Once Upon a Dream
starring The Rascals
Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto
by Live Music Head
August 14, 2013
 |
| (LMH left, with Tanya Pitel) |
The songs you know.
The story you don’t know.
On night two of a ten-show run,
we arrived at the Royal Alex Theatre in joyful spirits
to see Once Upon a Dream
starring The Rascals,
a rock and roll theatrical event
that promised to visually delight.
When original band members
Eddie Brigati (vocals),
Felix Cavaliere (keyboards/vocals),
Gene Cornish (guitar),
and Dino Danelli (drums),
appeared on stage fronting a big screen of liquid
psychedelia,
it was indeed a delight,
both visually and sonically.
With the help of Mark Alexander on second keyboard,
Mark Prentice on bass,
and backup singers Sharon Bryant,
Angela Clemmons and Dennis Collins,
the music of The Rascals had us bopping along from the get-go,
for a full two hours,
caught up in the fun-loving Brigati tambourine
in a bio-concert of 28 songs that,
with a backdrop of archival footage,
educated us in the life and times of the band
during the civil rights movement and Vietnam war,
and the Dream that was once Martin Luther King.
Images of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra
also appeared,
with a Big Pussy on the side.
So Beautiful.
Kudos to production designer,
Marc Brickman.
An American soul group who originated in New Jersey,
The Rascals were together less than ten years,
but survived the heavy-hitters of the 1960’s British
Invasion
by turning out several enduring hit records of their own.
Songs like Groovin’, It’s a Beautiful Morning,
and Good Lovin’.
Having played together only once
since disbanding in the early 70s,
didn’t stop The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
from honouring The Rascals
with an induction in 1997.
For today, The Rascals are considered one of the most
influential bands of all time.
If anyone were to ask me,
“What’s your favourite Rascals song?”
I would prob’ly say “People Got to Be Free”,
because it is.
And hearing it performed live in The Royal Alex
sure was great!
But the highlight song of the night for me overall
had to be: Hold On.
“Just like a bee needs a hive,
I need your love to keep me alive.
Do you hear what I'm sayin'?”
Get down!
That one really rocked me.
And the song that brought a tear:
How Can I Be Sure?
Best stories:
When Phil Spector asked The Rascals if he could produce them
and they said no,
Spector kicked a tree and broke his foot.
And hearing about how The Rascals came to their end,
when it all went dark,
I laughed out loud!
It was writer-producer-director-presenter
Steven Van Zandt’s Dream
to re-unite The Rascals,
the first band he ever saw.
And together with Maureen,
his lovely wife and partner in vision,
(both of whom came out at the end of the performance
to take a bow with the band),
he clearly worked long and hard to see it realized.
To them, and all involved with this Dream,
I say:
“Grande lavoro!
We did feel transported back to a
time
when there was such a thing as
idealism;
when there was such a thing as hope;
when there was such a thing as
optimism.
Grazie!”
The Rascals: Once Upon
a Dream website...
Royal Alexandra
Theatre website...
