In the presence of musical greatness

It was Spotlight Night at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Ah, I haven't been there since the penultimate performance of The Wedding Singer in February. It's always good returning to that theater, especially since I was an intern there.

I unsuccessfully parallel parked in downtown Seattle, but that's because someone honked at me, so I felt WAY too much pressure. Boo! Oh well, I was eventually able to get into the space and park for free.

When I made my way into the lobby of the theater, I went all the way to the right side and lined up behind an elderly couple. The man noticed my notebook and asked if I was going to take notes. Yup! I told him that Stephen Schwartz is an incredible composer, and if he had any good advice to offer, I was going to write it down. :) We got to talking about school, subscriptions, sports, The 5th, previous Spotlight Nights (for them [for me this was my first]) and traveling around the world. They showed me how to get the best seats in the house for Spotlight Night. We sat in the front row! From there, I was able to smack an unsuspecting Jen Rice with my notebook to get her attention and say hi. Ha ha!

Producing artistic director David Armstrong introduced members of the upcoming production of Pippin. Now I want to see the show! Then he introduced Stephen Schwartz, and they talked about his career and played some songs from his shows. I got to hear some of musical theater's finest songs by really great local and/or Broadway talents. Mr. Schwartz himself performed "Corner of the Sky" and "For Good." I did, indeed, take a page of notes.

After Kim Huber performed "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas, Stephen Schwartz told us a hilarious story about the original lyrics that ended the song. Alan Menken said he didn't like the ending, so Stephen listened to his collaborator and changed them. I laughed so hard when I heard the original lyrics. They involved the words "hull" and "skull" in an attempt to rhyme with "color."

One thing I realized about successful composers/songwriters/musicians/singers/peeps in the music business is that they knew early on what they wanted to do. And they went out and did it. Well, when I was younger, I wanted to be a writer. Hmmm. That kind of morphed into wanting to be a songwriter. I have to admit I feel torn between dreams and the reality of life. (Hmmm... I probably could turn that idea into a song.) For now, writing songs is "just" a hobby. If I could ever pursue it full-time, that would be a dream come true -- well, one of my dreams come true. I'm still trying to figure out how to write a musical. That would be awesome. Really, I just want to do something I can be passionate about. That's what it all comes down to. And New York is where I want to be.