The Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part Four- Page 114

[jayfpinker]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 7:20pm

Youtube MAY eventually get "Younger than Springtime," "Georgia," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You..."
The "Begin the Beguine" lost audio, I think...
Soon I hope!

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 7:27pm

Oooooooh! :)

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 7/4/10 at 9:06pm

JAY!!! That would be amazing if you're able to share those!

And thank you so much for that set list. That is definitely an.....eclectic group of songs. I don't think he's ever done a solo concert like this before, he's always been part a larger group, doing just one or two songs over the course of an entire show.

I hope he had a good experience, and realized that doing a show like that isn't nearly as terrifying as he thinks it is. And maybe, just MAYBE, he'll consider doing a full-on cabaret type of show, or maybe even record a solo album!

[jayfpinker]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 11:33am

Another AWFUL video,
~ but its Raul singing GEORGIA

http://www.youtube.com/v/68XzXEX4oHY&hl=en_US&fs=1

Updated On: 7/5/10 at 11:33 AM

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 2:11pm

Thanks!! If anyone's interested I converted it to an mp3 (I wanted it on my iPod!) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5N3T7U25

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 5:21pm

Mary Mitchell Campbell plays a hot jazz piano!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 6:45pm

Not a huge fan of that song, actually. But thanks for uploading.

MMC is fiercely talented. A lot of people actually have no idea how much.

[jayfpinker]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 7:33pm

"Out There" from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=WQJ332E_4mk&vq
Updated On: 7/5/10 at 07:33 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 7:41pm

Ok, NOW that's more my style. Thank you. Would love this as an mp3 too.

[Hest882]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 8:02pm

Jay, if I could kiss you right now you'd get a big smackeroo right on the lips!

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 8:17pm

Jay, I hope you realize how much of a hero you are just now....

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 2:15pm

I love this more than anything right now. :) Here's the mp3! http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TWLYJ95Y

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 2:44pm

Thank you!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 6:44pm

Out There! That video made me go find the YouTube video for the movie, which I will now go watch in its entirety on VHS. No offense to Raul, but Tom Hulce still gives me chills.

Thanks for the recap, jay. Did he ever explain why he was in Georgia of all places for this concert?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 6:52pm

Haha, I think that is the question on all of our minds. Why, Georgia, why?

(Also a good song that he could/should sing.)

Updated On: 7/6/10 at 06:52 PM

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 6:53pm

? Cause it's on the way to Florida?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 6:54pm

... lol.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 7:11pm

I've wanted to hear Raul sing Proud of Your Boy since the cop-out at Chatterbox. I hate that I have Clay Aiken on my iTunes because it's the best version of that song.

He should just do an all-Disney concert.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 7:17pm

Hey, I like Clay's voice! But yeah, that's SUCH a Raul song.

And YES PLEASE. For all of us dorks. I am not kidding when I say I consider Alan Menken a god among men.

Updated On: 7/6/10 at 07:17 PM

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 8:47pm

A lovely blog entry by someone who grew up with Raul:

GROWING UP WITH BABALU’S RAUL ESPARZA
July 6, 2010, 7:57 pm
Filed under: My POV

This week, Raúl Esparza comes home to perform in the production of Babalu: Lucie Arnaz Celebrates the Music of her Father, Desi Arnaz in the Knight Concert Hall. This will be Raúl’s first time performing for his hometown audience as a Tony-nominated actor. As Cuban-Americans, we take great pride that Raúl was chosen to serve tribute to a Cuban celebrity by honoring the music and legacy of Desi Arnaz.

Raúl and I began our friendship well before we were born. Our families were so close that the lines between “friends” were quickly blurred into “family.” We were both born to Cuban parents in Wilmington, Delaware, months apart and grew up as cousins. We shared family events, childhood summers, celebrated birthdays and marriages.

There is one summer, out of many, that stands out. We were about 12, and we were spending several weeks with Raúl’s aunt and uncle, who are my parents’ best friends, at their apartment on Miami Beach. It was a summer filled with lots of love and great fun. We spent our days in the water, visited the zoo, went to see movies like ET, and made up games. One game became our summer obsession… it was a game of “Who Dunnit” with four characters each of us had to act out in order to solve a crime. We would make up the story as we went along and each storyline and performance was more outrageous and dramatic than the one before. Our imaginative, elaborate stories rivaled those seen on “Law and Order.” Raúl would approach each part with such enthusiasm and passion that he would stop us in our tracks.

It did not surprise me that Raul would become an actor. He was talented from the start and was committed to learning and worked hard to perfect his talent. It’s been with great pride that we have been able to see him perform in many different cities in a variety of performances where he consistently draws his audience into the lives of each character he portrays.

Whenever possible, we always visit Raúl backstage after a performance. As we were leaving the theater with him after a recent performance in New York, he mentioned that he was feeling a little run down. My mother quickly went to him and buttoned up his coat, wrapped the scarf around his neck and told him: “Cuidate hijo”. He is a four-time Tony-nominated stage actor, a performer on TV and in the movies, a phenomenal singer, and he will always be part of our “family.”

Tessie Alvarez Bravo
Senior Program Director
Hands On Miami

GROWING UP WITH BABALU’S RAUL ESPARZA

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/6/10 at 8:57pm

Aww, that was sweet.

I am very interested to read stuff about the concerts this weekend. This must be extraordinary for him to get to do, and I'm sure he's very very proud of it. I'm happy for him that they're getting to do this there.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 7/7/10 at 12:18am

He loves Georgia...especially the food.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 7/7/10 at 12:39am

A couple of pics from the Miami press conference for Babalu.

[IMG]

[IMG]

Updated On: 7/7/10 at 12:39 AM

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/7/10 at 9:24am

YES on the Chatterbox moment!! That just about broke my heart when he almost sang it and then didn't. I also agree with Menken being a god among men, although as a lyric-focused person I also hold Howard Ashman to that level. I've made it one of my life goals to collect a recording of every Ashman or Menken song ever - I've been working on it since I was twelve and saw Beauty and the Beast (in movie theaters...yes I'm getting old).

And to get this ramble back on topic, Raul doing an all Menken concert would be the best thing EVER!

[andi1235]

Posted: 7/7/10 at 9:31am

Oh, and as far as Proud of Your Boy, although I am partial to Menken's demo (the one from the "The Music Behind the Magic" box set from the 90s), I like John Barrowman's version MUCH better than the Clay Aiken one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWUU6xANXHs :) No Raul, but he does a nice job.