Cincinnati and I have a history. It is a city that I have been to a few times, but have not really spent much time exploring. In high school, I was considering auditioning for the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music so Mom and I took a trip down to see the campus. After having chosen Indiana University as my college, I found myself visiting Cincinnati several times for several reasons. Firstly, it is the closest big city to Bloomington for theatre (sorry Indianapolis but you are a B market city when it come to touring shows). So I had a few trips with Eric, Melissa, and Brian to go see shows like Sunset Boulevard, Chicago, and The Music of the Night with Betty Buckley.
Secondly I played with the Singing Hoosiers for part of my time in college, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra used the Hoosiers for various projects. Some people might remember the infamous PBS Holiday Concert (Ho, ho, ho Brandy, and what would you like for Christmas? Let... there... be... peace... on... Earth) which was filmed at Music Hall in Cincinnati.
Out of all of my trips to Cincinnati though the one that was probably most meaningful was going to hear Eric play solo piano with the Cincinnati Pops. He was chosen by Erich Kunzel to be the soloist for the first half of the season opening concert that year (1995 maybe?). Helen Reddy was the second half. The reason that this concert was so meaningful, aside from hearing Eric's amazing performance (his Chariots of Fire will stay with me forever!), was the realization that all of the hours in the practice room could add up to something real. Here was a friend that I was in school with actually onstage with a major orchestra being featured as a solo performer. It was really inspiring especially because it is so easy to lose one's sense of perspective while at Music School. Sometimes it feels like all the work that you are putting in will amount to nothing, and Eric's concert helped me to see past that.
Returning to Cincinnati represents the first time that I have performed on tour in a venue that I have seen shows in before. It was an exciting feeling to step into the pit of the Aronoff Center and be on the other side of the wall. The Aronoff is a pretty new and modern facility which I think opened the year of our PBS Special. I remember that a bunch of us went to go see Miss Saigon at the Aronoff, and I think that may also have been the first production in that theatre. (I could be wrong though. That was 13 years ago after all!) It brought back many memories including the memory that Cincinnati audiences are some of the worst that I have ever experienced in my years of theatre going. Our audiences for Wizard did not change that view. We had less laughter, response, applause, and just general good will than any other city we have been to thus far. I guess some things will never change. Maybe it is the chili!
Oh and the title of the post is a reference to Helen Reddy's inane patter during her half of the Pops concert. Eric's impersonation of Helen Reddy is spot on just for the record!
2 comments:
Wait... isn't Helen Reddy the one that sings Puff The Magic Dragon... or was it Candle In the Wind?
I think that she sang Puff The Magic Dragon. I don't remember her singing that in Cincinnati though. I mostly remember Delta Dawn.
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