Saturday Song: Lily's Eyes

I have had the privilege of singing this duet in two productions. I sang the Archibald Craven role as part of Prospect Theater Company's Broadway Revue at DeSoto Theater in Rome, Georgia, in the late nineties.

Then jin 2004 we did a full staging of the play at Rome City Auditorium, under the auspices of Rome's Own Musical Ensemble. It was a particular joy to sing the role of Archibald in this production because both of my daughters also had major roles. Brannon had gorgeous solos and a wonderful dramatic part as Martha, and Lillian sang beautifully as Rose.

Then later, when I was taking voice lessons from Angela Flanagan (who played the ghostly Lily in the 2004 production) I recorded the duet -singing both parts. So this is a duet with myself. I tried to give the two characters Achibald and his brother Neville distinctive voices.

Song: Mi Mancherai

Back when I was taking voice lessons from Angela Flanagan she taught me this Italian song. I first heard it sung by Josh Groban. 

Here is my recording of it.

Here are the lyrics and translation taken from another website.

Mi Mancherai

Mi mancherai se te ne vai
Mi mancherà la tua serenità
Le tue parole come canzoni al vento
E l'amore che ora porti via
Mi mancherai se te ne vai
Ora per sempre non so come vivere
E l'allegria, amica mia, va via con te

Mi mancherai, mi mancherai, perchè vai via
Perchè l'amore in te si è spento
Perchè, perchè...
Non cambierà niente lo so
E dentro sento te

Mi mancherai, mi mancherai, perchè vai via
Perchè l'amore in te si è spento
Perchè, perchè...
Non cambierà niente lo so
E dentro sento te

Mi mancherà l'immensità
Dei nostri giorni e notti insieme noi
I tuoi sorrisi quando si fa buio
La tua ingenuità da bambina, tu...

Mi mancherai amore mio
Mi guardo e trovo un vuoto dentro me
E l'allegria, amica mia, va via con te

Translation

I'll Miss You (Mi Mancherai)
I’ll miss you, if you go away
I’ll miss your serenity
Your words like songs in the wind
And Love, that you take away.

I’ll miss you, if you go away
Now and forever I don’know how to live
And joy, my friend, goes away with you

I’ll miss you, I’ll miss you, because you go away
Because the love in you is dead
Because, because...
Nothing it’s gonna change, I know
And inside of me I feel you

I’ll miss you, I’ll miss you, because you go away
Because the love in you is dead
Because, because...
Nothing it’s gonna change, I know
And inside of me I feel you

I’ll miss the immensity
Of our days and nights,us together
Your smiles when it’s getting dark
Your being naive like a little girl

I’ll miss you, my love
I look at myself and I find emptiness inside of me
And joy, my friend, goes away with you

Sunday Concert: The More I See You

The sheet music for "The More I See You" is one from the stack of pieces, some going back to the late 1800s, that we found in this old house when we bought it. The song is a jazz standard. Check iTunes and you will find it recorded by scores of artists from Ella and Duke to Carly Simon and Bobby Darin. When I took the stack over to Angela Flanagan McRee, she picked this one out as one of her favorites for me to work on. So here's Terrell Shaw's version (with Angela on the keyboard.)

Sunday Concert: Yours Truly

I love to sing and act. A couple of years ago I had the great privilege of playing the tortured Arcibald Craven in the beautiful musical The Secret Garden. I was especially pleased that my co-stars in that production included both my daughters, Lillian as Rose and Brannon as Martha.

Angela Flanagan McRee performed the role of Lily, Archie's late and lamented wife. Angela is owner, with her husband Ben, of Musikworks and also my voice coach. Several months ago she asked if I would mind her posting our duet from The Secret Garden on the Musikworks website as a sample of her vocal talents. I was pleased to agree. Today I happened to think of that and checked it out. Sure enough there we are. Looks like I could do better than a peck on the forehead for a stage kiss. And the lighting is not great. But here we are out on a limb at the Rome City Auditorium.

Click to see and hear Angela McRee and Terrell Shaw performing "How Could I Ever Know" from The Secret Garden.

Click here to see pictures from the production.