The BYU Philharmonic Orchestra, Men's Chorus, Folk Dancers, Living Legends, and Young Ambassadors are all performing. And the guest star this year is Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. John was very excited to be able to sing with him. Stokes (as he likes to call himself) is singing "The Impossible Dream" with the choir.
The Folk Dancers did two dances from Europe. I don't know for sure, but I would guess from the Netherlands. Living Legends did a dance from Samoa and reminded me of my time at the Polynesian Cultural Center this summer. I felt proud that I could tell it was a Samoan dance before asking one of the dancers if I was right. The Young Ambassadors did some songs that I can't remember (sorry, but I find them slightly annoying.)
Men's Chorus did a medley of songs from Paint Your Wagon. Of course they would do something cheesy like that. It's the Homecoming show!
But my favorite part of the night was definitely hearing the Philharmonic Orchestra play the 1812 Overture. It's my favorite orchestral piece ever, and hearing it in person took my breath away. Men's Chorus sang the choral accompaniment in the background, and they had a cannon effect play at the end. Even though it was just the dress rehearsal I gave them a standing ovation. I can't wait to see the TV broadcast and hear it again.
Brian Stokes Mitchell sang a few solos after that, everyone took their bows, and that was the end. It's a pretty great show with amazing talent! I hope that everyone can at least see it when it broadcasts on BYU TV. I will try to find out when that is and post the date.
I was talking with my grandma on the phone today and had a funny little moment with her. I told her that John was singing "The Impossible Dream" and she said, "Oh, that's from Man of La Mancha. I saw that in LA. It's a great show about a man who stole a loaf of bread to feed his family and was arrested." I just smiled and said, "Yep, you're right!" I really love my grandma.
4 comments:
So fun! It sounds like it is going to be an a.m.a.z.i.n.g show! I know Brian is sad that he's not singing this year. We went to the Brain Stokes Mitchell concert last year and loooved it! Your new blog design is super cute! We're hoping we can see you guys sometime in the near future! Hope you're doing great :)
Haha you're so sweet about the orchestra. The cuts that we had to make in that piece were really silly, but it's good to know that the audience still liked it. :) The men's chorus sounds fantastic!
How great! Sounds like an amazing program.
We saw it on BYUTV over the weekend! I really enjoyed it, and I always love hearing BStokes. It was nice hearing him sing something other than Wheels of a Dream, which is his usual Ragtime offering, and The Impossible Dream was thrilling as ever.
Though, having participated in the Paint Your Wagon medley myself, I am having a hard time figuring out why they would ever repeat that embarrassing piece. (I still cringe every time I hear "Who gives a dang?" Even BStokes did it! We didn't edit it when we were first learning it, and then people complained. People are the worst!)
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