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REVIEW
JOE'S
PUB II, BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND
As you may know, I saw Hayley in her NY debut at Joe's Pub in
June, as well as in Bryant Park when she performed with the
New York Pops. I briefly debated returning for her second appearance
at Joe's Pub, and almost debated too long, but I snagged, no
joke, the very last ticket available. In fact, it turns out,
they had oversold tickets and the pub was full to the brim and
then some that night. If this is any precedent for the future,
when they say Hayley's coming to your area, you better reserve
your tickets immediately.
The day of the performance I was in the office, so it was relatively
easy to slip out at 4:30 and slip across the Holland Tunnel
into the city without battling too much traffic. I was well-equipped
with camera, pictures previously taken, a CD or two, black Sharpie,
and small presents for Hayley. Parking in a nearby garage, I
walked up to Joe's Pub, but of course they didn't open till
6. A few folks were standing outside talking through the bars
to Steve Abbott, Hayley's manager, who I briefly said hello
to. He said there might be some slightly different pieces on
the program that evening, and confirmed that Welsh mezzo-soprano
Katherine Jenkins, who I had heard rumors would also be present,
in fact would be present.
In due time the doors opened and I took my seat, with a perfect
view of the stage, unfortunately somewhat distant from my friends
Alena and Josh. Also disappointing, I heard through the grapevine
that Hayley was planning to depart immediately afterwards. Nevertheless,
I ordered my meal (chicken with arugala and parmesan), and chatted
for a while with Alena when she came over to me. Gerald Westenra
walked by soon after that, and we pulled him aside and talked
to him for awhile. I congratulated him on Hayley's being invited
to sing with the Boston Pops, and remarked how this would give
her and me something in common, since I had also sung with that
orchestra, though as a chorister, not as a soloist. He said
there would be several area appearances. After Alena returned
to her seat, I asked how this had been set up, as I had visions
of Hayley having to go in front of Keith Lockhart and Dennis
Alves and other Pops officers and sing accompanied only by piano.
Apparently this was not the case, though, it was done by Steve
Abbott submitting the appropriate demo and pressing till Keith
Lockhart said yes. I was impressed, and said I thought it was
quite an accomplishment considering Lockhart had refused to
hear a certain other singer of the same age group. I also said
that I knew they had to be off afterwards, but I did have some
things I would like to give to Hayley. He said if I came backstage
afterwards they might still be around for about 15 minutes.
I thanked him and said I'd talk to him later, then slipped over
to Alena and whispered what I'd been told to her, warning her
in the stern tones I use when I want no mistake to be made not
to blab and to be discreet afterward. Returning to my seat I
found myself next to Brian Lane, a British promoter from Universal,
and another Universal person whose name I did not catch, and
we chatted about Hayley and about Katherine Jenkins and a bit
about politics till it was showtime.
The show began with Hayley's pianist and violinist (whose names
I did catch as Ian and Fiona this time) playing an alternatively
lyrical and lively prelude. Good players as they are, though,
it was clear we all were waiting for Hayley. To loud applause
she entered, wearing jeans, a sleeveless pale green satin top,
and flat iridescent green sandals, greeted the audience, and
began Pokarekare Ana, her signature piece. I knew she had sung
last night in the Garden State Arts Center with a full orchestra,
but obviously it had not tired her voice out one bit, it was
as clear and ethereal as ever, with not one wrong note. After
applause, Hayley explained the significance of the song, and
said how much she loved being in New York over the past few
weeks; she'd be departing Friday for home to shoot a PBS special.
She then moved into "River of Dreams," based, as she
explained, on a Vivaldi melody from the Four Seasons. This was
followed by one of her personal favorites, "Beat of Your
Heart." Both of these songs were well-received by the audience.
She then sang "Mary, Did you Know?" another favorite
of hers. Her voice went especially warm on this one, and it
was evident that, whatever else she might believe, she believed
what she was singing here. This too drew great applause. Hayley
then addressed the audience, saying she was happy to be in New
York, and also happy to introduce an artist who had toured with
her in the UK: the lovely Katherine Jenkins.
Also greeted by applause, Katherine Jenkins entered. I had seen
many images of her on the internet, but I was absolutely bowled
over by her appearance in the flesh, impossibly beautiful in
a white dress covered with fuschia flowers, white stockings,
and matching fuschia heels. She began Schubert's "Ave Maria,"
and did certainly as good a job with it as Hayley did in June
at this same venue, though of course her voice was darker and
richer in tone than Hayley's simply by virtue of her being a
mezzo and Hayley being a soprano. After loud applause she greeted
the audience and remarked on how far she'd come from a year
ago being a schoolteacher in Wales. She had four goals, one
being to sing at the local opera house, which she'd accomplished,
two to hit number one on the British classical charts, which
she had accomplished with "Premiere" although that
hasn't hit these shores yet, three to sing at the Royal Albert
Hall, which she'd accomplished, and four, to be here at this
venue. After applause mixed with laughter she said she'd like
to be "a bit of a naughty girl" with her next piece,
which essentially says "if I love you, watch out!"
With that she began Bizet's "Habanera" from "Carmen,"
complete with some very believable hip sways and hand movements,
though not enough to be distracting. Her French was impeccable,
and the sultriness in her voice palpable. I feel no qualms in
saying she would have no trouble at all carrying off the whole
role of Carmen at Covent Garden. After applause, she welcomed
Hayley back to the stage.
Hayley began her second suite with what I think is becoming
her "signature" original piece: "Who Painted
the Moon Black?" It received the largest applause of all
the pieces in June and no less applause this time around. She
then sang Carl Orff's "In Trutina" from "Carmina
Burana," which was also well-received, as it should have
been, for it was completely perfect.
To end the official part of the show, Hayley welcomed Katherine
Jenkins back to the stage for a duet version of the Maori lullaby
"Hine e Hine." Though it certainly sounds no less
lovely when Hayley sings it by herself, there is no question
that it gained immeasurably when Katherine added her voice in
harmony as well as taking lead on a verse. The audience applauded
wildly, and it is here that myself and Alena slipped from our
seats over to the way backstage. As she had last time, though,
Hayley returned to the stage, touched one note, and sang "Amazing
Grace" without any accompaniment at all, again in her single
bravest act of the evening. Bowing and smiling, she bade everyone
goodnight and departed the stage.
Alena, myself, and a few other souls were waiting for her backstage,
but she gave us a friendly hello, indicating she recognized
us from the two other times we'd met her. Alena had her sign
a few things, and then I said I knew she wanted to get going,
but I had a thank-you gift or two for her. I gave her three
enlargements I'd made from other pictures I'd taken, two simply
of her waving, which I said she could do whatever she wanted
with, and one of her posing with the NY fireman from Bryant
Park, for, I said, whatever other landmark she posed next to
in NY, this was the most important. I also gave her a teddy
bear (smallish, because I know she travels with only two suitcases)
with calico angel wings and a pillow in its paws that said "angel
on duty," explaining to her that I did not know if she
liked stuffed animals or not, but I got it for her because I
thought the message fit. She responded that she did in fact
like stuffed friends and that it was very cute. I had dashed
off a thank-you card for her as well, recapping the three events
I'd seen her at and telling her I knew she was a world-class
singer, but that she was also a world-class person, which, surprisingly,
she opened and read on the spot, thanking me warmly. In what
I thought would be my final gesture of the evening, I asked
her to sign one more copy of "Pure." Although I had
already decided I was going to send a signed copy of that to
a friend of mine in Ireland, I had yet to actually act on that
(mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa), and since then she
had suffered a death in the family. Thinking a personalized
CD might be a good cheer-her-up gift, I told Hayley of Claire's
loss and asked her to sign once more. Hayley gave a genuine
expression of sorrow and gladly wrote "To Claire, all the
best with your singing! Love, Hayley xxx" on the CD.
I was ready to dash at that point, but it seemed that the floodgates
had opened, and the room was now full of 80 or more people looking
to wish Hayley well and get things signed. As one might expect,
a lot of these were return people from her June engagement at
this venue, and had enlargements of pictures where she'd posed
with them for her to sign. Surprisingly, a few people had even
grabbed the table centerpieces that advertised her and were
asking her to sign them. Steve MacDonald was among the group,
though we had not spoken very much that evening, and this time
he was prepared, with a full run of Hayley's CDs for her to
sign, which she did without batting an eyelash. Hayley also
signed for several young girls, who I am glad were not denied
the chance to meet her. Katherine also came out and joined the
fray, greeting all the new fans she'd made that night. Seeing
all this, I decided it was too good to miss, took out my camera,
and began to shoot away.
After a few shots, I got to talk to Katherine, congratulating
her on her performance, telling her how wonderful she looked,
and apologizing that I had nothing for her to sign. She was
enchantingly pleasant and said that was not a problem. She said
that she was working on her second album, titled "Second
Nature" which would be coming out soon, and would be mostly
popular classical tunes, but would include some music from films,
including from "Saving Private Ryan." I told her that
was great, especially the latter. She happily posed for a portrait
shot, and then also for shots with Steve MacDonald and myself,
and let me thank her with a kiss on the cheek. She also posed
with Hayley, as that was going to be a shot people would inevitably
want. I was awed when I found out that she had done all of this
despite having eaten some bad sushi the night before which had
made her VERY sick that day, and which she was still not feeling
so great from. If she is this great with all her fans, and this
much of a trooper going forward, she is going to build a big
following here.
Things were still not over, as a man identifying himself as
John G asked me if I was "Fusilier" from the internet.
I said I was, and loaned him my Sharpie when it was his turn
to meet Hayley. He had her sign probably four pictures, and
gave her both a box of roses and some form of wrapped gift.
I do not know what it was, for she did not open it on the spot.
I continued to shoot away, but desisted when Hayley commented
that her eyes were starting to hurt from all the flashes, for
I was not the only one trying to get pictures. I was near the
end of the roll anyway, and finished with two shots that did
not involve her. I did ask her to sign another copy of the picture
with her and the fireman, for the fireman had asked me to provide
him with a copy. This she did graciously, and I told her and
her father how, but for a chance phone call, I would not be
here, since I had been scheduled to go to the WTC on that fateful
September day, but had been sent somewhere else at the last
minute. Both agreed that what had happened that day was horrible,
and that those who fought it were heroes, and certainly this
hero was deserving of this piece of memorabilia. In subsequent
chatter Hayley remarked on how she'd been living it up eating-wise,
and also on how she loved dark chocolate when she could get
it. I said I'd have brought some if I'd known, but she said
she'd actually not eaten any chocolate for two weeks at that
point, and was kind of proud of herself for being good that
way. Well she should have been too, for chocolate is not good
for the vocal cords. It was starting to get late (it had been
easily 30 minutes by now), and Gerald tapped Hayley on the shoulder
to tell her that their car was outside. I shook hands with both,
kissed Hayley on the cheek, and wished both of them a safe flight
home, tellign them I'd see them at the Boston Pops. With that
they said goodbye to the remaining people and left, leaving
a lot of us out of breath, but well satisfied.
Alena, husband Josh, Steve MacDonald and myself, all still awed,
walked across the street in the still-light evening to a nearby
Starbucks, where we chewed over our experiences that evening
and the previous two evenings we'd seen Hayley, as well as a
few other things, over over-priced coffee drinks. All of us
agreed that Hayley had certainly made us and many other people
very happy, and has a great future ahead of her if she continues
to follow her current path.
I suppose this brings me to the end of this trilogy of reviews,
but I certainly hope to be writing again come Christmastime,
when Hayley tours with the Boston Pops. I certainly thank Hayley,
should you read this, for being so gracious so many times and
bringing a lot of happiness to a lot of people. I also thank
Katherine for the same, and for being so selfless as to give
of yourself even when not feeling your best.
Steven
Olivo
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Accompanying Images 
COMING SOON
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