STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Sun Valley got a glimpse of Broadway’s blockbuster ‘Hamilton’ Sunday night at the Sun Valley Opera House.
And “Hamilton’s” own General Washington enlisted six Sun Valley youth in the effort.
They shone—just as Washington’s troops did crossing the Delaware, surprising the Hessians in Trenton, N.J.
The young people—Sam Brown, Luke Mauldin, Dawson Howard, Mattigan Monschke, Claire Watson and Liv Nelson--killed it doing something that was not easy.
The group directed by John Mauldin provided the pitter patter for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s creatively crafted “Right Hand Man” as they sang, “We will fight for this land but there’s only one man who can give us a command so we can … Rise up.”
They provided the chorus for “History Has its Eyes on You.” And Brown and Howard put their best imitations of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton up against Clark’s General Washington in “One Last Time.”
Clark told the audience that Manuel saw America as “the great unfinished symphony.”
“And Washington was an amazing leader because he was such a man of integrity and character,” he said. “He was first a farmer who became a soldier and general. And he only served two terms as president—that’s the kind of heart this man had.”
Clark shared some of the life-changing lessons he learned on his journey from Baltimore where he grew up to Broadway throughout the concert.
"I asked my mother when I first said I wanted to be an actor, and she said, 'Before you could talk,' " he said as he described how he hammed it up in his crib. "I have learned that your passion leads you to your purpose."
Clark said his mother worked as a schoolteacher, principal and school administrator on her way to becoming a minister. He got his start singing in church, he said, as he sang "Amazing Grace."
His father could have gotten a full ride to college on a track scholarship but was more interested in earning money, snapping up a job with Westinghouse. He got caught up in drugs for a few years but came out teaching his son lessons about unconditional love and forgiveness.
"He taught me that if you have one breath left in your body, you have one more chance to get it right," Clark said.
Clark confessed that he didn't initially like musicals because he couldn't understand why someone would suddenly erupt in song. He changed his opinion after being told that he just never had seen a musical done well. Singing comes forth, he was told, when stakes are so high that words are not enough.
Clark started Sunday’s musical journey with "On Broadway," then began snapping his fingers to "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" in a casual performance that easily could have earned him a spot in Las Vegas' Rat Pack.
He told how he was managing an open mic night at a small bar when Stevie Wonder asked to sing a 20-minute set. It changed his life, Clark said, launching him on a trajectory that led him to perform as one of The Temptations, then Marvin Gaye in Broadway's "Motown: the Musical."
Marvin Gaye was all about love songs, he added, as he sang "I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and "How Sweet it is (To Be Loved By You).”
Clark shared his anguish of being asked to audition for "Motown: The Musical" singing Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” just after learning his cousin had been killed in crossfire.
“It was the hardest moment in my life. I was hurt, angry,” he recalled, as he began singing “Brother, brother, brother, there’s far too many of you dying…”
“How in the greatest country on earth can something like this happen?” he asked.
Audience members left with an excited buzz as they walked out of the opera house.
Sun Valley Co-Founder recounted chatting with a 7- and 5-year-old in the audience who lamented that their 1- and 3-year-old siblings couldn't be there to see Clark.
"Bryan Terrell Clark has the audience in the palm of his hand with five seconds," Meyer marveled. "He's so professional---he's got to be given all that he does from singing to acting to songwriting to directing."
Sun Valley-area residents who want to see "Hamilton" will get that chance when the popular musical comes to Salt Lake City Dec. 15, 2020-Jan. 17, 2021. It will run at the Morrison Center in Boise after that. The musical so far has generated $2.7 million in ticket sales."
NEXT UP for Sun Valley Opera:
Mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams will perform at a Signature Salon Concert at 6 p.m. March 9 in a private home. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
Williams performed as the Pharoah’s daughter Meketaten in Philip Glass's "Akhanten" at the Metropolitan Opera, among other things. She will sing a selection of songs from Bizet's "Carmen," Rossini's "Una voce poco fa" from "The Barber of Seville," George Gershwin's "Embraceable You" and "Summertime," as well as such songs as "Ride On, King Jesus!"
"You can sit in an amazing home 10 feet away from an amazing singer," said Robyn Watson, executive director of Sun Valley Opera.
Tickets are available at 208-726-0991, at Rwatson.svo@gmail.com or online at www.sunvalleyopera.com.