Day 7. Collegial. Creative. Collaborative. That is the truly inspiring David Hyde Pierce, the 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Master Teacher. A first among equals, a Fellow among Fellows ― thats the way he conducted this series of master classes ― and it made him glow all the more. We were at the Cornerstone Restaurant having lunch when it happened. David was about to take a photo with the waitresses when one of the actors noticed on Facebook that she had died. Oh, no, Elaine?! he blurted out. He was devastated. His eyes welled with tears and I think we were all more shocked by his pain than the news. Within seconds, somebody said, Everybody, rise! and we lifted our glasses to Elaine Stritch. The table was enveloped in the sweetest love. I cant imagine him hearing this news anywhere other than right here at Ten Chimneys, surrounded by his Fellows. We had already decided that we would do a song to cap off our final presentation on Saturday evening. By the time we got back for the afternoon master class session, David had decided that it should be Sail Away, the one Noel Coward wrote for Elaine. It would be a lovely tribute to her and he would sing the first phrase, Blake Lindsley would take the second phrase and then we would all join. We didnt have copies of the sheet music so we wrote down the lyrics and learned the notes. He started and he stumbled. And then he stumbled again. He turned to Angel Desai and said, Im going to need you to be ready to start this. I got you, she said. Something like that. We learned the melody and David told us to harmonize the last note. Just pick a note. We did and it was beautiful. For Elaine. Im back home in Lancaster County now ― feeling content, contemplative and ready to be of use. And this week I will teach master classes for young theatre lovers across Pennsylvania, starting with the Pre-College Program at the University of the Arts and ending with the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary in the Poconos. I will rise. And so will they. Glow. Give. Grow.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:14:40 +0000
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