11:07:46 GMT 9.5
Haha Windbelle - he's "overseas" to me because I am in New Zealand.
Wonder what it could be - perhaps My Fair Lady or Brigadoon. But My Fair Lady was on in Australia & NZ about 4/5 years ago so don't know if they would repeat it so soon. And Brigadoon - much as I love the music from that show it is probably a bit dated now. Have you got any ideas?
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Post by Marie-Cris on Dec 30, 2013 10:35:37 GMT 9.5
Scratch my previous message; the tickets are on their way! I think I'm in row T somewhere near one of the aisles. The lady said Row 21, so I'm assuming that's T ...
If anyone else is going, could you make a post in the Roll Call thread I made yesterday? I'd like to see you lot again.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Jan 17, 2014 15:19:24 GMT 9.5
A 26-minute drive and a full day stands between us and Opera in the Alps! It's going to be so awesome to see you lot again!
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Post by Marie-Cris on Jan 19, 2014 14:50:12 GMT 9.5
It's been two days, right?
Opera in the Alps Review
Having panted our way through the past several days of some 40+ Summer weather, fears of melting whilst in the audience for Opera in the Alps on the 18th of January, 2014, were well and truly high. However, as we checked BOM – that's a weather website – we found that the weather was going through a slight cool change, and that there'd even been rain predicted some days before.
It was a good start to a wonderful evening.
Stumbling across weed-covered patches of dried-out grass and dusty earth, decked in our not-too-dressed-up dresses and our blister-inducing heels ((I'm not a heel person. I don't LIKE heels. Even though the bases of mine were big and flat, it doesn't make up for the weird angle and the play of gravity)), Fred and I made our way to the “general populace” gate ((there was also a premium gate, we discovered later)), armed with 3+L water ((one 2L bottle and some 6-700ish-ml bottles)), a polaroid camera, our wallets, phones, muesli bars ((for potential snackage)) and a couple of slices we'd purchased at Beechworth Bakery some minutes beforehand. The time was somewhere around 5:30pm. We were three hours too early.
In our defence, we had a few good reasons to be early. Firstly was getting to the bakery in time to grab something before the show and, as we haven't come down to Beechworth enough to be regulars, we didn't know the opening hours ((we've taken occasions to visit, but doing so and getting food there and general shopping takes money, which we generally never have)). Secondly ((but majorly)) was parking. We didn't know what it'd be like at this venue and, fearing we'd have to do some side-of-the-road parking, we thought we'd come in a bit early to grab a premium park. There was a $2 donation to get in, going to some local Beechworth cause that I couldn't make out, as the sign was in hand-writing and got smaller the further it went on; there were gentlemen in highly-flourescent vests to direct us to the next available parking spot, and there was even a cheerful one that jumped in front of cars and directed them when to stop so that they'd be a clear distance away from the already-parked first row, which was rather nice. Thirdly was that we thought we'd be catching up with everyone for quite a while beforehand.
So … we got the latter wrong. But how was anyone to know that there would be so many unbooked rockers hopping onto the shuttles and disrupting the system, making the service half an hour later than expected?
No matter. We explored the grounds for a while, checking out food menus, listening to both the jazz band and the jr. section of the Wodonga Brass Band ((whose headquarters are just around the corner from where we live)), and politely invading one of the shaded tables where a girl sat on her lonesome, so that we could sit for a bit and eat our slices. At one point I observed the VIP pen and was glad we didn't shell out whatever fortune they did just to stand around in a pen sipping wine, eating bite-sized pieces of whatever the hell was going around and having a sit-down meal in an air-conned building ((possibly)). I suppose that sounds like a good deal, but for me, my issue would be the amount of people and the natter they made. I'm not so good with a lot of people, they drain my energy. And I'd feel far too uncomfortable being put into a tight space like that with a lot of people for the sake of being catered to.
The sun was still fairly high and had a bit of a bite left despite the day's age. Because of this – and the fact that Fred forgot to bring a hat – we retreated to the shade of one of the merchandise/ticket tends at the gate to await the arrival of our friends. Eventually a shuttle bus arrived and in came Scuffa, Unwinding, Jayco, Poppy, Josh and Nik. We all hung out under the shade for a while until they decided it was time for food and refreshments. As we'd already explored, we stayed in the shade with Scuffa and had a chat. Mostly about cats. When the group returned, it was close to the start of the show, so we decided to grab a couple of paellas and some drinks and joined Scuffa with her Beechworth Bakery … uh … thing … ((sorry, didn't see what you had)) under a shaded table. Their Paellas are good; we've had them before when they were part of the Albury Food Market; and while I liked the one I had before, and liked the seafood one I had last night, I wish I'd been able to try the chicken and rosemary. Unfortunately, so did everyone else, as that was one of the first to run out. Still, that and my generic apple juice filled me up enough to not send me into the low-blood-sugary-heap during the concert that I can sometimes turn into when I've gone a couple of hours without food.
At 8pm came the 20min call, so we made our way to our seats and waited for the scholarship procession through the audience to begin. It's not an uncommon way of introducing performers. My choir in Waikerie always did that for Carols and Secular Music concerts every year just before Christmas. I do, though, think it a bit odd to be doing it through an audience where there's multiple rows and the seating plan is flat so that the people closest to the procession stand up and block the view of all of us short-asses who can't see even if they were standing in heels … but it's not like I can change what they've rehearsed. They marched in, two by two, singing va pensiero; one of my favourites to sing around the house. I do wish I'd heard more of it as they were walking, but they didn't get to the mics on stage until after halfway through the song. What I did hear of it, they did well. They followed this with a song I'm not familiar with and one I can't find on the program. Let Us Merry Be or Let Us All Be Merry or something to that effect. There was a little bit of stage-play between the formers; a bit of waltzing, a few false arguments, and one rather convincing slap when one of the boys supposedly grabbed a girl's bottom. Whether they did the clap trick or she actually hit him, I don't know, but he made a good show of nursing the wound for a little afterwards. With Guy Noble at his orchestra's helm, the three finalists of this years' Opera Scholars Australia program ((you've got to be between 18-28 to enter, which I am, but you get pretty much kicked out at 28, which I will be next year; also, it costs $600+ just to audition and pay for if you make it through auditions)) had their solo runs. Jessica Boyd, a coloratura, sang The Bell Song from Lakme, to which I'm only partly familiar with and I think she did rather well, with a slight strain towards the end. Kiran Rajasingam, a baritone, sang Questo amour from Edgar – which I know absolutely nothing about, but damn, the boy can sing! Then Rebecca Gulinello, soprano, sang Ebben ne andro Lontana from La Wally, which I've heard once or twice but haven't had it ingrained enough to make any real judgements on how she compared to versions I've heard. There were voting sheets in out newspaper programs for the audience to vote for their favourite, and the winner would be Opera Scholar of the year, get $5000 in cash and the opportunity to learn further and grow and improve and perform and next year's show and various other things.
We … forgot to vote.
I tell you, there's nothing like hearing kids a lot younger than you being a lot more talented than you'll ever be. It made me feel small and insignificant. Oh, yes, good on them for following their dreams, I wish them the very best, but … I don't know. I went down in a selfish and bad way.
It all went out the window when he came on.
I know I've gushed many a times about him since starting this website back in 2006 … holy hell, has it really been 8 years already? Anyway, I can't help it. There's just something about him, something about his voice, the way he uses it, the way he moves on stage, the way he interacts with us afterwards … it gives me hope. It pulls down a wish and crafts it into a dream that just may be possible to achieve, even if the harsh reality is that my voice has only hit a clear note once in all of my years of classical training, and has never been strong enough to compete with the belters of musical theatre performers. It makes me believe – if but for a moment – that though my voice is small, harsh and unimpressive, maybe – just maybe – I'll be able to do something with it someday that will let me land a lead role in a show that I love, even if it's not a hot-shot national production ((that would be a bonus)).
I know it sounds stupid. I know many of you don't particularly care about that and are only reading this for one reason, but I just wanted to share for a moment how he makes me feel, because … well …
It seems apt that he opened with Pure Imagination.
What Kind of Fool Am I? followed. My only major “criticism” - really, it's not even that – is that occasionally, when he went for the higher or louder notes in any of his songs, he would sometimes push the mic a bit too far away from him. This isn't anything to boo at, it's a tricky thing to do, and if you haven't done hand-mic work for a while it can get a bit hit and miss. Anyway, the song was gorgeously done.
Miss Goodwin joined him for Bei Mannern from Die Zauberflote and honestly … I don't know this one well enough to point anything out. Yes, I've listened to Die Zauberflote a few times, as I've got an album of it amongst my many classical CDs, but … I guess I go kinda blank over this one. It's probably a very romantic piece in context, but I just can't get into this one. He then left and she sang Caro Nome from Rigoletto, which I know nothing about. If anyone who attended knows, how did she do compared to versions you've heard? Anyway, once that was over, he returned for Don Ziovanni's La Ci Darem La Mano … I really, really, REALLY wish she had been just a bit more coy and indecisive-looking at the beginning of this. Zerlina's meant to be warding off the Don, considering she's going to get married to Maesetto, until she changes her mind through the song and goes off with him. For that matter, he could've been a little bit more … domineering … but hey, it's a standing performance and not the actual opera, so I guess they can get away with it.
To finish Act I before the 40-45min interval, Warlow stood alone and soliloquised. With Soliloquy.
Har.
Bad jokes aside ((it's a number from Carousel, BTW)), I have to give him props with this number. His voice has aged much in the 20-odd years since he set this down on record for Centre Stage, as well as his mindset. I felt he better understood the words this time around and his baritone voice complimented his actions and, though I know he's done it in past concerts, I'm so, so, SO glad I got to hear this one live. The only foul-up was “give him a kiss and call it a … kiss” which we had a little bit of a giggle about during interval.
Or “ice-cream time”, as it were.
40 minutes and some ice creams later, Warlow and Goodwin – one with a red lining under his suit as opposed to the white lining in first act, and the other with a orangey-red dress as opposed to the previous black one – took to the stage for The Journey, or the Phantom of the Opera Theme. They did well, and I loved reliving the hand-movements ((did anyone else notice the gate-closing gesture, and even the NSFW hand wander?)), but … WHYYYYY?! Goodwin, why did you cheat?! I was looking forward to hearing you blast that last note. I can understand if your throat was sore or something, but we don't know these sorts of things at the time.
Then came one of Warlow's iconic pieces, MotN. I know he's done this one in at least two different concerts, not counting the many times he did it in the production. I was egging him on the whole time and loving every bit of it. He nailed “soar”. He was steadily climbing up to “be”. Everything was going so well …
And then he pushed. He cracked. It fell. He let it go; under the circumstances, that's all you can really do. And my heart leapt out to him. He went on bravely, but there was a moment where you could just see the disappointment of losing the big one. He finished strongly, and good on him! I stood up and cheered like mad, even knowing he wouldn't have seen me ((being all the way back in row A21)) and that he probably didn't hear my cheers either. I stand my decision, though, and watched him carefully as he left.
The scholars filed onto the stage for a cut and toned-down rendition of Masquerade from Phantom, with small eye masks as the only costume addition. I have to applaud the guy who had a solo ballet dance number during the musical section. There wasn't exactly a lot of room up there but he did well for what was available. Because I love this number to bits and I'm still lamenting my stolen chance of doing it in a production, my mind was very critical at the time over the lack of enthusiasm and general vocal emotion … but I suppose they did well.
The deadly duo returned for On The Edge of Time. I LOVE this piece, and I applaud them for their rendition. Warlow made quite a show of a man desiring love, but it's Warlow, he performs his pieces as close as he can to production quality as he can.
He left and Goodwin was joined by last year's Scholar of the Year, Anna Voshege, to sing one of my favourite arias, Sull'Aria from Marriage of Figaro. I kinda wish they'd taken a leaf out of Warlow's book and put a bit more acting into it, rather than Voshege's one moment of a puzzled expression, but again, standing performances often don't get acting added onto it, I've found, and they sang it beautifully, for what it was.
Swing time! I adore More, and Warlow kept it strong. So, SO happy he did this one live ((fairly sure he's done it before at a concert, particularly during the concert launch of Back in the Swing, but never when I'VE seen it!)). This led to Nobody's Baby, where he played around during the musical interlude by waltzing with himself, then rhythmically blowing in the ear of one of the violin ((I think?)) players until she started to turn, so he came back to the front laughing. The temptation to shout “We love you!” was quelled, but it took effort. Then came another of my favourites – notice how he's done a lot of them? - The Desert Song. I got a few odd looks from Fred because I was tapping along to it, but I don't care. He did cheat the last notes, but after all he went through with MotN, it was a good cheat and done seemlessly ((if you didn't know the last few notes)). Then … ah, then! He called the scholars to come back on stage to tell them ((and, subsequently, us)) a story about a man who threw it all away to become a knight to fight for the righteous. The scholars oo'ed throughout the song and he absolutely, 100% NAILED The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha, without a doubt and …
Without a Song.
See what I did there?
It's such a powerful song, and Without a Song was such a wonderful way to end his solo performances at Beechworth. There were plenty of bows before going off stage – Guy Noble even left for a moment, I think? – but then, as per the program, they returned with Goodwin in tow to finalise bows and to perform All I Ask of You from Phantom; very intimately. A soft, gentle, romantic way to send us all home.
But the story isn't over, my friends.
The orange moon that had graced the night dimmed from the force of artificial lights. The audience stood up and slowly ambled back to their cars, some stopping to talk to some of the scholars that had come out from behind the tents to catch up with friends and family.
But before all that, we snuck out. Fred and I were on our feet, running through the darkness to head towards the back area that we'd scoped out during interval. Considering how close the performer's cars were parked, we honestly didn't see us with a chance of catching him. We plunged ourselves into the darkness of the world beyond the fence line and slowly ambled towards the cars …
Only to see him in his.
Game over, right?
In our sadness of a missed opportunity, we admired the stars and the moon through the clouds and tree tops. We were slowly making a trek around when his car's lights went off, he hopped out and started heading back towards the stage. He got caught by a couple of Asian girls who chatted and started posing for photos, and we made it within eye-sight during his preparation for the photo when he turned to me and said: “Hello, you.”
It was a line he said again once the girls hurried off and he approached for a quick chat. He wasn't phased by spotting us and outright dismissed any thoughts of us being stalkers, but was saddened by the drunkard that had broken through to the backstage area at some point and grabbed him. We talked about Broadway a little, how he'd be going back to the USA soon and how he'd “burnt a disc” in his back during Broadway's Annie. He said he was meant to be keeping his feet up but needed to honour his promise to perform here, and we thanked him for doing so, encouraging to rest as soon as he could. He said he would between working on projects. I asked about his one project that I've been sitting on since 2008 and he said that he has done more of it to the point that it's in its final stages. Stupidly didn't ask if I could announce the news yet. Sorry.
As we were parting, I said something generic like “we'll see you in whatever you're in next”, or whatever, and he said yes, and mentioned his projects, which he can't talk about. I pried with Dr. Dolittle and he said no, but it wouldn't be the first time he's said no to something and it's come around, so I'm not dismissing that yet until it's actually gone. I also mentioned that a certain man was after him to do J&H and he's still adamant that he won't do the Broadway version. In bed I got to thinking about how I wish I'd told him he could use his influence to negotiate so that the show got tweaked a bit to being closer to the concept version. Ah well.
And that's about it, folks. We can speculate about what he's doing next ((a new album, mayhaps, hint hint, Sir?!)) but all we can do is wait and see.
It was a wonderful evening and I'm so glad I got to catch up with so many of you. For those I missed, I'm so sorry! Maybe we'll see each other next time.
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Post by gizelmo on Jan 19, 2014 18:29:17 GMT 9.5
Thanks for the review Mar! It was a wonderful evening and I'm sorry I missed you, although I did manage to catch a few others. I was also rather disappointed with how Julie ended the POTO theme. Maybe the heat had taken a toll. But otherwise, I thought she was great. Initially, I was rather reserved about her version of "On the edge of time", but in the end it was one of the highlights for me. And then there was 'Without a Song' indeed... I do have to have a little rant about the lady seated next to me who was repeatedly calling/video-calling someone and streaming them parts of performances. She had the volume up as well, so the person on the other line was also audible. That other person also happened to be rather chatty, so it was incredibly distracting. It was worse when it got darker, because when she tried to video-call, the light on her phone lit up so brightly. She showed some embarrassment when it happened the first time, but that didn't stop her from doing it at least another 3 or 4 times over the rest of the evening. So while it was great that the concert was held in such beautiful surrounds, I did rather miss the theatre etiquette. Despite all that, I did manage (with some effort) to focus on the performances - well, it helps when it's Anthony Warlow up on stage. Hope that he recovers soon and that he doesn't stay in the USA for too long. In any case, I'm looking forward to whatever he's doing next. No doubt it'll be brilliant, whatever he does.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Jan 19, 2014 19:35:03 GMT 9.5
That really sucks! I'm sorry you had to put up with a such an audience member. I'm glad that you got to enjoy the evening in spite of it.
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Post by Fredus on Jan 19, 2014 22:02:54 GMT 9.5
Amendments to Marie-Cris' account: - She asked what he was doing next and he said "you'll have to wait and see". - I was not giving odd looks, I was merely looking in a friendly sort of way to see if she was enjoying a song that she'd just said she loved. So nyer. - When he said we weren't stalkers... he'd said something amiable about being glad we got to saw it (or something, can't remember precisely), and I said something along the lines of "even though we're stalking you in dark alleyways?" Not that it was an alleyway, obviously, merely a track, but, still... he says we're not stalkers. Yay! - And neither of us thought of taking photos. At all. Although... no, Marie-Cris took one of empty chairs and the stage while we were killing time after first arriving, but that's it. *sigh* Pity you had crappy neighbours, Giz! That's no fun. The worst we had were some talkers behind us, but they at least did so quietly enough to not be heard over the music. And, for the record, I adored the way he sang both Soliliquy and The Impossible Dream. So much better than when he did them for his CD's! They blew me away.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Jan 20, 2014 7:20:18 GMT 9.5
- I didn't quite say what are you doing next. - It felt like it at the time. I'm sorry! - Always awesome! - I was too preoccupied with idolising to take any photos. Besides, from back in A21, the quality of both my cameras sucked. And you were right about it being far too dark when we caught up with him. I hope the photos the previous girls took with him turned out okay!
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Post by windbelle on Jan 21, 2014 12:17:10 GMT 9.5
Sounds like a really wonderful night! Thanks for the review, Mar!! I'm really glad that you've met him again. I did remember him missing one or two weeks' performances of Annie in Sept. last year, but I didn't know what happened then. I hope he's feeling better now. Wish him a quick recovery soon.
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Post by Marie-Cris on Jan 22, 2014 8:24:51 GMT 9.5
T-Towel?
Sounds like they were racing through the numbers; that makes sense. And it's nice to see he also does the knee-bend trick in rehearsals ^.^ ((Even in rehearsals he's in a suit!))
Thankfully that talking didn't go on for too long!
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