Last night Scott and I attended the Brian Stokes Mitchell concert at BYU and it was fantastic! I got the tickets as soon as the season ticket options was available in July and it was a good thing because it sold out the first day single seat tickets were available. He is such an amazing singer and actor and so personable on the stage. He introduced each song and told stories and I was just in heaven. He opened with “Some Enchanted Evening” and sang mostly Broadway music, with a Gershwin tune and a “list” song called “Waters of March” by the well-known Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. During this song he also played the melodion and said he is always asked what that’s called. He said it’s a harmonica with a keyboard for those, like him, who are too lazy to learn the harmonica.
He sang “Soliloquy” from “Carousel” and said it’s the best musical theater song ever written for a baritone. I’ve always loved the music from that show and he was so powerful. He also sang “This Nearly Was Mine” from “South Pacific” which is my favorite from that show and said it’s the 11:00 song from SP. He explained that when Broadway shows used to start at 8:30 pm, there was always a powerful song that came at about 11 pm in the show that was the apex of the emotional arc of the story and in SP, it’s Emile’s song, “This Nearly Was Mine”. So I was right to love that one the best. 🙂 His rendition made you feel as if he really had lost everything. It was awesome.
He also sang “Dulcinea”, “Stars”, “Another Hundred People”, “Wheels of a Dream”, “The Impossible Dream”, “Where is the Life that Late I Led?”, “New Words!”, and “I Was Here”, plus some others. He was backed by piano, bass, and drums. The whole show was really great and I am so glad we were able to attend. After the show we waited in line for an hour and a half to get a program signed for Brian. We told him that Brian is in the musical theater program at BYU, is a baritone, and dreams of being on Broadway. He said, “Good for you for spelling Brian the right way, and my condolences to you as parents that he wants to be on Broadway”. Then he laughed and signed the program, To Brian, Sing!!, Brian Stokes Mitchell
