"a wonderful voice"
   – MARVIN HAMLISCH
   

Midweek Pops concert delights

By ED WISMER
Ocean City Sentinel critic
July 19, 2007

OCEAN CITY, NEW JERSEY- An Ocean City Pops concert is never a ho-hum affair, not even mid-week, but let's face it...traditionally the Sunday night concerts are the ones you don't want to miss. Last week's twin midweek concert - a Tuesday and Wednesday double header - provided as much excitement as one could stand.

There were two stars of the first magnitude on the Music Piers stage for the Pops midweek concerts, and the audience loved them both. Michael Hope created excitement the moment he stepped onto the stage. His spine tingling rendition of "Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera" set a standard for the evening that would be difficult to equal but he managed to do it.

Hope established a rapport with the audience that artists rarely achieve, and he was also generous in praising the orchestra, with good reason. Maestro Scheible had his crew really cooking. A program of songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and others were given the full treatment, alternatively caressing the ears of the audience and dramatically striking them with a musical thunderbolt. Hope's singing of "The Last Night of the World" from "Miss Saigon" effectively did both.

Between songs he perched on a stool and chatted with the audience as if they were old friends. His stories were engaging. He had fun with "Macavity" the Mystery Cat from "Cats." He then sang "Memory" from the same musical, but in its original form when it was called "Piano," which Hope sang in Italian, the way it was written.

As if Hope's performance wasn't enough, the second half of the concert brought another treasure to the stage. Elisabeth Von Trapp, granddaughter of Maria Von Trapp of "Sound of Music" fame, delighted everyone with her singing and exceptional guitar playing. She was accompanied by cellist Erich Kory. With a crystal clear voice, she sang a varied program of songs like "A Road Not Taken" - her own arrangmement of a poem by Robert Frost - and her song about "Kaiulani, " the last crown princess of Hawaii. She encouraged the audience to sing along.

Von Trapp offered a similar invitation when she sang and played selections from "The Sound of Music" Kory blended his lyric cello sounds beautifully with Von Trapp's guitar. She collaborates well with other musicians, a very professional trait that serves her well. She put that to good use when singing duets with Hope, notably "All I Ask Of You" from "Phantom of the Opera" and "Edelweiss" a warm reminder from "The Sound of Music."

Von Trapp has an Ocean City connection beyond having played here before. Her husband was once an Ocean City lifeguard and his grandfather designed the Flanders Hotel, City Hall and the Music Pier. He sat near me and his delight with his wife's performance was visible.

The Pops audience was charmed by both stars. Both charismatic performers chatted with the audience out in the loggia after the show and didn't hurry off the way too many performers do. Both expressed their pleasure with the orchestra and gave particular praise to Maestro Scheible, pianist Jeffery Uhlig and trumpeter Jim Hala.

                                         Michael