A lovely day for In Flagrante with the wonderful Elliot Clay leading us for the next two weeks.
Elliot has written his first musical Millennials which will be performed at The Other Palace on 08 July – 07 August 2022 and tickets for have just gone on sale.
We had a completely new song to learn called Lovely Day. Very appropriate with the beautiful sunny evening.
It is a song by American soul and R&B singer Bill Withers. Written by Withers and Skip Scarborough, it was released on December 21, 1977, and appears on Withers’ 1977 album, Menagerie.
The song is notable for Withers' sustained note towards the end, which, at 18 seconds long, is one of the longest ever recorded on an American pop song.
Lovely Day was used in adverts for Tetley tea, again in 1999 for a Gap commercial directed by Hype Williams, and yet again in 2020 in ads for Good Morning Football on NFL Network, Allstate insurance TV commercial, as well as an ad for Pandora Jewellers.
On January 20, 2021, the song was performed by Demi Lovato, with backing vocals from Lin-Manuel Miranda and several frontline healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as a part of the entertainment broadcast entitled Celebrating America following the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Eamonn has done a beautiful arrangement of this song especially for In Flagrante. Although it is a very simple song, it is quite tricky to sing with the silences being as important at the notes. Sopranos and Lady Tenors especially, must take very deep breaths to sustain the incredibly looooong notes!
Of course, there are Oohs! And sopranos aren’t on the tune, which is always a challenge for them!!!!
With the different “lovely day, lovely days” interlinked with each other and repeated many, many times the challenge is to keep the enthusiasm so it is as interesting and intense at the end as it is at the beginning.
Lots of homework so we improve next week!
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square was recapped. Eamonn’s arrangement of this song gives a varied style throughout this story.
Make the most of the different characteristics of warmth, playfulness and fun. Enunciate the words to bring out a performance for the audience to enjoy. This one was in very good shape!
Practice makes perfect. Keep up the good work!