Return to Yuletide Celebration

Finding myself with some days off at the beginning of December, I decided on a road trip to the best concert for getting in the Christmas spirit, Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra!  Two years ago I made the trip for the 25th anniversary concert (that review here) and while I wasn't expecting the elaborateness of that milestone, the 27th version came pretty close.

Justin Stahl, Lobby
Organist

The lobby decorations were as gorgeous as ever, and the cookies just as delicious.  Entertaining concert goers and showing off the Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ to great effect was Justin Stahl who played before and after the concerts.  When leaving I noticed his closed music book, it was the "Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook" which I also have! (although anything I've played didn't sound nearly as good).

Angela and Ben

The show opened with a new arrangement of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" by music director and maestro, Jack Everly.  It had English lyrics, Latin lyrics, and even the "wonderful, councillor..." quote from The Messiah.  Featuring the whole cast, it also served as an introduction to the voices of the hosts, opera star Angela Brown and Broadway leading man Ben Crawford.  I've seen Ben in other Symphonic Pops Consortium concerts, and have always enjoyed his voice.   This concert was no exception.  Angela and Ben joked around introducing each other with Angela playing the opera diva and claiming herself as sole host because she's from Indianapolis, which garnered audience applause.  At the matinee I attended however, Ben's announcement at being from Tuscan, Arizona created a stronger audience reaction.  Maybe he stacked the crowd with friends and family.  Being an out of towner I cheered for him :)

Anthony Kniffen & Grinch

After a solo by Angela of "Sleigh Ride" (because really what concert is complete without the Leroy Anderson classic, which incidentally was written in Georgia when the temperature was 105 deg. F) the orchestra was showcased in a medley from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  I haven't watched the movie in years and wasn't recognizing anything.  Then all of a sudden I noticed the tuba player, Anthony Kniffen, disappear from his spot at the back of the stage balcony.  He reappeared centre stage wrapped in a sousaphone and wearing a Santa hat to play "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch".  The Grinch himself (he was wondering around the lobby earlier), even poked his head out from the window above the stage drumming his fingers together in an evil fashion.

Ben and cast decked out in Christmas bling

The costumes and gowns were extravagant, and none more so than Angela's dress for "Sparklejollytwinklejingley" from Elf: The Musical.  It was all gold and so glittery under the lights it was hard to look at.  Ben, by contrast was wearing a classic black tux and was accused of needing some Christmas bling.  He obliged by removing the tux to reveal black sequined pants and a red sparkly jacket.  The singers and dancers all sported major sparkles and glitter during an energetic dance interlude.  I hadn't heard anything from Elf before, but quite liked this and the selection later of "There is a Santa Claus".  That piece has a lyric about Rudolph's nose really glowing and a red spot light swept around the hall to emphasis the point.  It was a simple but effective bit of lighting design.

Christmas Eve Radio Highlights

The highlight of the first act for me was being taken back to December 24, 1942 for the "Christmas Eve Radio Broadcast".  A WISO sign descended from the stage complete with "On Air" and "Applause" indictors.  After a jive style dance number to "Hark the Harold Angels Sing" (or at least part of it) by Anne Nicole Beck and Joseph Perkins Jr., Ben and several Yuletide ladies performed "Fum, Fum, Fum".  The "broadcast" then officially started complete with an ad for Hazel Bishop lipstick.  I looked it up and it was the brand of the first non-smear lipstick although it wasn't an incorporated company until 1950.  But who says you can't adjust history to suit the needs of a show? :)  The catchy Chiquita Banana jingle was part of the segment as well, complete with Ben in a grass skirt and coconut bra.  Three singers with great harmony did an Andrew's Sisters style song similar to "Boogie Woogie Buggle Boy" only about "Roly Poly Santa Claus".  Mike Runyan (ISO librarian) was featured with his "Cowboy Harmonica Christmas" that contains half a dozen harmonicas in various sizes and songs such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Up On the Housetop", and "Holly, Jolly Christmas".  That was one of my favourite parts two years ago and it was really fun to see him again.  The segment concluded with Angela singing a touching rendition of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with harmonica accompaniment.

The traditional tap dancing kick line of Santa's brought down the curtain for intermission.  The second half opened with "The Enchanted Toy Shoppe" a feature which I believe was new at last season's concert.  Angela began by telling the story of a toy maker and how one magical night his toys came to life.  She also sang the beginning of "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia (Liz Callaway was a host last year and the singing voice of Anastasia in the movie, which may have influenced the song choice, but it fit in well).  The fairy waved her wand to a slow version of the "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" theme bringing the toys to life.   Included in the toys were a music box dancer and doll, who danced, en pointe even, to something by Tchaikovsky from "Swan Lake" I think.  By magic a juggler (Cirque de la Symphonie artist Vova Tsarkov) stepped out of building blocks that were stacked together before our eyes.  I liked the following rag doll segment the best of the Cirque acts.

Check out that Statue of Liberty style tiara!
(Angela photo from her facebook page)

Alina Sergeeva as the doll 'danced' with the juggler as he picked her up and she flopped back over into incredible positions that showed off her amazing flexibility.  The way she carried momentum and flopped at the slightest touch was so realistic of how a doll would behave.  "Hedwig's Theme" was used as the music for extracting the aerial silks artist (Rachel Bowman) from the "empty" Toy Parts box.  Then Ben returned to sing "Somewhere in My Memory" for the silks act.  It's a lovely song and the move where the aerialist wrapped herself in the silk and then fell as it unravelled always make me catch my breath.  The variety of pieces that appear in arrangements by Jack Everly and company is second to none!

Presumably while they cleared the Toy Shoppe props away behind the curtain, Angela took the front of the stage and performed "My Simple Christmas Wish".  Apparently this is a popular cabaret act song, but I was unfamiliar with it.  Some lyrics were changed to be family friendly and a new line about not being Oprah so don't look under your seat (a joke about Oprah giving gifts away to audience members) shot by so fast it took a second to process, but once people got it, there were giggles.

Not to be outdone, the curtain opened on a now empty stage and Ben walked out to sing "Believe" from The Polar Express.  The most popular version is likely with Josh Groban, but I much preferred Ben's.  Groban's seems heavy to me, but Ben had hope and a bit more lightness, not to mention his wonderful voice.

Zach and Jack

An exciting instrumental version of "Good King Wenceslas" featuring ISO concertmaster Zach De Pue was introduced by Jack Everly.  He said the lyrics were added to the tune in 1853, and a new Christmas song was born, but we'd never heard it like this.  So true!  The arrangement, by Alex De Pue (Zach's brother), had more notes than it seemed possible to play and ones higher than I thought a violin could hit.  It was great to see a little Time For Three style jammin' going on!  Check out the same arrangement with Alex playing the fiddle accompanied by a hammered dulcimer (it's better with full orchestra but I was excited to find the arrangement in any form!).

Not that the audience needed any waking up after that, but the ensemble got their own lively number with "All I Want for Christmas is You".  The highlighted voices weren't all my taste, but the guys shoes sure stood out...red with white inserts sure fit the Christmas bling criteria.

Slowing things down Angela and Ben combined forces for "The Prayer" with Ben taking the Italian part of the duet and creating a beautiful deep sound.  Their voices and talents were highlighted the best here.

Full cast in "The First Noel"

Ben continued with the beginning of "The First Noel" singing it straight and with meaning, until the curtain rose on a stained glass style backdrop and the full cast joined for the concluding verses and chorus.  After an almost instant standing ovation (the powerful arrangement by David Clydesdale almost draws you out of your seat) we were seated again and treated to an acapella "Silent Night" by Angela before joining our voices with everyone else's for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  I love singing with a full orchestra!

Thank you to all the friendly people I met (and especially to one I still haven't), the performers and everyone behind the scenes who work together to create such a wonderful show.  My mission was accomplished, Christmas spirit attained and should anyone be in the need for some I highly recommend this method of acquisition!  Because it's really true that...

(All photos except where noted from the Indianapolis Symphony, some via The Examiner and The Star.)

I Heard the People Sing

This weekend I headed back up the corridor (as VIA Rail calls it) to Ottawa for the NAC Orchestra's tribute concert to composer Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyricist Alain Boublil.  Known to pretty much everyone as "those guys who wrote Les Miserables".  While that has been their greatest success so far, they've done a lot more as well.  In preparation for attending the Canadian debut, (the concert has already played in at least Indianapolis, Baltimore, Dallas, and Pittsburg) I went searching for cast recordings.  Miss Saigon (1989) I listened to in its entirety (all 1 hr 47 minutes of it) while stuck in traffic last week and Martin Guerre (1996) the following day.  The Pirate Queen (2006) I couldn't find on CD so borrowed a childrens book that gave me the story line since it's based on the real Irish chieftain Grace O'Malley.  So I felt somewhat prepared.  Nothing beats a performance LIVE though!

All the vocalists were making their debuts with the NAC orchestra and what a line up of stars familiar with the material.  Starting with the most experienced, Terrence Mann was the original Broadway Javert in Les Mis, Lea Salonga created the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, Eric Kunze was Marius on Broadway (opposite Lea Salonga's Eponine) and Chris in Miss Saigon, Kathy Voytko was the standby Grace for The Pirate Queen, and Marie Zamora played Cosette in the original French production of Les Mis (and is married to the lyricist :) )

As always, the concert opened with an overture, no snappy title, just "Overture".  It was short with one line quotes of songs that would be expanded on later.  One that stood out was "Bring Him Home" which had a very high oboe part that Chip Hamann sent soaring.

The overture ran right into the Miss Saigon segment beginning with the chorus singing "Bui Doi".  An excellent choice to start.  It created the emotion and sense of longing covered in the plot and placed the musical firmly in the time around the Vietnam War.  Even not knowing anything about the story, it provided the background needed through lyrics like:

"Like all survivors I once thought, when I’m home I won’t give a damn 

But now I know I’m caught, I’ll never leave Vietnam.

War isn’t over when it ends, some pictures never leave your mind.

They are the faces of the children the ones we left behind.

They’re called Bui-doi.

The dust of life, conceived in hell and born in strife.

They are the living reminders of all the good we failed to do.

That’s why we know deep in our hearts, that they are all our children too"

Terrence Mann
(broadwayworld.com)

Of course this is also accompanied by a lovely melody sung by Terrence (check out Indy's version).  Wow, his voice!  I don't know what I was expecting when he walked out (not looking all that much like his program head shot), but if all he did was sing, it would have been worth it.  However he also provided much of the entertainment value of the evening.  

Jack compared Alain and Claude-Michel to Rodgers and Hammerstein then had the audience practice pronouncing their names.  We must have sounded pretty good as Terrence declared that we had "good French".  Jack's reply, "well we are in Ottawa not Thunder Bay, they're good at this stuff".  He then proceeded to describe that in addition to Miss Saigon being a modern version of Madame Butterfly (the only opera I'm interested in seeing and the Canadian Opera Company doesn't have it planned next season :( ) inspiration came from the craziness of beauty pageants and indeed that's where the title came from and what "The Heat is On In Saigon" is a precursor too.

Lea Salonga
(www.filipinoexpress.com)

Another inspirational source was a photograph of a mother trying to pass her child to an American soldier.  I'm pretty sure I've seen this photo and yet now can't find it.  Lea's performance of "I'd Give My Life For You" where Kim sings about her son was so heartfelt.  She then lightened the mood with a story about when the show was in rehearsals.  She was cast at 17 after a world wide search for a girl who could look 15 yet had the vocal chops to hit a high E flat.  Knowing nothing of love, the director one day got so fed up with her ineptitude in a love scene that he told her to get out of the bed, and proceeded to get in with the guy playing Chris and demonstrated how to make love to a man, as Lea said 
"a w k w a r d".    Then added that since then she's learned a lot on her own and having fallen in and out of love, the romantic songs have developed more meaning.  Her duet with Eric of "The Last Night of the World" couldn't have been better.  It was neat to see second clarinetist Sean Rice pull out a saxophone for the few sax solo lines.

Kathy Voytka
(michaelcassara.net)

Eric then introduced a song that will be added to the 2013 revival of Miss Saigon called "Maybe".  It's for the character of Ellen, Chris's wife once he returns to the US.  I get the feeling in the original development there were several songs tried and cut for this position in the plot where Ellen has just met Kim, so this is another chance to find the perfect one.  Personally I like the melody of "Now That I've Seen Her" from the original London cast recording, but I wouldn't say any more than "Maybe".  It was Kathy's first solo of the night and I continued to be impressed with the vocalists.   


She introduced Terrence again to sing "The American Dream", a song by the Engineer who would do whatever was needed for him to get ahead.  Right away this was going to be fun as Terrence put on a pair of sunglasses saying "check it out", and proceeded to pat the violas on the head, and twirl another's hair, before getting stared down by Jack and turned his affections back to the audience.  My favourite line of this song is "bald people think they'll grow hair, the American Dream".  It makes me smile every time.

Terrence as "the Engineer" with the ISO (Photo: Thomas J Russo)

On a personal note I'm very glad Miss Saigon was created.  Not that I've ever seen it or consider it my favourite musical, but because it resulted in the building of the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto.  A theatre big enough to hold a helicopter on stage was needed and so back in 1991 construction started.  The theatre opening with Miss Saigon in 1993.

Marie Zamora
(Photo: Maggi Wunschi)

Terrence joined together with Jack to describe how Alain or Claude-Michel (I'm afraid I can't remember which, probably both actually) liked musicals, and saw a bunch in London/New York because France had no musical theatre scene to speak of.  So they combined forces and decided "why not France, why not now", and started their first "small, in the box" venture with the topic of the "very simple" French Revolution.  "Small" being in jest of course as this work featured an orchestra of 52 with an additional 40 performers.  The musical was The Revolution Francaise, and as Jack slightly butchered the pronunciation of "Francaise" and went to repeat it, they both chimed in "I'm/You're from Thunder Bay".  Rehearsed or improvised (which I think it was) it got the appropriate audience laugh :) The song introduced the audience to Marie, who sang "Au Petit Matin" as Marie Antoinette the morning she learns she'll be going to the guillotine.  My French is no where near good enough to understand any of what she sang, but it didn't matter, her clear soprano got the point across.  

Eric Kunze
(erickunze.blogspot.ca)

Marie's French introduction to Eric for the title song in Martin Guerre I was actually able to follow.    I wasn't a fan of the recording, granted this was one of the better songs, and it got even better with Eric singing it.  I wasn't sold on his voice after the earlier duet, but really enjoyed the emotion and power he brought to this song.  The following duet with Marie "Live With Somebody You Love" sealed the deal.  The final song in the Martin Guerre section was "Land of Our Fathers".  The 1999 cast recording doesn't include this piece (unfortunately that's the only copy the library has. Actually I figured I was lucky to even find that one).  It was part of the London production from 1996 and according to wiki the show was reworked before coming to the US with 40% of the material being new.  Yet still never made it to Broadway.

Up next was a testament to the fact that what gets written doesn't always make the show.  Jack said that putting together a musical is like CSI, in the end you have a whole pile of dead bodies, or in the case of Alain and Claude-Michel, songs.  "I Saw Him Once" was originally a song for Cosette, however Les Mis was running about 3 hours and 40 minutes so something had to go.  Marie's lovely soprano fit it just right.  Lost from Miss Saigon was "Too Much For One Heart" because the director said "there is no good theatrical reason for Kim to sing ANOTHER ballad".  So it became the duet "Please", and Lea said they still regret the change.

The first half ended with a song that has been recorded a huge number of times (something like over 200)  and has over 5000 various versions on youtube.  Kathy and Lea sang yet another variation, inspired by Glee, of "I Dreamed a Dream".  Really I don't think the "popular" twists do the song justice.  It doesn't need any vocal ornaments, but can completely hold its own being sung straight.  But maybe I'm just a purist.

The second half opening Entr'acte was decisive Irish fiddle music.  I wonder if concertmaster Yosuke Kawasaki got some tips from Natalie MacMaster when she was there earlier in the season for the crazy solo he had very much in Celtic style.  Turns out The Pirate Queen came about because Riverdance producers approached Alain and Claude-Michel with the idea to dramatize the story of Grace O'Malley.  Kathy described Grace as a sailer and chieftain, who met the Queen and saved Ireland.  All in a days work.  She then sang "Woman" which is a great "I am woman" empowerment song.  Without missing a beat she switched to the other end of the emotional scale evoking vulnerability at she and Eric sang "If I Said I Loved You".  The "Finale" included the chorus and had the lead characters get married!  What's this a happy ending?  Well I don't know the whole plot, so maybe someone else dies and it's a mixed happy ending like Les Mis, but a happier conclusion than Miss Saigon.

Marie Zamora
(www.mariezamora.info/blog.html)

The opening of the Les Mis overture began, and 30 seconds in abruptly stopped with Jack saying "But before all that...".  Talk about getting the audience on the edge of their seats with anticipation then pulling the plug!  It was while watching  a revival production of Oliver in London that Alain realized an epic novel could successfully be adapted to a musical.  Going home he started to re-read Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and ideas jumped off the page.  That's how it all started, and the first song they wrote was "On My Own" or more accurately "Mon Histoire".  Marie started in French with Lea joining in with the English...quite a combination that worked very well.

No need for plot summaries here, Lea, Kathy and Marie adopted the characters of factory workers upset at Fantine, a unknowing audience member being cast in the part as they directed their anger to her, in "At the End of the Day". (See following link from ISO performance.  Same cast except for Stephanie J. Block replacing Kathy and Peter Lockyer in place of Eric)

Terrence continued to be the comic relief of the evening, this time accompanied by Kathy as they embodied the inn-keeping Thenardiers.  After kicking Eric out for not having any money, Kathy turned her charms on Jack while Terrence did a little pick pocketing.  Yosuke was enticed by her as well and joined in the dancing unlike Zach de Pue who played it straight (just watch until after "At the End of the Day", it's hilarious!)

Marie, Eric, and Lea reprised roles they've played (Cosette, Marius, and Eponine respectively) for a beautiful version of "In My Life".  The backdrop grew darker and white lights appeared when Terrence returned for "Stars".  What a treat to hear it from the Broadway original Javert!  There was a bit of echo added to the mic, which added a different dynamic, but I don't think the singers needed it.  The song was created to provide background on why Javert is so obsessed with finding Valjean.  I can't imagine Les Mis without it, it's my favourite song.

Perhaps the most iconic piece, which probably has more renditions than "I Dreamed a Dream" is "Bring Him Home".  The version I'm most familiar with is Colm Wilkinson's who originated the role in London and on Broadway, but I think I preferred Eric's rendition.  The start of the challenging high note had an ever so slight wobble, but was quickly corrected and ended beautifully.

The entire cast reassembled for "One Day More".  A powerhouse arrangement, similar to the one at the end of Broadway's Leading Men actually, that had the people on their feet almost instantly.  After applause for the vocalists and the orchestra, none other than Alain Boublil himself took the stage for a bow.  It was a nice touch he was there for the Canadian premiere.

Final bows with Alain
(unfortunately Lea out of frame on far right)

But really they couldn't leave without singing the concert title song, and as the orchestra started again, and the audience took their seats the finale of "Do You Hear the People Sing" began.  The lyrics are invitational and it was all I could do not to join in, it just felt like the audience should have replied with "yes we'll join in your crusade, we will be strong and stand with you...".  In any case I left the theatre singing and I'm still catching myself humming it and other songs from the show.  It was a wonderful concert.  If anyone at the TSO is reading this, add it to the list of those I highly recommend bringing to Toronto!

Yuletide Celebration Part 4: Aftershocks

After getting back to the hotel after the evening show I went on the computer and downloaded the pictures I'd taken.  They turned out pretty well, as you've seen samples of so far.  I also checked out the ISO blog thinking that maybe I'd post my first Yuletide memory for the contest which I thought ended at midnight Dec. 4.  Turns out it ended 5 pm Dec. 3.  But I figured what the heck, I'd submit a short post anyway, more to say "Thanks for a great show" than to really enter the contest.  The results of my post can be found here.

I didn't think much more about it.  I left Indy the next day after the matinee and a day later, after changing routes home because of the snow forecast, arrived home.  Unpacking my computer, I noticed a new ISO blog post announcing the winner of the contest - the post was my first choice as well, "Yuletide Quarrels Being Won by a Child".  But Jessica Di Santo (Communications Director who was in charge of picking the winning selection) had also listed several honourable mentions.  I completely missed it the first time I scanned the list, then actually read what she'd written.  My post was listed!  I think my jaw literally dropped.  I must have re-read the post about 10 times to make sure that even with a typo in my name, the link was to my post, all the details fit, and it really was me she was talking about.

The honourable mention prize was a Yuletide Celebration poster autographed by none other than Jack Everly and Sandi Patty!  In my opinion this is was better than first prize :)  I received an email from Jessica the next day which confirmed my post was selected and she mailed the poster on Dec. 8.

I've been anxiously checking the mail every day since then.  Alas, 2 weeks later it still hadn't arrived and I gave up hope of it coming in time for Christmas.

Last night after returning home from visiting friends, I was handed a gift to open.  I was tired and unless it was new pajamas I wasn't all that interested in opening anything until the morning.  It was a long package, definitely not pajamas, and kind of tube like.  I pulled off some of the paper and noticed a mailing type barcode sticker, and then an address label with the ISO logo at the top!  All drowsiness quickly disappeared, and I extracted the tube from the wrapping and then the poster from the tube.  It had arrived Christmas Eve day when I was at work.

You know ISO mailings have this ability to come at the ultimate times.  The Yuletide Celebration CD I received last year arrived Dec. 1, just in time to kick off my official Christmas music listening season.  And now, the poster arrives in the nick of time for Christmas Day.  Amazing!

Thanks again to everyone at the ISO and I am now exclaiming as I sign-off out of sight "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Yuletide Celebration Part 3: The Show

The actual concert begin with an invitation to "Join us on an exciting Holiday Adventure"...which may have been a tad cheesy but hey, why not?

The curtain rose revealing the orchestra fairly far back on the stage via the use of raisers with the brass section and timpani in a balcony of sorts. (picture from 2004 production)

ISO photo via Daniel Rodriguez site

Maestro Jack Everly looking very classy decked out in tails, and then Sandi Patty appeared in a gorgeous gown (one interview mentioned 10 dress changes, I could spend ages just describing them, if I remembered all the details, alas no picture taking allowed.  But there were red, green, red with white fur trim-for White Christmas of course-, blue, and perhaps a few more) to open with "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" accompanied by the remainder of the company.

Next was a song I feel is not Christmas (even if technically it does mention sleigh bells), Rodgers and Hammerstien's "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music.  I was prepared to just enjoy it anyway when after the first few lines the lyrics changed to list Yuletide Celebration favourite things!  No more "girls in white dresses" but flying reindeer puppets and dancing Santa's.  It would be awesome of someone would post this version's lyrics.

This led extremely well into a montage segment of clips from past Yuletide shows.  The orchestra begin playing John William's, "Somewhere in My Memory" from Home Alone as a screen lowered and the Yuletide singers appeared.  Previous specialty acts (Tony Hoard and Rory, Martin Preston as Liberace-both appearing in Baltimore's Holiday Spectacular this year), past hosts (Maureen McGovern-2009, Sylvia McNair-2003, Daniel Rodriguez-2004), and former conductors (Keith Lockhart 1992-93) were shown. Well deserved applause began when a photo of Jack appeared listing him as conductor since 1994 (16 years, wow!), and continued for Sandi's photo listing the 5 years she's hosted.  Alas, the evening audience seemed more appreciative than the next day matinee where this illicited no applause :(  The lyrics of the song though are a perfect fit for this years show which includes magicians in addition to music "...Christmas joys all around me...all of the music, all of the magic"

"Some Children See Him" with Sandi and Company was next.   Aside from being pretty, I honestly don't remember much about it this piece.  The linked version is closest rendition to the ISO's I could find on youtube.

The orchestra then took centre stage with "Here We Come a Caroling".   It was the same version that's on the Yuletide Celebration CD and it was really fun to see it performed live when I'm so familiar with the arrangement.  I was bopping along from my seat :)

One of the highlights of the concert was "We Three Kings" performed by the Yuletide Gentlemen.  This was absolutely incredible!  Seven guys in tuxedos walked out at an angle from each side of the stage and started singing.  14 voices all together, nothing fancy, just straight forward power.  The verses were done by 3 bass soloists.  Two I'm able to pick out of the program by their pictures (Mark Gilgallon and Andrew Nolen) but I'm not sure who the third is (I'll guess Ben Crawford, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

Andrew, Ben and Mark

The third one also did the "I Love a Piano" solo in "White Christmas" (keep reading there will be lots more details on that).  Anyway, by the end when they lined up at the front of the stage and, completely synchronized, turned first to one side of the audience, then the other, finishing with a final step apart of their feet (a simple move that worked so well to emphasize the rich arrangement), the audience had begun a rousing round of applause.  A bit of a show stopper.  There really is no other word for it than powerful!

Perhaps because one can only take so much seriousness, some light-heartedness followed with "Shopper's Lament" and the Yuletide Ladies.

All bordered pics from interview with Mike Runyan

Sung to the tune of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" the ladies lamented Christmas shopping, children's pestering, injuries in the Colt's starting line up, and something about the Dunkin Donuts always being known as Rosalyn's.  Being an out-of-towner, I figured not comprehending only one Indy joke was pretty good.

Les and Dazzle, the guest act of the year, are a father-daughter magic team.  Les plays it straight and Dazzle is extremely enthusiastic would perhaps be a way of describing it.  They were introduced by Jack who referred to Dazzle by saying "well she's just glad to be part of the act".  They were featured in Mysterioso as well, and did exactly the same magic tricks.  Considering they were probably my least favourite part of the show (primarily because I'd seen the act before), I was glad the accompanying music was at least a Christmas medley.

Quite a good one in fact with a quick quote from "You're a Mean One Mister Grinch", and more complete versions of "Rudolph", "Most Wonderful Time of the Year", "Up on the Housetop" and I'm sure lots more.  The ball-balancing-on-handkerchief section near the end of the act, which is a bit of "my ball's bigger than your ball" competition between the two of them, was to a re-worked version of "That Old Black Magic" that included Yuletide lyrics.  The arrangement was by Wayne Barker, who's done other things for Jack and Symphonic Pops Consortium shows (actually a neat article is here about his work on She Loves Me over the summer), and if he wrote the lyrics too he's even more talented than I thought (again would love to read these again.  Post someone?).

It's said that you can tell a good writer by the transitions between thoughts, well if you extend that to telling a good show by the transitions between the numbers, this one excelled.  The strip closet, with curtains in red and white to resemble a stocking, had Dazzle replaced with none other than a tap dancing Santa.  This introduced what closes every Yuletide Celebration Act I (well at least all ones I've heard about)  The "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" tap dancing Santa's with their Rockette style kick line.  Dazzle even got into the line, and demonstrated she can really dance!  Check out this clip from a few years ago for a taste of the dancing Santas (no Santatizer this year, but once that finishes, the tap dancing takes over).  As an aside: This story from Jack about the Santa-tizer creation was written up in the program.

And with that it was suddenly intermission.  The first half flew by!

Since it's something apparently one has to do, I had gotten a sampling of the cookies available for an intermission snack.
No they weren't all eaten, one actually made it all the way home in it's entirety.  My conclusion: it's hard to go wrong with sugar cookies and gingerbread and I'll agree it's definitely part of the whole Yuletide experience.

Act II began with a recorded "Welcome Back" message from Jack, giving an intro to the world premiere (well I would have seen the 2nd and 3rd performances, but I suppose this Yuletide series of concerts are the world premieres) of his (Fred Barton is also credited as arranger) "A Tribute to Irving Berlin's White Christmas".  Indeed it is true, that no holiday season is complete without at least one viewing of the iconic film.  The curtain rose on the orchestra and Jack sporting the red Santa version of the tails jacket.  It's great fun to see everyone involved in the festive spirit :)  The 15 min or so mini-version of the movie and musical that followed was all the fun with none of the will they/won't they aspect from the story (although in 1954 Hollywood musicals, does the guy ever not get the girl? so maybe there never really was any "won't they").  The key musical upbeat numbers were all included beginning with "Happy Holiday" and "Snow, Snow, Snow" both with the whole company.  Then the same dark haired guy from "We Three Kings" came out and sang the opening verse to "I Love a Piano".  I read somewhere, perhaps in a biography on Irving Berlin, that he wrote it so the word piano would be over two syllables rather than three (ie: pia-no, not pi-an-o).  Personally I prefer the three, and that was how it was sung here.  Dancing ladies then joined him with little white grand piano props, and a male tap dancer did a great job with his dance solo.

Maintaining the dance theme, "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" came next.  It began with Sandi serenading a couple who did some foxtrot style dancing.  Then the orchestra demonstrated their skill at cohesiveness while conductor-less as Jack left his spot on the podium, extended his arm to Sandi, and showed that dancing is also on his list of many talents!  He looked quite comfortable during his turn around the floor, I'd say easily surpassing Bing Crosby with gracefulness, as they moved very smoothly together.  After returning to his traditional place, he flipped a few score pages and picked up as if there had never been a dancing interlude.

No White Christmas compilation would be complete with "Sisters" and it wasn't forgotten here as Sandi and all the ladies flipped around the feathers.  I wonder if the same orchestration was used for this as for the version that appeared in Irving Berlin: Ragtime to Ritzes.

A lovely solo by Sandi of "Count Your Blessings" followed before the production number style finale.  The whole company joined in for "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" which led into five singers performing the often skipped verse of "White Christmas".  Sandi then returned, wearing the red dress with white fur trimming from all the promo photos, for the chorus as the snow machines on stage and in the audience started whirring!

The line that popped into my head was Bob Wallace saying to Phil Davis at the end of the movie as they're opening the doors at the back of the stage/barn "you made it snow in here pal".  The audience was invited to join in the singing at the end and it was easy to imagine being right in the movie!  My opinion: a very, very successful world premiere!

A change of pace followed with Sandi introducing the return of the Wurlitzer organ, which after undergoing a 5 year refurbishment, rejoined the Yuletide concert last year.  I saw both Donna Parker (evening show) and Martin Ellis (next day matinee) have the organist honours performing "Nutcracker Fantasy", a medley of songs from, you guessed it, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.  I believe I recognized sections from the Overture, March, Trepek, Coffee, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Waltz of the Flowers, although there were probably more.  Martin wore a vest fully covered in glittering Christmas items.  Very festive!

The curtain closed again while the organ console was moved off stage and Sandi introduced the only piece to be performed at every single Yuletide Celebration, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".  While there is music to the entire poem (see previously mentioned CD), she spoke the text unaccompanied until Ma and Pa "sprang from their beds to see what was the matter".

Not a great image, but only one I could find

The whole cast, including bears as toy soldiers, a panda, and a gingerbread man, were involved in acting out the story, and the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh were walked down the main aisle by puppeteers.  Puppet Santa became real after sliding down the chimney.  He smoked his pipe and pulled presents out of his sack, before "laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose".  Everyone waved as puppet Santa and reindeer "flew" down the opposite main aisle.  All of a sudden a moon dropped out of the wings and a shadow of Santa's sleigh and reindeer was passed in front of it.  I chuckled to myself as the same comment about full moons and set designs entered my mind :)

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" which followed, allowed the cast to let loose with the singing and dancing.  The two female soloist's belted out their parts with high energy and it was a great "wake up audience, the show's not over" moment.

Another chance of pace followed with one of my favourite acts of the evening.  Mike Runyan is the ISO librarian and has been credited as an arranger in programs of several concerts I've attended in the past.  I remembered reading on an ISO blog post by one of the orchestra members that he played the harmonica so I was quite interested to see what "A Cowboy Harmonica Christmas" would bring about.

from Lou's IBJ Blog

In short it was charming.  Mike started with a semi-mournful sounding "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays" accompanied by the orchestra, complete with the "clip-clop" of horses hooves.  He transitioned to "Rudolph" and with Dazzle's help, kept finding new harmonicas of all different sizes in a box, although I think she "helped" make one disappear.

There were quotes from the "Orange Blossom Special" (which was awesome!), Up on the Housetop (on a teeny-tiny harmonica), the first line of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (so fast you'd almost miss it), and "Holly Jolly Christmas".  The music and schtick never stopped and it was incredibly fun to watch.

The concert concluded with a return to the serious and reminder of the true meaning of the season.  Sandi Patty and company performed "One God" (the link is an extremely long compilation version but has some nice NASA Earth pictures),

which had a neat "Wonder as I Wander" melody quote at the end before heading into the classic "O Holy Night".  This link is to the real thing (although not the shows I was at), hopefully it stays posted for a while.  Perhaps a bit intense, but an impressive performance.

There was polite applause as the singers and dancers took their bows, and an immediate standing ovation when Sandi walked back on stage.  The orchestra got a rousing applause too, which was certainly warranted!  Obviously expecting this, there was an encore :)  After everyone was re-seated, Sandi thanked Duke Energy, the title sponsor who must have put up a lot of money to fund the show, and promoted live music by saying everything we'd heard was completely performed live, even off stage vocals weren't pre-recorded.  Maybe that's why I love symphonic music so much, what you see is what you're getting, nothing added, nothing taken away, and you get the true sense of how talented the musicians and performers are.

She continued my saying that not everyone will make it home for Christmas but they'll be there in spirit (a subtle reminder of all the deployed members of the armed forces) and she and Mike Runyan performed a very poignant version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas".  I agree completely with Lou's view that the combination of performers, instruments and arrangement transcended expectations.  


So with a final "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and a re-appearance of Santa to say he'll see everyone on Christmas Eve, the 25th Anniversary Yuletide Celebration performance was complete.

The whole concert was classy (save for Dazzle's dress at the end :) , see above picture) and the music fresh, nothing felt like a re-hash of an old, well worn Christmas carol.  There was a great balance in the variety of elements, nothing too much over the top, and always first rate quality.  I'm so glad I went, and while it may not become tradition (I'll see what/who ends up on the program for next year before making that decision), my first Yuletide could not have started with a better version.

Congrats to everyone involved and thank you for making this a wonderful experience for everyone in attendance!

Yuletide Celebration Part 2: Arrival

Prior to actually getting to Indy, a stop was made to visit a friend in Illinois.  I had checked the forecast and was anticipating 40% chance of rain (but really hoping for none, because nothing ruins a Christmas feeling like rain).  Imagine my surprise at waking up the day of the show (Dec. 4) to 6 inches of SNOW!

Still having to drive the 2 hours into Indianapolis made this a bit of a worry, but that quickly faded after a quick morning trip out and finding the roads were in pretty good shape.  We arrived in good time and I started doing downtown parking lot research.  Google maps is awesome for this, especially street view so you can see exactly where the entrances are.

I picked a parking garage that had a cheap rate according to some site about parking in the city, and figured out how to get there.  We arrived early and found it was even cheaper than on the website!  The ISO has a deal with the lot for $3 parking!  How great is that!  The trick being that all the spots up until about the 4th level are reserved.  I'm pretty sure this is where all the people who work at the Hilbert Circle Theatre park.  I'll guess this includes musicians and others.  There's also this handy little walkway from the garage to a back door of the theatre with music notes etched in the concrete!

It was too early to go in yet plus it was night and Monument Circle was all lit up with the worlds largest Christmas tree, so I took pictures and froze.  But there was snow, and Christmas lights, and horse drawn carriages, and Nutcrackers and Toy Soldiers in place of regular boring concrete posts, so it was worth it!

As one of the guide books said "Stop and take a picture of the Circle, everyone else does", and indeed there were lots of people out taking pictures, and walking around.  I'm not surprised there were several ISO "Best Yuletide Memory" Blog posts about marriage proposals occurring here.  It's pretty impressive.

The doors to the foyer of the theatre were open so we entered to escape the cold and ended up having a wonderful conversation with the security guard.  He's retired, works there part time, and is originally from Nashville, TN.  I wish I had gotten his name, he was so pleasant.  We chatted about the concert and somehow it came up that Samuel Banks who played with the ISO for 5 years is now second bassoonist with the Toronto Symphony, and he remembered him!

The foyer was decorated with huge wreaths and you could see beyond the glass doors into the theatre lobby, but when you actually went in, there was a WOW feeling.

First a massive decorated Christmas tree, and the garlands hanging from the railings, a quartet singing Christmas carols, reindeer and a Christmas tree mingling with the people.  I had fun just watching from the upper level, looking down at all the people taking pictures by the tree, all the little girls in their best dresses.  I noticed two sisters, twirling around as their skirts spun out to make a bell...aww I remember those days.

On the main floor you can actually see right into the theatre.  The walls are solid only half way up, then it's glass.  Great place to work, you can enjoy the show no matter where you are!

We found our seats without a problem.  As part of the castle set though there was a curtain, so no watching the orchestra saunter in, as they tend to do, although you could hear them warming up.  Just a note: that bar does mess with your view if you're on the aisle.  But otherwise great seats.  You could even see the numbers on the stage (I believe there were 14 of them) as markers.

What struck me about the whole thing was everyone was in a good mood.  From those mingling in the lobby to people climbing over others to get to their seats.  No one seemed stressed or upset, and were chatting and waving to people they recognized.  With all the children around I don't recall hearing anyone even wimper, never mind cry.  Amazing atmosphere!  Definitely everyone had a high dose of Christmas spirit.

The programs were another marvel.  No 4 paper pages in the middle of a standard booklet here!  A full glossy, THICK (111 pages in fact) book, over half of which is dedicated to Yuletide, from both memories and photos from past performances, to notes from Jack Everly about his new "White Christmas" creation.

The "White Christmas" themed display in the lobby was from his personal collection and included original posters from the movie,

a signed poster from the Broadway cast of the musical,

Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Danny Kaye dolls (wonder what happened to Vera-Ellen?),

and the first page of the score, signed by himself and Fred Barton who was also involved in the arranging.  I doubt it lasts very long, but 4 bars in the clarinet part goes to B flat concert with no sharps or flats...I like this :)

With that we've run out of time...the shows about to start!

Yuletide Celebration Part 1: The Anticipation

I'm not entirely sure when my desire to see the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Yuletide Celebration concert started, but it's been at least several years, and intensified when last year on Dec. 1 the Yuletide Celebration CD arrived.  I think I listened to it once at day the entire month!   It hasn't been taken off my ipod since, and during a couple of sweltering days through the summer I would listen to "The 12 Days of Christmas" and "Baby It's Cold Outside" and mentally escape to the snow :)

For a few years I've been doing the math based on Yuletide being mentioned in NACO program books as part of Jack Everly's bio, for what year would be the 25th and since all I had to work with was usually something like "now a 23 year tradition", and I think it remained that for 2 seasons in a row, I was never entirely sure if my math was right.  So this year when it was being promoted all over the ISO site as the 25th Anniversary I knew it was going to be a great time to attend, especially with Sandi Patty hosting, and set about making it happen.

Months ago actually I did some preliminary research: Google mapping, hotel checking, forecast guessing, and CAA travel book reading about the city (which I then put in such a safe place I can't find it).  When tickets went on sale I decided the first weekend in December was the best choice weather wise in hopes that winter wouldn't have arrived too strongly yet.   Then came Hilbert Circle Theatre research: seating maps viewing, Google image searches for inside the theatre, posted on a blog of someone who'd been to a recent concert, and finally emailed the ISO directly with a few questions.  In the end I chose seats in the second row of the Dress Circle off to the left side (facing the stage).  So tickets purchased, all that was left was waiting, sort of.  It was an exciting day when the tickets arrived in the mail, but solidified that I still had all the other details to work out.

This post was going to be made prior to leaving for the USA but things got pushed to the last week and with researching hotels again, working extra hours to make up for the days away, planning what to take, and how to get there, it's a few days afterwards.  But oh well.

One of the best things actually was following the ISO Blog.  They started a contest for posting your favourite Yuletide Celebration memories sometime around the beginning of November.  I learned about all the things you have to do when you go to the concert--take a picture by the Christmas tree, have a sugar or ginger bread cookie with milk or cider at intermission, watch for the flying reindeer during "The Night Before Christmas", wait for the Tap Dancing Santa's which always close Act 1, check out the world's largest Christmas Tree in Monument Circle, get all dressed up and have a fantastic time!  The best post in my opinion (which incidentally ended up winning the contest) was "Yuletide Quarrels Being Won By a Child".

So with tickets purchased, plans for where to stay made, a CAA Trip Tik in hand, downtown Indianapolis maps printed, ipod loaded with Christmas music it was time to go!

Stay tuned for Part 2.