'Rock of Ages' to bring music of the '80s to Springfield
December 3, 2011(As originally seen on MassLive by Keith O'Connor)
Dominique Scott is living a rock star's dream today – a dream he refused to give up.
Scott stars as Drew in the national touring production of Broadway's "Rock of Ages," which stops at Springfield's Symphony Hall on Thursday. But Scott almost didn't make the cut.
Set along the infamous Sunset Strip of Los Angeles, "Rock of Ages" tells the story of Drew, a boy from South Detroit, and Sherrie, a small-town girl, who find themselves in L.A. chasing their dreams of making it big and falling in love.
"Drew is pretty much me, and I felt very strongly about the role," said Scott, who auditioned along with some 300 other rockers at an open call in March.
"I didn't get a call back, and the role seemed too right for me, so I wasn't going to take no for an answer and sent a video to the casting director. The role is hard to cast and requires some incredibly high singing as many '80s band frontmen were singing like girls back then, something you must have enough technique for to sustain performing in eight shows a week," Scott said. "And I was already doing that with my band and had the experience of working a crowd and singing in theater, plus my age was right and it didn't feel right not to not be considered."
It wasn't too long after sending off his video that an email arrived from the show's creative team inviting Scott to meet with the producer, director and choreographer, and he was back in the picture. Auditions continued, and Scott went from being in a group of 16 to 8 to 2 to finally winning, being cast in his dream role.
"I'm enjoying it now so much and it's a delight," said Scott, who helped launch the tour in October.
"I literally get to do all that I have trained for over the years – singing, acting, dancing, working the audience every night singing rock music in front of thousands of people. There's a lot of audience interaction, and I feed off their participation and energy, which makes the show new and different every night," he added.
As described on the Broadway website, "Rock of Ages" takes audiences back to "the times of big bands with big egos playing big guitar solos and sporting even bigger hair."
Built around classic rock hits from the 1980s, the musical features songs by Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Pat Benatar and others, including such hits as "Don't Stop Believin'", "We Built This City," "The Final Countdown," "Wanted Dead or Alive," "Here I Go Again," "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" and more.
"Rock of Ages" began its Off-Broadway run at New World Stages in New York City in 2008. The production made it to Broadway in 2009 and today can be seen at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
It features a book written by Chris D'Arienzo. Other Broadway credits include direction by Kristin Hanggi and choreography by Kelly Devine, with music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp.
The play was nominated for five Tony Awards for best musical, best performance by a leading actor in a musical for Constantine Maroulis from "American Idol" fame, best direction of a musical, best costume design and best sound design.
"I saw the play on Broadway and loved it as an audience member. I smiled all the way through it, singing along to the music. I thought Constantine did a great job in the role of Drew," Scott said.
Born and raised in South Florida, Scott studied classical piano for four years and was an invited guest artist for the Chopin Foundation's annual concert. He appeared in four regional productions and shot three commercials, as well as performing with several local children's theater groups. And that was all before graduating from middle school with a French-language focused education.
He went on to attend New World School of the Arts for high school, where he studied in their music theater conservatory and later earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater at Syracuse University, with a minor in jazz piano and a concentration in directing. He eventually moved to the "Big Apple" to record his first album, "Carousel," with his band Domin8trx before earning the starring role in the "Rock of Ages" second national tour.
Next June, audiences will get to see a big-screen adaptation of the hit jukebox musical, when "Rock of Ages" is released in theaters nationwide. Directed by Adam Shankman, the movie stars Tom Cruise all glammed up for the role of metal banging.
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Jim Brickman pleases crowd with holiday favorites at Symphony Hall
December 3, 2011(As originally seen on MassLive by Keith O'Connor)
SPRINGFIELD - The stage of Symphony Hall was painted in simple elegance on Friday night when pop piano stylist Jim Brickman brought his "A Christmas Celebration" tour to the City of Homes.
"It's a nice, romantic Friday night in Springfield. So sit back and relax and let the music take you where you want to go," Brickman told the audience after his first song, "Dreams Come True" from his 1997 album "Picture This."
The two-hour long show offered fans, many of whom traveled from Connecticut to see their musical hero, an evening of dazzling solo piano, vibrant vocals and the warmth and humor that has made the holiday tour a seasonal tradition for the past 15 years.
"I've been lucky enough to have hits, and I'll be playing them tonight," Brickman told his audience about what they were about to hear for the evening – a show that featured his many romantic songs and others reflecting the spirit of the holidays.
The hits included "The Gift," from his first holiday album and "Valentine," a big hit with country star Martina McBride, as well as a slew of others such as "After All These Years," "Destiny," "Peace," "By Heart," "Coming Home for Christmas," and "Never Alone" which he recorded with popular country artists Lady Antebellum.
Brickman used the tour to introduces songs from his two newest releases, both on sale as Target exclusives – "All Is Calm," yet another holiday album in a catalog that includes some six holiday titles, and "Romanza," a romantic disc of music inspired by Italy.
When the announcer came on to introduce the show, he made a reference to "Jim Brickman and friends," and the popular musician brought along several with him.
This year's special guests included popular favorite vocalist Anne Cochran, a hometown friend from Cleveland where the two grew up, as well as singer Benjamin Utecht. Brickman told the crowd when asked where he finds talent to perform with him, he jokes that he often looks to the football field, referring to Utecht, a former NFL Super Bowl champ who retired in 2009. Rounding out the guest list was electric violinist Tracy Silverman, who Brickman has described as "Black Sabbath meets Santa," and who rocked out on stage in several solos on a violin he fashioned to look like a guitar.
Along with the hits, there were plenty of Christmas songs, too. "Joy To the World," "Winter Wonderland," "Let It Snow," "Do You Hear What I Hear," "First Noel" and a host of others were performed solo by Brickman or in combination with his guests in solos, duets and ensemble pieces.
Among the highlights of the evening included a series of songs that Brickman said he "learned from" growing up and that were an "early influence" on his music, including "Green," a song originally sung by Kermit the Frog," as well as "Sing," from the popular Sesame Street television show, and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Rainbow Connection" from "The Muppet Movie," and "When You Wish Upon A Star."
The holiday highlight of the show was the performance of a new song written by Brickman entitled "Fa La La La La," which in an interview with The Republican the artist said he wanted to write a Christmas song that had a classic, old-time feel to it. He and all of his guests performed the song and invited audience participation in singing the chorus of "Fa La La La La."
Brickman promised his audience his music for the evening would be an "antidote to all the chaos going on," and indeed, it was.
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