|
Capturing
the emotion of the Second Atlanta Concert
I've just returned from
Charlotte's second major Atlanta concert performance,
a 3:00 matinee in Symphony Hall of the Woodruff Arts Center.
I feel blessed to have gotten to view this second show from
a great many different perspectives than the first one
Friday. First of all, my seat was 22 feet from Charlotte
this time around. I want to thank Dave Hanson of Team USA
personally for allowing me to have his extra ticket to this
concert with a seat so close to the front that we could
almost shake the conductor's hand. Meeting and sharing time
with such a loyal, friendly, and gentlemanly follower
of Charlotte Church's career is what this website is about.
Friday, I was back on the 17th row on the right
side of the stage. Another
different perspective was that I got to see a true fan
of Charlotte's reactions and demeanor (Dave's) during the
two hour show, as well as those of an audience whose
demographics and ages were as different from the audience at Friday night's stuffed-shirt performance as
day is from night. These people had no preconceived ideas
about Charlotte's talent (or lack thereof, according to AJC
concert reviewer Pierre Ruhe). They were just there to enjoy her music, her personality, and her talent.
And they brought their KIDS, hundreds upon hundreds, it
seemed. This element was missing from the concert Friday.
Where were the youngsters? These "families"
brought in a totally different atmosphere to the venue that
was sorely needed Friday.
Dave had arrived very early from the
Sheraton Hotel and had scoped out the place. He had in his
possession a fantastic gift for Charlotte that he wanted to
present to her personally on behalf of CC.net....a
stuffed teddy bear (of course) wearing a specially -made T-shirt
with "CharlotteChurch.net
Enriching the World through the Voice of an Angel"
printed on the shirt along with Charlotte's picture. Clearly,
there was creative genius at work on Dave's part. Dave went to the
performer back entrance and inquired where Charlotte's
dressing room would be. Dave found the dressing room
with Maria Church and a Sony representative chatting outside
Charlotte's door. Dave apparently spent a good while just
talking with Mrs. Church about "this and that",
her schedule, and other things. She said she'd MAKE SURE
that Charlotte got the bear, and Dave hand-delivered a
letter from Mark to Charlotte on his behave that Maria would
give to Charlotte with the bear.
Since no one bothered to give Charlotte
any flowers Friday following the conclusion of her
performance, Dave and I separately spent Sunday morning
searching for florists that would be open on Sunday. We were
hoping to present her, on behalf of CharlotteChurch.net a least
ONE large bouquet of 14 roses. When Dave and I found each
other, to our surprise, we had BOTH been able to procure two
impressive bundles of 14 roses.... his in yellow and mine in
red. The cards enclosed with them, of course, encouraged her
to see Mark's site and thanked her for the joy she's given
to all of us through her voice, her personality, and now her
charity work. Dave wanted to make sure we could get to
Charlotte on stage after her encore so she could look even
more stunning as she received the accolades from an
appreciative audience by having roses in her arms. It
worked. The ushers made preparation for both of us to
come to the front left of the stage to present them to her
following her marvelous rendition of Bali Hai. The concert
that evening was spectacular.
The basic concert itinerary this second time around was the
same as Charlotte did Friday except that she sang Summertime
as her next-to-last-song this time as opposed to singing
"If I loved You" from Carousel as next-to-last on
Friday. Charlotte made no mistakes during the performance
like the one she made Friday, spending 4 minutes explaining
the background behind My Lagan Love and then finding out it
wasn't to be sung until midway through the show's second
half! (As you recall, she covered for that nicely and with a
lot of poise.) She seemed very "at ease"
throughout the entire performance, showing no nervousness
whatsoever. I sensed Friday some initial unsuredness
regarding the audience as she sang. That group of
individuals apparently are the Season Ticket Set, who are
out to judge all so-called stars' credibilities, vocally.
That purist group was 90% adults over 50. This crowd was
50%+ youngsters Charlotte's age. Being the class act that
she is, after conductor Jere Flint personally escorted her
out on stage to begin her first set, she began praising the
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, thanking them for their kindness
to her and their professionalism. This, of course, brought
about applause and set the stage for a very fine performance
on BOTH their parts. Charlotte seemed more vocally
"warmed up" this day, as she easily handled all
the high AND LOW notes of La Pastorella as well as the
"runs"
contained in that piece.
Something differed, however, that I took note of from Friday
evening. I actually think Charlotte was trying to take
Pierre Ruhe's criticism of some things regarding her
appearance Friday and try to improve on herself. He referred to her costuming in the paper as the "bubble
gum-tarty look", with too much sequins and glitter all
over her cheeks and face. It was VERY APPARENT that
this afternoon she had on far less makeup and only a little bit of glitter on her eyebrows, as if trying to condescend
to his wishes for her appearance to be less
"teen-like".
Charlotte bantered to the audience
briefly about how she finally got to go shopping in one of
Atlanta's Malls and purchased an entire new wardrobe
(possibly alluding back to Ruhe's remarks in the AJC
paper)....and how happy she was for that. She then presented her "take" on
how Pie Jesu has now become an enjoyable song for her
to sing again after taking a hiatus from it early this year.
She then proceeded to prove this joy to the audience with a
moving rendition of it, again with no male secondary harmony
part, only her. looked around the audience to see the
looks of wonder as so many youth present obviously must've
had the VOA CD and had played that Lloyd-Webber song over
and over. Now they were mesmerized by the angel herself. As
Charl concluded the piece, I finally realized how
Charlotte's special gift from God --- that voice --- can
emotionally affect people. You see... beside me... Dave was
completely teared up, about to cry, at the heavenly sound
he'd just witnessed. Others, too, were red-faced with
emotion. As Dave wiped away the tears from his eyes, his
comment to me was simply "No one can effect me through
song like that...no one."
As this performance's
Intermission arrived, Dave and I made a "dry run"
to see how long it would take us to climb over 8 people in
the third row, go out the right auditorium exit,
traverse all the way around the building to the lower left auditorium entrance, and get to the front of
the stage where we could attract Charlotte's attention. I
timed the maneuver with my second hand, discovering that
under the best of uncrowded circumstances, it would require about 60 seconds. I went back to my seat and planned
with Dave WHEN we would stand up and escape across the row
to deliver our "packages". I had a pretty good
idea when a break would occur that would grant us a non obtrusive
moment. And so we waited for the show to start back up. Dave
reopened his card that was to accompany his bundle of roses,
still trying to pen what he hoped would be a memorable,
encouraging message for Charlotte. My message just
thanked her on behalf of CharlotteChurch.net for the joy
she has given
us all through her music, and for the example she has set
for others to follow through her many humanitarian deeds. I
added my own postscript, however.
The concert started back, and was
terrific. My excitement mounted as I realized how close the
time was to REALLY MEET CHARLOTTE....in front of 3200
adoring fans....showing all our love for her by handing her
a specially chosen bouquet of 14 roses....and reveling in
this once-in-a-lifetime event, knowing full well that every
one in the crowd would be "pea green" with envy
for Dave and myself.
As Charlotte's
performance ended with the singing of "If I loved
You", it was so very apparent that this audience truly
loved and appreciated her talent as much as her personality.
They clapped incessantly, and stood to show their appreciation for her coming to share her talent
with them and be their friend. Dave and I slipped out
the side door and up the outer aisle. Dave literally FLEW
around the building to the front left stage entrance, leaving me in his wake. The ushers, knowing that we were
coming, had saved each of us a seat right within two rows of
the stage. And there we both stood, having decided that we
would wait until after the encore to give her the special tributes that were in our trembling arms. The
audience took their seats again and Charlotte concluded the
most special evening of my life with the magical strains of
Bali Hai (which I haven't been able to get out of my mind since Sunday evening). The emotion she portrayed in her
interpretation of the song began swelling p in me. I was
moved to the point of tears as the audience rose to its feet
and voiced its final adulation to her. Dave and I made our way to the left front of the stage as Charlotte
turned away from us to acknowledge the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra's superb accompaniment of her this day. As she
waved to the crowd on the right side if the auditorium, we
began our quest to get her attention. I waved at the
conductor, Jere Flint, to see if HE would ultimately let
Charlotte know that she had a "gift" waiting. He
couldn't get her attention. Finally, Charlotte cam over to
OUR side of the auditorium where my long outstretched arms
waved and beckoned her to come over to us. We caught her
attention and she graciously made her way to the edge of the
stage to accept first, Dave's bundle, and then let me place
the 14 roses I possessed into her arms. I can't speak for
Dave, but as I handed the roses to her, my entire being
quaking with joy and emotion, I made sure that I kept my
eyes on her to see what her reaction would be. Her eyes met
mine as she mouthed "Thank you" in that wonderful
Welsh accent of hers, and then she curtsied to me in
appreciation. She left out the door on the side of the stage
where we were and "gathered herself". The audience
continued its tumultuous applause and, suddenly, she
reappeared with both bundles of roses neatly placed across her arms. I left my position
at the front of the stage to try and blend in with the other
adoring fans. I just didn't want to take ANY attention away
from her at this point in time. She flashed that
"million dollar smile" to the audience for 2
minutes, carrying our roses around stage. She was genuinely
happy....there was no way anyone could fake that smile...The
lights came up, and reality set in.....now it was time for her to go back to Wales, leaving us all feeling
empty. As Dave and I exited out the LEFT side this time,
Dave breathed a heavy sigh of relief, expressing how he
could now relax....He had accomplished one of his biggest
goals for this trip. Dave and I
both felt very special and we both feel the investment
financially on our parts was worth it. (Our appreciation to
many of you who offered to pay for the flowers.) . Gang,
let me tell you. We all know that Miss Church is a very
cute, adorable, and pretty young lady; however, in a red,
full-length evening gown, offset by gold tassels and gold
necklaces, and carrying 28 roses with babies breath, she is
just downright beautiful.
To show you how
drastically different the two performances were from the
audience's standpoint, let me tell you about the
post-concert sendoff. Friday, it was reasonably late when
the concert ended. My wife and I went to the back exit of the Woodruff Arts Center to catch a Marta
train home. Charlotte's limosine was there, but only 6 or 8
of us waited to see her and to talk with her. Most of
the "stuffy" , aged, adult attendees had
long gone. Not so this afternoon. The back parking lot of
the Center, where the Church's limo was waiting, is 6 or so
feet below the level of the surrounding sidewalk and street.
It is surrounded by a railing. Fearless Dave and I went
right down to the limo, waiting for Charlotte. As we did,
hundreds of others lined the outside railing surrounding the
lot, all wanting to see Charlotte, but afraid that they
might be disappointed if she had to leave in too big a hurry
for the airport and that they might possibly infringe on her
time. But they looked at Dave and myself, along with another
fan beside us...and they waited...and they never left
....This was not the Friday audience....these people adored
Charlotte. Suddenly...unexpectedly.... Charlotte came out
the back door......to a cheering, now VERY VOCAL crowd. As
others watched my "Voice of an Angel " CD being
signed by Charlotte, they, too, felt the appreciation that
Charlotte has for her fans and climbed down over and around
the railing to get to her.
    Hundreds
of photos were snapped, and she obliged as many as she could
with autographs. She seemed stunned by the positive reaction
and genuine affection that was being hurled at her.
What a difference two days makes. Her dad brought her
the bad news....she had to go. The plane waited and a
lengthy flight....She looked up at everyone, smiled, said
thank you, and apologized that she couldn't sign more
things. No one minded. Atlanta's last impression of
Charlotte was of her waving to her TRUE fans out the side
window of a limousine as she was driven off to Hartsfield
International Airport. I hope Charlotte's last impression of
Atlanta was also a positive one. My last impression of
Charlotte? It was written on the card I put with her
roses... a quote from the Bible...Philippians 1:3 -------
"I thank my God every time I remember you."
-
David (Team USA)
|
