Thursday, November 13 was a wonderful evening for lovers of show music. The Acton-Boxborough Community Band, led by Conductor Dr. David Manuel Garcia, performed a concert they called “All the World’s a Stage”. The band performed in the Douglas/Gates cafeteria, presenting a program of music from well-known stage and movie musicals of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as a tribute to American musical theater’s roots in classical opera.
The concert opened with a medley from the oldest (1948) musical on the program, “Kiss Me, Kate”. The show is not much performed these days, but Cole Porter’s music for it remains as alive and fresh as ever. Perhaps the most well-known part of the music was from its use by Bugs Bunny, “Overture, curtains, lights. This is it, the night of nights.”
Next on the program was music from West Side Story (1957) by Leonard Bernstein. Based on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, but set in 1950s New York City, “West Side Story” surely is one of the masterpieces of American musical theater, giving us such tunes as “Maria”, “Tonight”, “One Hand, One Heart”, and others.
Moving on to the 21st century, the band performed a suite from Hamilton: An American Musical” (2015) by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The show is inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, starting from his arrival in New York City as an orphan from the Caribbean. The suite includes “You’ll Be Back”, “Helpless”, “One Last Time”, and other favorites.
Following Hamilton was “The Band at the Opera”, arranged by Joseph Compello. The band included this suite as a reminder of American musical theater’s roots in classical opera. The suite includes some of the best known 19th century opera music, including the “Toreador Song” from Bizet’s “Carmen” and an excerpt from the overture to “Rossini’s William Tell”.
The final scheduled piece on the program was a medley of songs from “Rent” (1996) by Jonathan Larson. Usually billed as a rock opera or rock musical, “Rent” is based on the Puccini opera “La Boheme”, set in modern-day New York City rather than 19th century Paris, with the characters plagued by AIDS rather than tuberculosis. This arrangement for band included the songs, “Rent”, “Without You”, “Seasons of Love”, and “Finale B”.
Following Rent we were treated to an encore — a beautifully performed rendition of “Amazing Grace”.
The Acton-Boxborough Community Band operates under the auspices of Acton-Boxborough Community Education. They welcome new members, saying, “Did you grow up playing a band instrument and want to fit music into your busy life? The Acton Community Band is your opportunity to rediscover the joy of making music in a community with other music lovers.” They rehearse on Thursday evenings at R.J. Grey Junior High School, and play two concerts a year.
Bill Ossman plays cello in the Concord Orchestra, and writes occasionally about music for the Acton Exchange.
