Saturday, July 10, 2010

An Amazing Show

Last night, Mr. Kirby and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Ben Vereen's one-man show in Hartford. He is performing as part of the Hartford Stage's Broadway Series. The shows are at the Roberts Theatre in West Hartford for the summer while the Stage undergoes renovation.

The intimate theatre is the perfect setting for this show. I first saw Vereen on Broadway the week before Jesus Christ Superstar opened -- the last week of previews. He created the role of Judas and he still has that power in his performance today.

Tickets are available for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Do yourself a favor and go see one of the few triple-threats in show business today. Two hours without intermission -- we could have listened to him and his incredible jazz band all night.

2 comments:

tessa said...

Incredible. I was in California this week, clearing out the memorabilia at my mother's house (she is moving), and found a letter home from 1973 about seeing Ben Vereen on Broadway in "Pippin".

And his life story is amazing.

If you look on wikipedia there is even a New Haven, CT connection.

Kirby said...

You're right, Tessa. About 4 years ago, Ben learned he was adopted, and his birth mother lived in New Haven. She is gone now, but at the Friday night show, his mom's sister, her family, and a niece were in the audience -- they still live here. He spoke to and about them and it was wonderful.