24 September 2022 Symphony Saturday

[KathyB]

I just got back from the symphony, who, together with guest artist/conductor Mary-Mitchell Campbell presented A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim. It was the first time I've been to the symphony in at least ten years. I used to go quite a bit. It used to be a lot less expensive.   It was a good show with some excellent guest performers and a full choir. What resonated with me was Ms. Campbell saying she was a "Sondheim nerd" right at the beginning. I can definitely relate to that. The show was a mix of better-known and lesser-known songs. I will post a fuller review after I get some sleep. Goodnight.

[KathyB]

A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim

With Mary-Mitchell Campbell and the Colorado Symphony

September 24, 2022

It was a beautiful evening to go to the symphony. It was warm enough to not require a jacket, but not hot. People were wearing everything from a formal gown to shorts. My seat was horrible. It had a cut-off view of the orchestra, and I saw mostly the backs of the singers and the pianist. Next time I will spring for a little more money to sit in a slightly better seat--at least one where I can see the entire orchestra. The concert hall is in the round, so I knew that there was a chance I'd see backs, and only one of the singers (Jeff Kready) seemed to acknowledge that there were people sitting all around, and not just in the front. Normally it doesn't matter to me where I sit when hearing the symphony--the sound is always good from wherever, and in fact, my favorite seats are the ones right behind the orchestra, but those weren't available for this show, because the chorus was in those seats.

The highlight of the show was the two youth vocalists, who were only 16 and 15 and who each sang Sondheim like a pro. Seriously, they were both amazing, with incredible composure. Both did songs from Into the Woods. Eliza Neff sang "On the Steps of the Palace" in the first half and Jayden Greicius sang "Stay with Me" in the second half.

The show opened with "Comedy Tonight" performed by the three guest vocalists (Jeff Kready, mentioned earlier, Elizabeth Stanley and Lindsay Roberts), the orchestra and the Colorado Symphony Chorus. It was after this number that Ms. Campbell mentioned being a Sondheim nerd, and she proved it by picking two songs from Saturday Night as the next two numbers performed, both by Lindsay Roberts (whose day job is being in the current company of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway; apparently she used her vacation time to come here and perform). Elizabeth Stanley then sang a beautiful "Miller's Son." Then came "On the Steps of the Palace", and Eliza Neff just blew me away, as mentioned earlier.

Then Ms. Campbell took the opportunity to show what happened in the evolution of Company by performing the four different closing numbers that the show went through. She was on the piano accompanying Kready, who sang "Multitudes of Amys" and "Marry Me a Little." She then sang one verse of "Happily Ever After" by herself, before launching into "Being Alive" with Kready. This was one of the parts of the show I wish I could have seen a little better. Lindsay Roberts came back to sing "What Can You Lose" (the mention of Dick Tracy got some scattered applause, and a reaction on that applause from Ms. Campbell). All three vocalists came out for "Old Friends," and then Stanley performed "Children Will Listen" with help from the choir.

After intermission came an excellent "Getting Married Today" with Stanley singing Amy's part, Kready singing Paul's part and Roberts singing the soloist. The choir also got to sing on this number. Roberts stayed on the stage for the next two numbers ("Not a Day Goes By" and "Everybody Says Don't"), and they talked about music education (both Roberts and Ms. Campbell are strong advocates for music education). Then came Jayden Greicius, who was the winner of the youth vocal competition, and I have no idea how a 15-year-old has such composure to be singing with a symphony orchestra as backing musicians in front of a couple thousand people. Kready then came out to perform "Johanna," and he stayed on stage to perform "A Little Priest" with Stanley. (The latter number wasn't mentioned in the program.) The two of them then performed "Unworthy of Your Love." All three vocalists came out for "Putting It Together" (with choir), and then Kready performed "Finishing the Hat" and everybody, including the two youth vocalists, came out for the finale, "Sunday."

I spent a lot of time feeling nostalgic for when I used to go to the symphony more, particularly when I was in elementary, middle and high school. I also went quite a bit during the years when Marin Alsop was the conductor (she's still listed as Conductor Laureate of the orchestra in the program). I need to see if I can fit more symphony concerts into my schedule. Bernadette Peters is performing with the symphony on November 12. Although I'd sit somewhere other than Mezzanine 8 if I were seeing another concert with vocalists and/or piano. The top seats to this show cost $80, which was a price I wasn't willing to pay, so I ended up paying $33 (plus fees) for the not-fantastic seat. The seat was the only problem I had with the show, which was fantastic in all other respects.