The concert, "Music of the Night", starring Eric Kunze and Betsey Wolfe and directed by Bramwell Tovey with the Vancouver Symphony was fabulous both nights and I heard everyone raving about how much they enjoyed it as we were walking out. The music featured was a compilation of songs from Broadway shows such as West Side Story, Phantom, Miss Saigon, Superstar, Evita, and Les Miserables. Bramwell Tovey, the conductor of the Vancouver Symphony is really funny and made a lot of side jokes and background information about the music. He actually played the organ with a mask on (a la Phantom) then walked up behind the head violinist and startled her with it. He was replacing Erich Kunzel, who was originally supposed to be the guest conductor and tragically passed away last month. Maestro Tovey joked that Erich was the only conductor he knew that insisted upon a case of beer in his dressing room. Tovey said, there must be budget cuts, because he did not get the same courtesy. They did a tribute to Erich Kunzel at the end of the concert. A surprise was Eric, dressed as the Phantom, singing "Music of the Night". But the highlight for me, was "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables. It was in an even higher key than originally written, but Eric hit each high note impeccably and I found myself in tears throughout.
The second night, another packed house, was just as awesome as the first, in fact better. The audience stood up spontaneously as Eric and Betsey came out for their bows and stood again after the encore. I could hear many comments around me as we were leaving how much people enjoyed the show. Everyone was raving about it. A big success!
Eric and Betsey will be appearing together again in other cities. Stay tuned to this site for updates. A trip report and photos of the city can be found on my blog: http://www.maggiwun.blogspot.com/
