I am camped out on the couch tonight, watching the Tony Awards (trying not to be too envious of my brother Steve and his partner Scott, who are actually at Radio City Music Hall tonight) trying my best to recover from a weekend that was exciting and exhausting . . . and above all, inspiring!
It was about landmarks – looking back – looking ahead – and celebrating who we are and what has made us who we are. And that first instance – the first celebration – came with the dual graduations of two beautiful and gifted sisters, Paula and Erin Martin, and the voice recital which they sang at their proud dad’s request. Paula has just graduated from college, where she was a voice major – and Erin just graduated from high school and looks forward to beginning her college experience. I know these two young ladies because of what they’ve done over the years at the Racine Theater Guild. It was great to find so much talent and so much niceness wrapped up together and that’s why it has been such a pleasure to work with them in various shows.
Anyway, I believe it was their dad who believed that any celebration of their respective graduations had to include some sort of voice recital- and they put together a program that was just right. Erin, the younger of the two sisters, sang a showstopper from Thoroughly Modern Millie and a powerful aria, The Black Swan, from Menotti’s The Medium. Paula sang two of William Bolcom’s entertaining Cabaret Songs, “Black Max” and “Amor” – and really touched heartstrings when she sang the beloved Puccini aria “O mio babbino caro” (“O my beloved daddy”) directly to her deeply moved father. And it was of course very special to hear the two sisters joining together in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Pie Jesu.” (I should mention that as I rehearsed with them, it was nice to see two “such devoted sisters”- to quote some famous lyrics. They listened to each other with such clear and sincere affection and admiration. And being a close observer to that was maybe the single best thing about playing for this recital.)
They sang beautifully – but it wouldn’t have meant what it did if it hadn’t been for all of the people who came to enjoy the program- family, friends, members of their church. . . you could really feel the love in the room. I wish I could think of a way to say it more eloquently than that. I kept trying to imagine what it had to feel like for Erin and Paula to look out and see all of those people there- and their smiles- and to hear their warm and enthusiastic applause after each and every song. Among other things, I think it helped them understand why their dad was so anxious for them to do this- to understand what a wonderful this idea this was- and most important, it was such a celebration of who they are and the gifts with which they’ve been blessed- and a celebration of how loved they are. And when one is about to close one chapter and begin another – with all of the uncertainty such transitions bring – what could be more comforting than that?
pictured above: Paula and Erin right before the recital. It took place in the former sanctuary of their parish, St. Rita’s Catholic Church. What a wonderful place to make music!