Boogsey Music
My Funny Valentine Performed in the Salon Tradition Can Be as Sweet as the Words Themselves
Last night I attended an intimate soiree that featured some local theater talent in Los Angeles. It was a fundraiser for a charity (Appalachian Children’s Theatre). I am the co-owner of a space in Downtown LA (Agenda Loft) and we are attempting to get it booked as a venue. Since we just finished construction, we’ve been testing out the space with local artists, designers, etc., just to see how it fares. Last night’s event was literally one of those tests. The various acts were mostly musical in nature with a serious Broadway theme and accompanied by a blind pianist. I was asked to perform because the person putting on the event discovered that I was a musician. I grabbed my track (no budget for my band) and sang to it. Now here’s what’s interesting about my performance. All the other singers sang with no amplification—something I haven’t done in a really long time. The space has natural reverb and the acoustics are really nice. So, I sang without a mic too and it was strange. I performed “My Funny Valentine” upon the request of my business partner. It’s his favorite. The difficult thing about singing an intimate ballad with dynamic range is you need amplification, especially during the quiet moments. How else can you get soft for effect if nobody can hear you? Belting the loud parts is easy and quite comforting in this situation. But usually the opposite ensues. When I perform with a band that’s where my mic tends to get in the way (I must use mic control). You see, I have a very big voice. However, this particular arrangement is full of peaks and valleys.
A little history about my selected song:
After being performed by such greats as Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Linda Ronstadt, and even Miles Davis, “My Funny Valentine” has become one of the most recorded songs in history and takes its rightful place as part of The Great American Song Book. Performed in the musical “Babes in Arms” in 1937 and written by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, “Babes in Arms” opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway in New York, New York, on April 14, 1937, and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith sings the song to Valentine “Val” LaMar. In the song, Billie pokes fun at some of Valentine’s characteristics, but ultimately affirms that he makes her smile and that she doesn’t want him to change. The song first hit the charts in 1945. “My Funny Valentine” appears on over 1,300 albums by over 600 artists (including mine).
The above information is all well and good, but I recall once being told that there’s more to this song than we know. In the 20s apparently, this song was showcased in Paris and it was about a bird. Now that’s what I was told. However, I have had little luck backing up that tidbit of information online. It just goes to show you that the world wide web should not be our only source of information.
Now, back to my “microphoneless” performance last night, many performers have said how they prefer a salon-style theater experience. And that’s what last night’s performance was. 25 guests, all eyes on me. I must admit I prefer a little distance from my audiences. It seems a lot easier for me when I can randomly peer out at the them while singing, but not embarrass the hell out of a patron by singing to someone who doesn’t want to be sung to . . . especially on a song like “Funny Valentine!” Into whose eyes do I gaze while reciting, “Thou knowest not my dim-witted friend the picture thou hast made.” Or better still, “Slightly dopey gent.” When performing it to a large faceless crowd, I can pretend to stare at someone across the room in the back over hundreds or even thousands of people and safely sing, “Is your figure less than Greek? Is your mouth a little bit weak?” I refrain from serenading my significant other during my performance of that song for fear of hitting a nerve—this song could cause a fight if you’re not careful! What a huge burden. But after all that mess is finished, I love to bring it home with the lyrics, “Don’t change a hair for me, not if you care for me. Stay little valentine, stay. Each day is Valentine’s Day.” So even though I might have humiliated a few guests at first, all is forgiven whenever I hit that refrain.
When singing a song like “My Funny Valentine,” it is safer to hide behind a microphone, because without it, you’re just as exposed as the subject for whom this song was written— that gangly, awkward, yet strangely beautiful creature. Here’s a thought, maybe we should toss our mics every once in awhile . . . It might just help us all to become much better performers!
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