| I was there, on the lawn, so my view of the performances was not ideal (though the projections from the multiple cameras on the jumbotrons were impressive.) The highlights, for me, were Tony Yazbek's performance of Maria, and having the privilege of seeing John Williams conduct a new work composed for the occasion, with Yo-Yo Ma on cello. Audra McDonald was, as expected, very charming in her role as the host of the evening, and she led off all the performers in the only encore - Somewhere. The West Side Story medley, the encore, and the overture for Candide (which led off the concert), were the only works performed from his compositions for Broadway. There were a few pre-taped testimonials from fellow artists that were shown at various points during the evening, one of which included remarks from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. Stephen Spielberg and Bradley Cooper were there - which I only learned later (they posed for photos on stage with John Williams and Bernstein's children during intermission.) |
