I want to honor his material without imposing my stuff onto it.” “It’s a tightrope for me because I want to get my humor in there while I pay tribute to Jerry. “I wanted to do every song,” the singer says. The problem with this decision arose when Graae sat down with the Jerry Herman songbook. That desire combined with Herman being honored by the Kennedy Center last fall helped Graae make a decision: he’d do his own Jerry Herman show. The touring has stopped because it simply got too exhausting for Herman, but Graae found he still wanted to sing those great Herman songs. “To work closely with him, to travel with him was such an honor.” “In terms of audience reaction, it was like a rock concert every time Jerry came out to sing ‘Mame,’” Graae says on the phone from L.A. For about a decade, Graae has been a part of Hello, Jerry a concert production featuring Karen Morrow, Paige O’Hara and musical director Donald Pippin all performing Herman songs with Herman himself making an appearance. Graae has a long history with Herman as both a friend and a collaborator. It’s a show music fan’s (OK, show queen’s) dream come true. Just think of it – a real entertainer doing real show tunes. We don’t see enough of this Los Angeles-based performer here in the Bay Area, but happily he’ll be at the Rrazz Room for two nights, April 3 and 4, with a brand-new show.Īs if the anticipated delight of Graae wasn’t enough, he’s doing a tribute to Jerry Herman on the occasion of the composer’s 80th birthday year. You are guaranteed several things when you see him perform: you will fall under the spell of his dynamic tenor/baritone voice, and you will laugh your ass off. The entertainment world has changed a lot – of course there are still wonderful performers out there.īut I have to say, I miss the all-around entertainer, the guys and gals who could hold a Vegas stage without the need for twirling acrobats and pyrotechnics.īroadway veteran Jason Graae is one of those old-school entertainers. Marlene made it all the way to the Season 20 finale.Įarly winners of American Idol found fame and fortune (Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood) – as did several competitors who didn't win (Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Gabby Barrett) – but winners from recent seasons have struggled to breakout.Collective memory will soon forget that there used to be entertainers in the grandest sense – performers who could be hilarious, could interact with audience members in wonderful (non-cheesy) ways and, when the mood was right, sing the hell out of great songs. In 2021, Ontario’s Heather Russell and Lorand Kis earned golden tickets at their auditions but didn’t make it past Hollywood Week.Īnd last season, Cameron Whitcomb of Kamloops, B.C., Toronto university student Nicolina Bozzo and Toronto-born Leah Marlene made it into the Top 24. singer Lauren Spencer-Smith became the first Canadian to make it to the Top 20 of Idol but she was eliminated in the first viewers-voted round. In 2020, Venegas competed on the Filipino version of The Voice Teens but had to drop out before the “Knockout” rounds due to pandemic travel restrictions.Īmerican Idol started allowing Canadians to compete in its 18th season. A year earlier, he won the BC Junior Talent Contest at the Cloverdale Rodeo. Venegas won the PNE Star Showdown in 2013 when he was only seven years old. “far-beyond-your-years talented” and Lionel Richie opined: “That was a damn good song.”Īmerican Idol is not Venegas' first time in a singing competition. Luke Bryan called the 17-year-old from Port Moody, B.C. I know what you stand for, I know what your values are, I know what your perspective is, I know where your heart is – and therefore I can fall deeper in love with you.” It’s so great when you perform your own songs. Judge Katy Perry gushed: “I know who you are now. Making it to the Top 20 was Tyson Venegas, who earned raves on Sunday’s episode with his performance of an original, “180.” The 20-year-old from Burnaby B.C., auditioned for the Idol judges in Las Vegas last September with Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” One of two Canadian competitors on this season of American Idol was eliminated on Sunday night’s episode and the other sang an original in hopes of being in the Top 12.Įmma Busse, a Top 26 finalist, didn’t get enough viewer votes following her performance of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down” on the episode that aired last week.
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