Pasadena
POPs outdoes itself
It was a wonderfully nice evening last Saturday at the
Arcadia Arboreum with peacocks calling in the background. The shuttle system worked flawlessly and the
crowd was brought to the grounds without a hitch. It was fun seeing old friends and making new
friends as we sat at one of the tables.
What I didn’t understand was how Hamlisch could not
handle playing the National Anthem, even if it was out of the ordinary for the
POPs, it is still our National Anthem and with times as bleak as they are, a
reinforcement of our American values.
Sounding like a junior high school band practice, it
took a few moments for the symphony to get up to speed. Hamlisch didn’t take that too well. “I’m
pretty upset,” Hamlisch said, and “let’s try this introduction again!” He left the stage and to a triumphant round
of applause, he returned.
With people filling the venue from stage to hillcrest,
this was one of the largest POPs audiences that I have ever seen. Nothing could stop the momentum that Hamlisch
and entertainer Michale Feinstein built.
The evening program covered twelve of the songs and 33
shows that Cole Porter created in his 60 year songwriting career. This is the second of four concerts in the
summer series. Starting with his piano renditions
of “Day and Night”, “I Get A Kick Out Of You”; and “It’s All Right With Me”
Hamlisch made it all right again. One of
the things I liked about this concert was Hamlisch taking the time to explain
how these songs were created. Even to
explaining how important the musical “Can Can” was to him and his wife and
their aspirations to life in Paris.
After the intermission, Michael Feinstein an accomplished
entertainer himself accompanied himself
on the piano as he sang the intricate Cole Porter songs. A young protégé, Nick
Ziobro, who won this years Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook
Initiative, wowed the audience with his rendition of “All of Me.” It was a really great experience, and one I
recommend to one and all.
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