- “Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon,” a monthlong artist-in-residence gig began last night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The examination of Paul’s work is composed of a suite of three concerts over three April weekends, beginning with “Songs from the Capeman,” a musical staging of Paul’s Broadway musical; “Under African Skies,” a retrospective of his African and South American inspired songs; and “American Tunes,” featuring elements of Simon’s earlier catalogue. Simon performs with an eclectic batch of guests at each gig. Also on tap is a screening of “The Graduate” and a May one-on-one chat between Simon and Philip Glass.Visit the Bam site for more info. Here’s a quick write-up of last night’s Capeman premiere from the most passionate of the musical’s fans, as posted to alt.music.paul-simon:
If you’re someone who missed the show and wants to see what it was like… don’t see this concert. If you’re expecting Paul to be on stage the entire show, once again, don’t see this concert.
However, if you love the music from The Capeman and want to see it performed by an extremely talented cast that includes many original cast members, this is an event you should most certainly attend.
The score was reduced by about 30% and the two guest groups - Little Anthony and the Imperials and The Spanish Harlem Orchestra - both performed their own hits before the performance started.
The female lead was played by Claudette Sierra, who was Ednita Nazario’s understudy in the original problem. Marc Anthony’s role was split between Frankie Negron (who was Paul’s first choice for the role in the original production) and Obie Bermudez. Bermudez also doubled as the umbrellaman. Original cast member Rey de la Paz took over the late Nestor Sanchez’s role as St Lazarus and Luba Mason sang the parts for both mothers in Can I Forgive Him. Paul, of course, sang Trailways Bus.
Strangely, Christmas in the Mountains and Carmen were performed, even though many of the songs that were in the show were cut from this version.
The encour was Danny Rivera’s Spanish version of Born In Puerto Rico followed by Paul and The Spanish Harlem Orchestra performing Late In the Evening together.
All in all a fun concert, as long as you go in with the correct expectations. It seemed a lot of people were upset with how long Paul was on stage and others were upset that the entire show was not performed.
After the performance, we went to the cast party. Paul gave a speech in which he said he enjoyed revisiting the show and he actually really likes it and he may be throwing around a few ideas involving it. So it may not be the end of The Capeman after all!
- A European tour is in the works, with some dates already on sale - England and Ireland at the start of July and Switzerland and Germany at the end of the month are already announced. Details in the forum at The Neck of my Guitar.
- Back with more soon enough, including a reflection on the BAM series.
Quick Hits
3 Comments »
really enjoyed the spanish flavor of tuesday night’s show,..thought paul might perform more songs but I guess the show’s intent was for the cast to really perform capeman’s music,…I liked the broadway cast/perfromance better,..little more polished than last night’s show,…still entertaining and enjoyable,..looking forward to next 2 installments,..will be attending all 3 themes/ shows and comment later on,..great to see Paul playing guitar and enjoying his art,…He’s still got it,…really looking forward to graceland/period piece ,..I think was some of his best body of work,…musically,…so let’s see next week,…really enjoyed the intimacy of BAM and casual flair of the theatre,…sort of reminds me of a “Small Beacon theatre,…when he played there several years ago,…still a great night,..john
John!! I am so envious you got to see the Capeman part. I love Capeman …
I can’t wait for your comments on the two other portions of this month long event.
Please ask around to see if these will be recorded. I would really be intereswted in purchasing a copy.
Maybe, they will be on PBS. I understand the second, African set, was recorded, but the source was not sure the Capeman portion was. I hope so.
Thanks for your comments. I was so happy to find this site. How did you like the second concert?
Remember the Mike Nichols film Carnal knowledge? The actors were Jack Nicholson
(Jonathan) and Art Garfunkel (Sandy). Specifically, the scene in which Jonathan, after a series of loves and marriages failed, it should be to find a prostitute (Rita Moreno) to whom he confided his problems of sexual failures.
The woman succeeds it excites to with a long, intense monologue with which he recalls that only loves himself.
For me, Paul Simon = Jonathan
Paul said that often does not give importance to demands of people. His cycle at the BAM confirms this. He revisited the Capeman to overcome the old failure, it was autocelebrate with African repertoire, and revisits the quiet railway stations, urban rhythms, and immigrant dreams of his greatest American tunes collaborates “with an extraordinary range of artists to offer three musical constellations “that are OLU DARA, GRIZZLY BEAR, JOSH GROBAN, AMOS LEE, THE ROCHES, GILLIAN WELCH… No trace of Art Garfunkel. Paul knows that many people have loved and love the harmonization of Simon & Garfunkel, but has decided to “cancel” that period of his career because to deny the contribution made to its success by the great voice of Art.
I not understand how a brilliant man and sensitive can act with great firmness, ignoring the demands of fans and the feelings of his old friend.
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