So one of the things I have discovered, or perhaps more accurately have been reminded of, this is year is the power of music to keep me sane and to connect people. After a long day at work, it is music that helps me calm down. In the moments when I am feeling homesick, it is music that helps me reconnect with the memories of people and places I love. During the downtime of this year we have connected as a group of interns through jam time and discussion of our favorite bands.
Over the course of the past two weeks I have had the opportunity to see three very different, yet equally amazing musical shows that have reminded me of the power of music.
On Wednesday, March 23rd, I traveled with Clare and Alyssum to Paramus, NJ to see the Wailin’ Jenny’s. For those of you who don’t know the Jenny’s, they are a Canadian Folk Trio who have a low-key soothing tone. Check them out on youtube-this is one of my favorite songs- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc6HloRYZGc. They are an incredible gifted group of three women who’s voices blend in a way that you can’t tell what is the harmony and what is the melody. Aside from one violin player, they play all of their own instrumentals. During the first 4 songs, one of the women played 4 different instruments. Held in a small auditorium, with maybe 100 people present, the concert was low-key with a Q&A at the end. The three women answered questions about their musical inspirations and the meanings behind their songs. I walked away from this concert feeling a great sense of peace and joy.
Five days later, on Sunday afternoon, I got the opportunity to see STOMP with two of the children from the Jubilee Center and one other chaperone. STOMP is a totally different experience from seeing the Jenny’s. Where the Jenny’s are low-key and quiet concert, STOMP is an energizing, up-beat and fairly loud concert experience. For those of you who don’t know STOMP, they use the body and ordinary material to create a percussion based physical theatre performance. Check them out on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu15Ou-jKM0 . It was an incredible experience to watch the performers create music and tell a story using common household items like lighters, newspapers, garbage cans, plungers and so much more. I walked away from this concert feeling energized and on fire.
Finally, two nights ago, on Friday night, my housemates and I headed to NJPAC to see Spamalot, which is the musical that is lovingly ripped off from Monty Python’s Holy Grail. This is the second time I have seen this particular show but it was great to see again . Once again this was a very different type of show from the first two that I had seen. In true Monty Python fashion, Spamalot is a comical story without much of a plot but definitely a story with a point. I laughed so hard I cried, and enjoyed every minute of it. I walk away from this show with a childlike joy and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.
As I look at this three very different musical experience, I am struck by the similarity of them as well. Each of these groups have taken their unique talents and combined them together to share some part of the human story. Each story is told in a slightly different manner and through a different medium but embedded in each of these performances is the story of love and joy, struggles and challenges that everybody can relate to.
