Mon Histoire

When: June 23, 2011

Where: Cafe Carlyle-35 East 76th St.

官方網站 : http://www.leasalonga.com/

Have you ever experienced that after attending a concert, you couldn’t bring yourself to listening to anything else for a while because they just seemed cheap?  That was what happened to me after attending Ms Lea Salonga’s cabaret show at Café Carlyle, “New York in June.” 

Lea started the show with “New York in June,” which I learned later it was the combination of three American Standards “Orange Colored Sky,” “The More I See You,” and “How About You.”  At the moment, I only thought they made a jazzy-1950s song in order to match the title. 

The second topic of the show was about traveling around the world for concerts.  There were an old American country music “I’ve Been Everywhere” where she counted endlessly a set of cities with clarity and ease, and “Laki Sa Layaw” for sometimes it felt like being a Rock-Star when touring.

Then it was the “How Filipino Are You?” quiz.

1. 1.     The lips.  2. You call everyone uncle and aunt.  3. People calling you “Hoy!”  4. When going to the airport, there are always more than six people going along.  5. You collect items from hotels or restaurants “for souvenir’s sake.”  6. You consistently arrive 30 minutes late for all events.  7. You answer when you hear some one call “Hoy!” 

There might be one or two more that I didn’t recall anymore.  The interesting part of this quiz was it would be absolutely suitable when you change the topic to “How Asian Are You?”

The third part was a set of songs about love.  The bitter “Love Look Away” between the beautifully sung “Just Not Now” and “Blackbird,” followed by “A Quiet Thing” and a Gershwin song “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”  I personally favored her delicate rendition of “Blackbird” which presented the tranquil quality of the piece.  

The following was the ironic pair of “Femininity” and “I Enjoy Being a Girl.”  The extreme contrast of “timid feminine” and “fiery girl” strongly illustrated the sarcasm within.  The witty little catch was the pianist “Your Highness Sir Larry Yurman,” addressed Lea, who played a short excerpt from a tragically love-devoting opera female character to intensify the mocking.  (Was it Verdi’s La Traviata?  What a shame I didn’t get it right away then I couldn’t remember anymore.  The only impression I had was it was from one of the most famous tragic operas.)

The most touching song would be the heart wrecking “Ikaw” dedicated to her aunt.  The song was commissioned by the tita who would always say “This is MY song” whenever it was performed.  It was quiet, deep and expressively emotional.  I needed to try hard holding back tears from welling up in my eyes.

The ending was the encouraging “Everybody Says Don’t” expressing her statement toward the Asian casting in the business.  Strong and sure with clear articulation. 

There were some songs for the later part of the show ended a little too rush.  It would be even better if the last notes were held a bit longer.  But that might be just my personal taste.

As always, it had been a musical treat attending Lea’s show, not to mention the intimate and upscale Café Carlyle.  What amazed me most were the two opening sets of songs.  It was the luxurious and classy 50s tone for the American Standards; the wilderness for the mid-western cowboy tune and the straight-forward powerful rock.  It was the flexibility over her vocal control that transformed the perfect distinction between varioussong styles echoing in our hearts.

Now, something not about the performance.

We went to the Café Carlyle twice.  The first time was on a Thursday around 8:20pm (the show started at 8:45pm.)  The venue was crowded.  A few people were waiting at the door.  It looked and sounded just like a regular Manhattan restaurant during busy hours.  But it shouldn’t have been like this!  According to last year’s experience, people arrived just before the opening.  No one went for the dinner, did they?  Obviously we were terribly wrong.  People dressed nicely, some in beautiful evening dresses.  We were told only some standing room was left.  It was quite frustrating when you went all the way and figured there was nothing you could do.  We lingered a little longer just because we were reluctant to leave. 

The second time was another Thursday, June 23^rd, two nights before the closing.  Too afraid to go in vain and lessons learned, we arrived at 7:30pm.  We were seated at the center of the bar with a very nice view of the stage and the entire venue.  People were smartly dressed, enjoying their meal and chat.  7:50pm was when the café was full.  Then I heard some one at the door asking the host when the café was open.  “6:30pm.”  Do all people come in at 6:30pm?  I couldn’t hear what the host’s answer was.  I was sorry for her but secretly felt happy that we had made the second try a lot earlier.  The audience that night was mostly Filipino with approximately 10 Caucasian and other Asian. 

Since the first time we didn’t get in, I was hoping I could receive “The Journey So Far” I pre-ordered before the second time, at least had the substitute for not being able to hear Lea live.  Unfortunately it arrived on the day when we went to the show.  The feeling was quite funny and complicated when I went home and saw that package in my mailbox.  After the performance, my friend was considering purchasing the CD at the venue or ordering online (yes, it was on sale at the Café) when we heard the salesperson talking to people in front of us “I believe you can find her at the hotel lobby.”  That’s when my friend decided to purchase the CD right away for the autograph.  Now you could understand what my reaction was when I went home that night and saw the package. 

We went to the lobby with a CD in hands.  There she was graciously in the sofa posing for photograph, a long line formed waiting.  When it was our turn, we posed for pictures and thanked her for a wonderful performance.  How I regretted changing back to jeans and flats so soon because I didn’t expect there would be the meet-and-greet.  But what was important was we were there, having a great time enjoying the music Lea and the wonderful musicians shared, at Café Carlyle.