At last night's performance of The Florida Orchestra, the man representing the weekend media sponsor compared music to words. He said that in much the same way a musician uses notes to create a symphony, journalists and writers use letters and sentences to create a symphony of words. There wasn't a writer in the crowd who was surprised or who would argue. We have always known we have a deep connection to music.
This weekend's show is part of the Pops series and was conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. If you've ever seen "The Way We Were" or "A Chorus Line," you know his music. One of his guests was J. Mark McVey, a Broadway star best known for his TWO THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED TWELVE performances as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables." He thrilled us with an achingly beautiful rendition of "Bring Him Home." That song has a personal meaning for me, and I cannot hear it without hot fat tears sliding down my cheeks. But Mr. McVey clearly owns the song.
But it was "Music of the Night" that got me. I've seen PHANTOM a few times, both the Broadway version and the movie with Patrick Wilson. The music always touches me, but never more than it did last night. Mr. McVey put so much emotion into the song that I could swear he must have donned a half-mask at some point. I could absolutely see the Phantom singing the song instead of the clean-cut good looking man in the well-tailored suit. He wrenched so much emotion from me, in fact, that I had a strong urge to smoke a cigarette afterward.
We only hope we can stir this much emotion in our readers. What is that elusive quality that hovers just out of our reach? We long for it, dream of it. Sometimes, we know, we grasp it. But it's so difficult to be sure.
I have an autographed copy of Mr. McVey's CD which includes both "Bring Him Home" and "The Music of the Night." Lucky me! Now I can relive these exciting moments over and over, embellished with the memory of seeing them performed live. I know I will find inspiration from his talent. When you read about my hero with a deep dark side, you'll know where I found him.
Have a great day!
Delia
This weekend's show is part of the Pops series and was conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. If you've ever seen "The Way We Were" or "A Chorus Line," you know his music. One of his guests was J. Mark McVey, a Broadway star best known for his TWO THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED TWELVE performances as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables." He thrilled us with an achingly beautiful rendition of "Bring Him Home." That song has a personal meaning for me, and I cannot hear it without hot fat tears sliding down my cheeks. But Mr. McVey clearly owns the song.
But it was "Music of the Night" that got me. I've seen PHANTOM a few times, both the Broadway version and the movie with Patrick Wilson. The music always touches me, but never more than it did last night. Mr. McVey put so much emotion into the song that I could swear he must have donned a half-mask at some point. I could absolutely see the Phantom singing the song instead of the clean-cut good looking man in the well-tailored suit. He wrenched so much emotion from me, in fact, that I had a strong urge to smoke a cigarette afterward.
We only hope we can stir this much emotion in our readers. What is that elusive quality that hovers just out of our reach? We long for it, dream of it. Sometimes, we know, we grasp it. But it's so difficult to be sure.
I have an autographed copy of Mr. McVey's CD which includes both "Bring Him Home" and "The Music of the Night." Lucky me! Now I can relive these exciting moments over and over, embellished with the memory of seeing them performed live. I know I will find inspiration from his talent. When you read about my hero with a deep dark side, you'll know where I found him.
Have a great day!
Delia
1 comment:
I so agree with you about J. Mark McVey. Such a voice! Such delivery! Incredible!
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