stage spotlight
by bill biss
Get Happy! MICHAEL FEINSTEIN CELEBRATES THE JUDY GARLAND CENTENNIAL WITH ‘ORCHESTRAL PREMIERE’ AT THE RADY SHELL
Spectacular! With “Miss Show Business” aka Judy Garland in the house and Michael Feinstein celebrating the Judy Garland Centennial, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego is going to be touched by her spiritual presence and revel in the showmanship of Feinstein and the San Diego Symphony. My goodness! This kind of show only happens once every 100 years . . . think about it. On Saturday, July 16, the audience will be “stomping at the Shell,” so to speak, and this jitterbug got the lowdown from the Ambassador of American Popular Music himself . . . Michael Feinstein. “Starry, Starry Night” is so right. Is this your debut performance at The Rady Shell in San Diego? This is indeed my debut performance at The Rady Shell. I’m very excited about it because I love performing with the San Diego Symphony. I love the feel of playing outdoors and I’ve watched the construction process of The Shell over the last several years. So, it’s gratifying and exciting to finally have the opportunity to perform there. It’s also being described as an “orchestral premiere.” Can you tell me about that? The Judy Garland show is something I’ve been performing for the last six to eight months. This will be the first incarnation of the show with a symphony orchestra, and I’m most excited about that. This is the debut of the full orchestral version of the show. I haven’t been there since it was built but I heard the new
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acoustics are terrific . . . and it’s with Ted Sperling conducting the San Diego Symphony. I too have heard that the new acoustics of The Shell are wonderful. I know it’s going to be a particularly resonant evening because it is always the connection with the audience that makes the performance of any given artist heightened by that energetic exchange. So, this will be particularly exciting for me. What’s the rehearsal aspect like in putting together the Get Happy: Celebration of the Judy Garland Centennial for all of you? The rehearsal aspect has been a very long process. After I came up with the basic idea of what I wanted to say about this icon, I started assembling different songs and anecdotes, and working with Elliott Forrest on the visual media that would accompany it. All of that makes it much more complex than doing a simpler show that isn’t as finely formed. It was no small feat in deciding what to include in a concert that celebrates Judy Garland because of the formidable nature of all that she accomplished. The specific rehearsal with the orchestra will be on the day of the concert. But all of us will have had contact with the music prior to that. I’m also planning on rehearsing with Ted Sperling and Tedd Firth, who is the pianist for the show and also orchestrated the entire program for symphony. So Tedd Firth will be on hand to make sure all the orchestrations play well and without issue. Just to make sure all the elements are smooth for all of us.
