Divalicious! NCMC @ CSU 6/20/10
Nobody—and I do mean NObody—does Divas the way the Northcoast Men’s Chorus does Divas. I had no idea there even were so many, but they’ve convinced me. I am now a believer!From Josephine Baker and Edith Piaf (Diva History 101) to the ultimate goddess of all time, Judy Garland, 38 other luscious ladies were accorded DIVA status and honored musically with appropriate sample songs—and occasional dances–for each. The more serious accolades were rendered on an individual basis, but there were also four clusters. A huge screen over the stage allowed for multiple photographs of each lady, demonstrating her eligibility for DIVA status. As if there was any doubt!
As the men took the stage (in tuxes with lime green tees showing) sixteen of them carried large photos of the, um, shall we say higher ranking Divas. Four ladies made an appearance in costume: Josephine Baker, Tina Turner, Cher and Liza Minelli. (Throughout the entire program, with makeup, costume and wigs, the resemblance in every case was astonishing! And delightful.)
The first soloist was Joel Fenstermaker who showed off a gorgeous French accent, along with his beautiful tenor voice in La Vie En Rose – the tribute to Edith Piaf.
Diva Drive-by #1 featured Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Billie Holiday, the Andrews Sisters (3 divas) and Carmen Miranda (Kerrie Adams) who, in person, had a slight bit of difficulty with her enormous headdress, but NO problems with her terrific shimmy! Bryan Fetty was wonderful as Patsy Cline, possibly the first Country Diva in her first BIG hit She’s Got You, who after discarding a batch of unhappy mementos, left the stage a good deal lighter than when she first entered. Unfortunately, all those unhappy songs made her a bit Crazy, as she demonstrated with the help of a pair of choristers who shielded her straightjacket with huge ostrich feather fans. Way cool!
Diva Drive-by #2 was a mix of Country and pop Divas: Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, Dionne Warwick, Gloria Gaynor and Cyndi Lauper. This batch brought out the great mirror ball on the ceiling of Waetjen Auditorium at CSU, which added greatly to the festivities.
The Coastliners (a double barbershop quartet) fashioned a beautiful tribute to Karen Carpenter, from Close to You and Goodbye to Love, accompanied at the grand piano by Patrick Wickliffe, who was otherwise very audible at the synthesizer. (For sure, I heard an accordian in there somewhere, plus a few other odd instruments that were nowhere to be actually seen!) Robert Day is the principal accompanist for the chorus, assisted by Andy Pongracz, percussion and Adam Tully, bass.
k.d. lang was serenaded by Eric Unhold, prior to the Motown Divas: Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Diana Ross & the Supremes. Moving forward twenty or so years was a high-energy Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It.) I’m not sure which of the three dancers was Beyoncé, but let me tell you, these gentlemen were totally believable as the women they were impersonating! Indeed, in my opinion Gamaliel Eugia, Bhong Fajardo and Abdullah Hadi were more convincing–and more gorgeous—than the actual females who joined them on stage as paparazzi and/or other dancers. And in stiletto-type heels, at that!
Disco Diva Donna Summers was accompanied by a really neat colored design on the mirror ball overhead, which totally grabbed my attention, until I heard bits of a song I actually knew! MacArthur Park, from the late 60s or thereabouts. It was my very favorite of the time.
The third Diva Drive-by featured Maureen McGovern, Mary MacGregor, Mary Wilson, Nancy Wilson and Nancy Sinatra. Then The Coastliners returned to honor my favorite Diva of all time—Lena Horne—with Stormy Weather and When the Sun Comes Out.
Divas of the Stage, not surprisingly, were led off by Ethel Merman, then Elaine Paige, Liza Minelli, Bernadette Peters, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and a questionable Sarah Brightman. The latter lady roused MC James McPeak into a rage, whereupon he ended up in Rehab! Oh, dear. Such an unhappy reminder of the penalties exacted by excess everything. Fortunately, he recovered in time for I’m Beautiful in the Devine Miss M (Bette Midler) segment. In his gold sequined vest, he truly was.
Cher and Madonna shared a serenade by Ralph DiLucovico – Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves. (no comment.) Very clever hand movements by magician/choreographer Lora Workman set off the Madonna portion. Barbra’s tribute followed, and the star-spangled finale was, of course, Judy, Judy, Judy! Naturally, the final song was Over the Rainbow and the very talented technical director Michael Rich put multi-colored spotlights on the chorus members, creating a giant rainbow on their faces. Clever–and handsome.
The NCMC yearly service award was given jointly to ASL interpreter Doug Braun and Brian DeWitt, who has been a backstage coordinator since these concerts began. For this concert, Doug had a companion signer, Debi Epstein, and while each took a solo turn, on occasion their lyrical movements were neatly choreographed to complement each other. Fascinating!
Diva by Diva was originally constructed by David Maddux, although for these performances, chorus member Dan Bobeczko contributed some script adaptation and multi-media portions. Music Director Rich Cole is now in his thirteenth season and has made a definite difference in the quality of the chorus. I’ve only been attending these concerts for perhaps five years, yet I can easily hear the on-going improvement.
NCMC has a busy summer planned. For more information, visit the web-site: http://www.ncmchorus.org or call 216.556.0590.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz, who writes: My most recently published book is Ardenwycke Unveiled (e-book and trade paper). Cerridwen has another contemporary romance from me, But Not For Love, currently available only as an e-book, but perhaps will be in print later this year. I hope to soon get around to completing some of the 30+ incomplete books in my computer!
By the way, Cerridwen has also accepted two of my short stories in their Scintillating Samples (complimentary reads) area: Song of the Swan and Unexpected Comfort. I love photography as well, as you can see here. Occasionally I teach writing workshops and sometimes do editing or ghostwriting on a free-lance basis. But over and above everything else, there’s always been the writing. I can’t imagine my life without it.
And now, after more than a few requests, I’ve started a blog about writing. You can find it here.