My Journal

Eden Espinosa - ME
*Tues, 12/16/08

I went to Eden's first of three concerts, produced by Upright Cabaret, and it was unbelievable! Mind-blowing! Eden is an astonishingly gifted person. She inspires me so much!! I was astounded by how personal this concert was. She truly sang from her heart and revealed her soul like I've never seen her do before. So incredibly powerful!

Her song list was amazing (most of whom I'd never heard before), taking us all on an emotional journey of Eden's life and loves. It's not that she shared details of her personal life, but instead offered glimpses into her emotional and psychological perspectives.

1. Gravity (by Sara Bareilles) - A beautiful song, and a lovely way to ease into the show.

2. We Don't Have That Much Time Together (Terence Trent D'Arby) - This was wonderfully fun and jazzy... with a Latin twist Eden got into with relish.

3. A Case of You (Joni Mitchell) - She's sung this before with just an easy going piano underscore, but this time the piano played more of the original Joni accompaniment, with bass and drums adding an up tempo rhythm. I think with the way Eden likes to sing this song, the more simple piano underscoring works better. This time it sounded a bit over produced, limiting her ability to personalize it and sing from the heart. JMHO.

4. I Know You By Heart (Eva Cassidy) - This was definitely one of her best. The heart that may have been stiffled in the previous song was certainly allow total freedom with this one. You could tell Eden loved singing this.

5. Lover You Should Come Over (Jeff Buckley) - Yeah, this was one of my faves. So passionate and fierce... And as many people noted, she did not change the genders in the lyric. Surprising to some, not so much to others. Possibly one of Eden's most daring and courageous choices of the evening. You go girl!

6. Losing My Mind (Stephen Sondheim) - As a Sondheim lover and aficionado, I LOVE this song. It's one I hope to sing myself some day. So when Eden announced that she had never heard of it, before a friend in NYC introduced it to her, I was horrified. ;o) Not really. Eden was too adorable in her embarrassment while admitting, "I know, I'm a horrible musical theatre person." I laughed. Well sung!

7. I'm Gonna Be Strong (Cyndi Lauper) - For some reason, this one didn't stick in my memory. I had to hear it again, after the fact, to recall it. Eden rocked it, though... of course. Again, the message being highly personal to her.

8 & 9. Billy Porter was Eden's guest for the first concert. She had a different one for each. They came on and sang a couple songs to give her a well deserved break. Billy was also the director of the show. He worked with Eden, guiding her through the process of picking songs and discovering the musicality of them, which best fit her style and what she was wanting to say in the show. He obviously knows his stuff, cause the overall structure of the show was very well crafted. And Eden, though obviously nervous, was well rehearsed, vocally confident, and connected with what she was doing. One of the songs Billy sang was "What's Goin' On?". The other I can't remember, but it was a classic standard I recognized. He's a great performer. I'd love to see him in a full concert sometime.

10. Oh City - Another favorite of the evening. I don't know who originally sang it, but it's a gorgeous song. And Eden nailed it so lovingly and beautifully. Again, making it very personal and meaningful to her. It's songs like this that I wondered what the details were in her life that made her connect to these songs so much. The power of emotions coming from her, through the song... stunning... and fascinating.

11. Me (Paula Cole) - Eden loves this song. She's sung it on several other occasions and just nails it every time. She obviously connects to it on a very real, deep level.

12. Love Song (Sara Bareilles) - This was an adorable crowd pleaser that Eden had a blast doing.

13. You Learn (Alanis Morissette) Another fun song that Eden took to heart and made quite meaningful in her delivery.

14. Encore: Ruby Shoes/Defying Gravity/Gravity - This was the most significant number of the evening. Partly due to the timing of when she was performing these concerts (during the final few weeks of Wicked LA, in which she was performing the role of Elphaba, most probably for the last time), and the fact that there were so many of us Wicked fans in the audience.

I was stunned by the ingenious way the three songs were melded together. And to hear her sing Defying Gravity as a ballad, smooth and melodic, was a revelation... especially having heard her sing it traditionally so many times in the musical. I don't ever want to hear her sing this song again any other way but this new way. Once again, it allowed her to make it deeply personal. In the show, it is one of the songs you would often see her crying through. Obviously she has always been able to connect to it as the character, but to see and hear her connecting to it as Eden was breathtaking.

The whole show was stunning, beautiful, mesmerizing, fascinating, electrifying, touching, moving, exquisite, extraordinary, original, heartfelt, soulful, and deeply powerful. I was shaking by the end. So energized, so inspired, so moved, so in awe! She told such an amazing story with these songs. She is too talented to be human.

The title "Me" is appropriate. There was so much of Eden on that stage. We got an amazing look at HER through the song choices and her delivery of them. She really exposed her soul. I was so proud and honored to be there.

Everyone who's going 12/22, you are in for a treat! I wish I could come. But I'll be there on 1/5. I. CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!! [SNEAK PEAK: I told her I was coming back to see her and Tracie. She got all excited and said they'll be doing some RENT for us. Woohoo!!!!!]

*Tues, 1/6/09
Saw the show again last night. The place was bursting with people. Several Wicked folk were there, including Megan, who sat at the table in front of me.

Eden was much more playful this time. I remember her first show as being very focused and intense. This time she was more relaxed, though still with a bit of nervous energy. But she used it well, thoroughly enjoying each song fully. She talked a lot more, which was nice... showing the true "dork" within from time to time. LOL! And she introduced her fabulous band. Major love-fest happening on stage between them all!

My only complaint was that they were a bit too loud, overpowering her now and then, especially during her lower register moments and a few quieter bits. They were rockin' the house for sure, which was appropriate energy, but the bass and piano amps could have been down a few notches. I don't remember the levels being that high the first night. It's a small venue. No need to blast our ears out. Besides which, we don't want her straining her voice to be heard (or to hear herself).

In her first bit of patter, she talked more extensively about how this show came about. Chris and Shane (producers of Upright Cabaret) asked her to do it, after having several talks about the possibilities of her doing a solo concert throughout the year. But then they told her that what they had planned would take place on the four Monday's during the final weeks of her Wicked run. "Awooooh.... Nnnno!" Big laugh from the audience. "But I didn't say 'no'. That would have been old Eden. New Eden says 'face your fears girl!' So I said 'yes'." She explained that the song list is made up of songs that have spoken to her over the years regarding her love life and life in general, which has helped her grow as a person and "come into my own."

It was the same song list as the other performances, with the added bonus of "Take Me or Leave Me" with Tracie Thoms... who also rocked the house with a couple songs of her own. (Tracie was Eden's co-star in RENT on Broadway.) She introduced Tracie with very loving praise of her as an actress and singer. Then in introducing Eden back to the stage, Tracie offered some adorable patter, marveling at her memorable, and fateful experiences with RENT. "First you're going to do the movie. And then you're going to the Broadway show... and it's going to be filmed for all posterity... So now you're in both films. No pressure or anything. Oh and the first time you'll be doing it with Idina Menzel, and the second time with Eden Espinosa. Have fun with that!" LOL! Too funny.

They each said wonderful, loving things about one another, and were very flirty and playful going into the song, as well as during the song. Tracie even said something like, "If I have to kiss a girl 8 shows a week, Eden's my girl!" Fun! They didn't stray too much from the way they did it in the show, just a bit more of them coming through instead of the characters. ;o) They sang their faces off!! The only flub was that Chris Bratten, who filled in for the original music director, got lost somehow during Eden's two verses. But she carried on magnificently, singing as if nothing was wrong (though giving him looks now and then until he caught up with her). The room went wild over every moment of this glorious reunion, with a standing ovation at the end! *sigh* So awesome to see them together again. Definitely the high point of the show for me.

Her intro to "Losing My Mind" was hilarious. She mentioned again about how she didn't know the song until she was asked to sing it in a concert in NYC, but that now she loves it. It speaks to her. She joked about how she can get obsessive about things, "Why don't you like me? I'm cool... But, but why?" and calling herself a nerd. The audience laughed and cheered, 'cause... well, she is. ;o) That's why we love her!

Of course, when she sang her soulful encore... Oh did the tears fall!! It was especially hard since she introduced the song by talking about the closing of Wicked. She pointed out the "little blond sitting over there", who has been her Glinda more than anyone else. For five years this show has been a part of her life, and it was so important for her and Megan to come back and close this production, the one they started, together. *sniff* On the verge of tears at this point, she quickly stopped talking and started singing. As I sat there welling up with tears, a quick glance over to Megan proved to be my utter down fall, as she, of course, was visibly emotional as well. There couldn't have been many dry eyes in the place by the end. *sniff*

There is rumored to be a fourth of the ME concerts to come some time in February. I look forward to more concerts from this extraordinary performer.

~SM