We Need a Little Tony Vincent / Right This Very Minute

After taking a trip down Sufjan Stevens' lane and getting his XMAS ALBUM! Gah! and watching Duke beat Georgetown in the last few minutes last night and avoiding revising my paper and then officially beginning to revise my paper, I decided I deserve a treat. And, well, this is it: a post entirely devoted to Tony Vincent's live performances. TV's notable on-stage credits include Roger understudy and swing for the B'way production of Rent, the role of Judas in the 2000 B'way revival of JCSuperstar and originating the role of Gallileo Figaro on the West End in London, then in Las Vegas, for the Queen musical vehicle We Will Rock You.

But before that, when TV was 16 and I was about 12, he released an over-played single "One Deed" on Christian pop radio. I was pretty much in love with that voice from then on. It was only until my junior year of high school when I was sitting in the balcony at the Ford Theater on 42nd street looking through the JCS program that I put two and two together and discovered that the dark-haired, 18-year-old Albequerque native had turned into a bleached blond prince of musical theater. I was very happy.

So what was he doing in those 6 years? He was moving to New York, trying to write his own music, and perform, while I was frittering away my high school career on amatuer everything that he was doing. (Everyone has to start somewhere.) He put his music-writing on hold for another 6 years once he got Rent. And now, he's finally living in New York after having performance gigs in Hong Kong, London, Las Vegas, NYC, etc. etc. to release that 3rd album with a couple of guys who formed a band they're calling "mercer". And, I must admit that when he got the role in the new Queen musical during my Freshman year of college, I almost couldn't believe that two of my music loves could actually be wed to each other in such a wonderful way. I got to see WWRY in London my junior year of college. (Sadly, TV was already off the West End and MiG Ayesha--of CBS' Rock Star: INXS--was performing instead.) I bought the Original Cast recording and quietly listened to it (with glee!) for the rest of my time abroad.

Watching a lot of his performances one after another, you'll notice that he really milks his "voice break" and makes it work for him. (You know, that place where we switch between head and chest voice.) He sings with tension: you can tell that from the way he holds his body in performances (though some of that is actor stuff, too). But who doesn't sing with vocal tension nowadays? Ok, so maybe Hugh Jackman, bc he's just so much in his nasal passage. TV was originally the understudy for Judas until the original actor developed vocal cord polyps. TV has managed to avoid too much strain on his voice. He loses pitch sometimes, but--again--who doesn't? And really, that's why we love live theater, am I right?

As I previously mentioned, I got the chance to see TV when he revived the role of Judas in the new adaptation and orchestration of JCS. He nailed it. I mean, I used to think you had to be Carl Anderson's clone to play a good Judas, but he proved me very wrong. He actually acted it. He didn't just sing the rock riffs; he performed them. (Can we see my obsession with live performance steadily growing?) He was the everyman Judas. He did it with improv, talking back to Jesus (Glen Carter) while he was singing, giving a new intensity to the role. (So much better than the Judas from the 2000 film of the revival. There, TV is Simon Zealotes and he still gives a great intense/crazy performance but is only allowed to shine in his one song.) I fell in freaking musical theater love after seeing JCS 2000. (I've only fallen for Adam Pascal with the same intensity.)

This first video is a short clip from the end of "Heaven on Their Minds". TV loves to clinch that last vocal moment with a fist. Also, he uses his hands and arms while performing. If you find this distracting, just close your eyes and listen to the bootiful moosic.

Now, we have a clip from Judas's "official" betrayal of Jesus. Melodramatic: yes, but the vocals are priceless. (Side Note: Glen Carter plays Jesus so strangely. I love him one moment and hate him the next.) Is it just me, or is Tony's outfit and hair a bit Spike?

These next ones are different versions of him singing "Superstar" which for me was one of the best moments in the revival. They have Jesus carrying his cross, Judas and news reporters running around and taunting him. At one point Judas hops on the cross, which drove me into symbolic heaven (also he's wearing red while getting on the cross which I love). I also love the recontextualizing of the song as a press conference. It makes more sense when Judas is asking him the questions that everyone in the world wants to ask. Can you tell that I was a huge fan of the revival?
This first one is the one to skip, if you want to skip one, but I felt obligated to put it in here bc it's the full performance of the song.

This second performance is what they did for the Tony Awards in 2000. If you want to skip Glen Carter's crazy-high rendition of "Gethsemane" skip to TV about a third of the way along the time bar. I had this on tape for awhile until I accidentally taped over it. (sob.) If some of you aren't impressed with TV's acting chops yet, I think that he plays off of Glen Carter admirably.

From here, he moves to We Will Rock You in London, which opened up a lot of great opportunities for him, like performing numerous times with Brian May and Roger Taylor and once for the Queen's Jubilee. This clip is just great. "Who Wants to Live Forever" is one of the most heartbreaking songs in the world to me. He's in character in this clip with Hannah Jane Fox: yes, he really is supposed to be playing that stupid and have that annoying speaking voice.

This isn't the best video quality of "Hammer To Fall". I'm not sure whether to blame the person holding the camera or the show's editors. But just wait for it: "Ohh-yeah-eah-eah-eah"!

And. . . "We Will Rock You"

And finally, a little sample from "Bohemian Rhapsody" which is performed as an encore in WWRY. This clip kills me, bc you can just feel the energy from the show slowly dwindling.

Thus, therefore, in conclusion, I will close by saying "Damn, that boy can sing!"

And, the extras are TV singing a) "The Money Kept Rolling In" from Evita (where he works that vocal break almost ad nauseum) and b) "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon (which actually might be a little too low for his voice, both singers have no chemistry, there are English subtitles for some reason, and there's wonderfully awkward standing around waiting for the instrumental break to end).
A)

B)


AND. . . There's a little more than a week until I am done being Teachy Mc-Teach-a-lot.