#1
Posted: 4/25/22 at 10:53pm
Did anyone go to the concert tonight? Wish I could have gone. Song list? Review?
Kristen and Bobby Lopez NY Pops
#2
Posted: 4/25/22 at 11:27pm
I was there tonight!! Really great show though I did feel it ran a bit long. Personally, highlights were Andrew Rannells’ I Believe, Caissie Levy’s Monster, and Betsy Wolfe’s Getting There. Also thought the Lopez family singing a Wandavision medley was cute. There were some serious sound issues though. Rob McClure and Stephanie D’Abruzzo’s mics weren’t working at the top of For Now and they had to restart. Then the final was Let it Go, sung by the company, but with some solos at the beginning. Only one handheld was working so they were passing them around and got a joke out of it but I was perplexed at how the sound went down so badly at the end. Still a really fun evening out and some wonderful performances from stellar talent.
#3
Posted: 4/25/22 at 11:37pm
Went and had a good time. Steven Reineke, (the conductor) seemed a little off his game tonight. He had a bunch of moments of misspeaking which is unlike him. There were also sound issues, but it was a fun night. There was one song from In Transit, Coco and Finding Nemo: The Musical, a couple of songs from Frozen 2, “Baptize Me,” “You and Me (But Mostly Me)” and “I Believe” from Mormon, “Only For Now” and “The More You Ruv Someone” from Avenue Q, a medley from WandaVision featuring the Lopezes and their daughters and of course a bunch of songs from Frozen. Songs from the Frozen musical highlighted why it hasn’t been a success. That’s when things lagged. “Let It Go” was the finale and I really thought Idina would be a surprise, but she wasn’t. Disappointing as I know she’s in NY. Kristen Bell had also left by then. That was the song with the most mic issues, so everyone was literally passing one working microphone around. It’s a good thing Carnegie is known for their acoustics.
In spite of the disappointments, it was a beautiful night. It was their first gala since Covid, so the bumps are understandable. When the Pops are all performing, it is glorious, and there were some genuine smiles between those reuniting on that stage. I was happy to be back.
Updated On: 4/26/22 at 11:37 PM
#4
Posted: 4/25/22 at 11:38pm
Highlights for me were I Believe & You and Me (But Mostly Me), Go With the Flow, and For Now. Honestly though, so many of the songs could have been called a highlight. With that collection of songs & performers you really can’t go wrong.
The sound issues were definitely surprising but they recovered well and did make it really funny. I wonder if the fact that it was only ever one or two mics being used at time before For Now contributed.
Updated On: 4/26/22 at 11:38 PM
#5
Posted: 4/25/22 at 11:49pm
Set List:
- Overture Medley
- For the First Time in Forever - Kristen Bell & Samantha Barks
- Love is an Open Door - Kristen Bell & Santino Fontana
- The More You Ruv Someone - Ann Harada & Stephanie D’Abruzzo
- I Believe - Andrew Rannells
- You and Me (But Mostly Me) - Andrew Rannells & Josh Gad
- Baptize Me - Josh Gad & Nikki M. James
- Go With the Flow - Mykal Kilgore & Camp Broadway
- Getting There - Betsy Wolfe
- Remember Me - Jaime Camil
- Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
- Monster - Caissie Levy
- The Next Right Thing - Patti Murin
- In Summer - Josh Gad
- I Can’t Lose You - Patti Murin & Samantha Barks
- Into the Unknown - Samantha Barks
- WandaVision Medley - Kristen, Bobby, Katherine, and Annie Lopez
- For Now - Rick Lyon, Jordan Gelber, Jennifer Barnhart, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Ann Harada, Rob McClure, Maggie Lakis, Mykal Kilgore
- Let It Go - Full Cast
Updated On: 4/25/22 at 11:49 PM
#6
Posted: 4/26/22 at 12:00am
I clicked specifically to see if they did Go with the Flow. Nice!
#7
Posted: 4/26/22 at 12:22am
I had a great time! I will say I have seen 3 shows at Carnegie Hall since the pandemic, and 2 out of 3 had sound issues. They need to get it together! One working mic for a finale is not what people are paying for- but that aside, what a great evening! Standouts were Rannells, Wolfe, Barks, Murin and Levy- I have to say it was a little lop sided and lacked mens songs, would’ve loved to hear Groff come and do Lost in the Woods!
#8
Posted: 4/26/22 at 6:46am
Wow, I saw that Instagram post of Idina backstage at Wicked and assumed she was in town for this as well. Regardless, sounds like a fun evening!
#9
Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:11am
It was a fantastic evening. This was probably the 15th Birthday Gala that I have attended over the years with the NY Pops. There were some mic issues during the finale. And, when it's live, you just never know what will happen. Didn't think it was long at all.
#10
Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:25am
I thought it was a fantastic night! From hearing the original movie Frozen cast to the Broadway and West End cast, to seeing all the originals in Avenue Q with their puppets (John Tartaglia was supposed to be there but had a scheduling conflict, sad), to the first time hearing Into The Unknown performed live, and singing and dancing to Agatha All Along. I didn’t mind the mic issues -- it’s live, and they handled it great. I didn’t think it went long at all and would have gladly heard some more.
One note: we got the $49 tickets in the back of a side 2nd tier box and the chairs were completely on top of each other and I couldn’t see a thing. We ended up going to the box office and paying $25 more to move to the front row of a closer to the stage 2nd tier box and then saw everything great. But I can’t believe they charged anything for those original seats -- there’s partial obstructed view and then there’s fully obstructed view.
#11
Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:37am
I was there - pure joy in the room! If you check the performers IG stories you can see more pics & snippets of video. I hope they recorded it so people can see more…
Josh Gad did double duty singing from Mormon & as Olaf from Frozen.
They did an orchestra-only version of Do you want to build a snowman with students that was charming.
I thought everything sounded richer backed by such a full orchestra, minor mic issues aside.
Reminded me to get to Carnegie Hall more often, especially for gala programs like this that are so special.
#12
Posted: 4/26/22 at 4:02pm
16 Years Later said: “One note: we got the $49 tickets in the back of a side 2nd tier box and the chairs were completely on top of each other and I couldn’t see a thing. We ended up going to the box office and paying $25 more to move to the front row of a closer to the stage 2nd tier box and then saw everything great. But I can’t believe they charged anything for those original seats -- there’s partial obstructed view and then there’s fully obstructed view."
I had one of those seats and luckily had nobody next to me so was able to move around to find a window between the people in front of me pretty easily. I felt like I got great value being so close to the stage for that price, but I did have to make an effort to lean in the right spots to see well.
#13
Posted: 4/26/22 at 7:25pm
Just watched the Let it Go finale. So sweet and funny with the mic. I noticed Betsy Wolfe sang a solo in the beginning and thought of how she was originally announced to do the development for Elsa in the stage show.. Still wish we could've had that.
#14
Posted: 4/26/22 at 11:46pm
It was a great concert. The birthday galas usually end at 8:30, this ended at 8:45. There was no intermission. It felt a little long by the end. I didn't care for the Lopez family set, but I guess The Pops can't refuse them if they asked to perform. It reminded me of Broadway by the Year last month that went for three hours long. Joe Iconis did a three or four song set. Again, the producer of the concert is not going to say no to Joe Iconis doing that many songs...
#15
Posted: 4/27/22 at 11:51am
It wasn't some ego thing that caused them to do the "Lopez family set:" much like most of the other numbers in the show, the WandaVision set was performed by the original vocalists. The songs from that TV miniseries were written AND performed by the Lopezes.
I have to say, I didn't really comprehend how huge the cultural impact of the Lopezes as a writing team was until I saw this list. In the past decade and a half, they've separately or together worked on two iconic adult-comedy musicals, written one of the biggest Disney sing-along smashes of all time, scored pop crossover hits with their Disney songs, written for Marvel AND spawned several mainstream internet memes based purely on their work.
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