Vocal Master Class

A wonderful opportunity for aspiring young singers to work with the best.  Sponsored by Eric and Gina's Big City Broadway.  www.bigcitybroadway.com

Ottawa: A Retrospective

From Maggi:  After returning home from a five day trip to Ottawa and seeing the "Do You Hear the People Sing" concert three nights in a row I am still basking in the glow of hearing Eric sing in a venue and with an orchestra worthy of his talent.  He looked very handsome in his Hugo Boss tux, a fact noticed each night by the females around me in the audience when he walked onstage.  His song, the forceful "I'm Martin Guerre" from that musical and the angelic, tender, "Bring Him Home" from Les Mis were highlights for me.  Each night as he came in the lobby he was surrounded by admiring fans, young and old, male and female, hoping for an autograph and/or photo.  It's a shame this concert wasn't taped to show the world.  It was certainly as good as many things that are shown on PBS.  Now that I am home, I am grateful for the many sweet memories I have to cherish.  Thank you Eric!

Photos by Maggi Wunschl 
(To download click on the yellow icon in the left bottom corner, which will take you to my Picasa Web Album)

Tales from the Front: Day Three

What an amazing end to an amazing concert!   The chemistry onstage, along with the energy from the audience made the atmosphere electric and the audience responded with thunderous applause and three standing ovations.  On the way out of the auditorium I could hear people commenting on the excellent performances, and in particular "that man who sang 'Bring Me Home".   Eric, Lea Terrance and Kathy were inundated for autographs and photos and business was brisk at the CD table.  It was an exhilarating evening!

Tales from the Front: Day Two

From Maggi: the weather was much nicer today, with warmer temps enabling us to enjoy a tulip walk and lunch at a great little place in Byward Market.  The concert tonight was as good, if not better than last evening with the added bonus of an onstage surprise visit of Alain Boublil.  The audience was very appreciative of the performers and responded by long standing ovations.  Once again, the auditorium seemed to be filled to capacity.  The cast was in the lobby afterward signing autographs and we met several new Eric fans, among them Shirley and Andrew (pictured here.)

We had the privilege of meeting Alain Boublil and his lovely wife Marie Zamora

Review: Do You Hear the People Sing - A Concert Celebrating the Work of Boublil and Schonberg, Performing Arts Center, Ottawa, Canada - May 9-12, 2012

It was a nine hour drive across the border to Ottawa from Detroit, Michigan, but I wouldn't have missed for the world the opportunity to hear Eric Kunze's heavenly tenor once again.  The beautiful auditorium at the Performing Arts Center, with its excellent acoustics, was the perfect venue for the outstanding voices we heard on Thursday evening.  Having ordered tickets for two of the nights online months ago, I wasn't intending to attend Thursday's performance as well, but knowing Eric was singing, I just couldn't stay away.  We were sitting in the "nose bleed" section of the upper balcony, due to the fact the 2323 seat theater was nearly sold out.  Despite our altitude we could hear every note and every word. 

The audience was engaged from the first few notes of the orchestra's specially written overture, composed of snippets of the shows for which Boublil and Schonberg are famous, a foreshadowing of what was to come.  Each of the songs were introduced with personal anecdotes and banter between the artist and conductor Jack Everly.  The excellent Terrance Mann opened the Miss Saigon set with Bui Doi, accompanied by the thrilling men's chorus of the Ottawa Festival Chorus.  Jack Everly introduced Lea Salonga, who began her career at the age of 17 as Kim in the first Miss Saigon.  Eric (as Marius) and Lea (as Eponine) starred together on Broadway in Les Miserables and haven't sung together since.  After so many years, the magic was still there as they sang the romantic Last Night of the World. Her dramatic I'd Give my Life for You conveyed the heartbreak of a single mother giving up her only child, with a mature understanding and interpretation of the lyrics that only life experience can bring. 

I was excited to hear Eric sing from Martin Guerre and the title song didn't disappoint.  The lyric intensive song told a story, accompanied by forceful vocals and Eric was transformed into Martin himself.  I would love to see him play this role!  It was followed by his duet with Marie Zamora, Live With Someone You Love (also from the same musical), their voices blending perfectly.

The second half brought music from The Pirate Queen, which starred Kathy Voytko on Broadway. Her sparkling rendition of Woman made me wish I could see this musical again.  She and Eric performed If I Said I Loved You from that show. 

Saving the best for last, the Les Miserables set included, in part, On My Own, At the End of the Day, Master of the House (hilariously performed by Mann and Voytko) and Stars (Mann).  A Heart Full of Love gave us a chance to imagine what it would have been like to see Eric as Marius.  He not only sings but conveys the emotion which transforms him into the characters he is singing about.  When Eric started singing Bring Him Home, an etherial hush fell over the audience.  We almost held our breath, not wanting to break the spell he wove over us.  The notes wafted up into the rafters and brought tears to my eyes.  How is it humanly possible to sing like this?  As the song ended there was a pause, allowing the moment to linger, before the audience erupted into thunderous applause.

The finale, One Day More, brought the entire cast, orchestra and chorus together for a thrilling conclusion to this concert of excellence.  The audience was on its feet for a rousing ovation as the cast bowed, exited and returned to the stage once again.  The encore was, obviously, Do You Hear the People Sing, again to ovations and thunderous applause from the appreciative crowd.  Yes, we definitely heard the people sing.  It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of this wonderful evening.  (Written by Maggi Wunschl)

Tales from the front: Ottawa

Terrance Mann, Kathy Voytko, Eric Kunze

National Arts Center

Hi fans,
I am in chilly Ottawa ready to see the first performance of "Do You Hear the People Sing - the Dream Concert" tonight.  It was an overcast day and temps no more than around 50 degrees.  Had breakfast at the Mayflower Cafe on Elgin Street and walked about two miles to the Museum of Civilization.  Resting now in the room before heading over to the National Arts Center for the concert.  I will report fully after today's performance and probably will be adding more on the two subsequent nights.  I feel very lucky to be able to be here enjoying another stellar Eric performance! 
Talk to you soon,
Maggi

Eric as "Prince Eric"

  "One of the most ravishing things I have seen on a Broadway stage."

Time Magazine

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Eric will be playing the role of Prince Eric in Sacramento Musical Theater's production of  the Broadway musical "The Little Mermaid", which runs for 16 performances from July 10th to 22nd.  Single tickets go on sale on May 7th.  (See ticket information below.)

A fanclub meeting/dinner will be held on Friday, July 20th before the show.  (Location to be announced). You don't need to attend the show to come to the fanclub meeting.  But I do need to put you on the guestlist if you are planning to attend the dinner.  (email me at maggiwun@yahoo.com) I am looking forward to seeing you all!  I'm hoping Eric will have time to come and say hi.

The Music Circus production of "The Little Mermaid" is a coup for Sacramento, as this will be the only city in the country outside New York to have a production. More reading about this new, original and revamped version streamlined to the unique Music Circus round stage here.

Background information and storyline on Wikipedia here.
Hear one of Prince Eric's songs on a YouTube version here.  Can't wait to hear our Eric sing this!


The last time Eric was at the Music Circus was to play Che in "Evita" in 2008.   I stayed at the Sheraton Grand on J Street, just a 7 minute walk from the theater.  We were able to hold our fanclub meeting right upstairs in a very nice, private area of their restaurant.  I was happy with the hotel and the service there.  The rates for this July are $139.00.  More information here.

Ticket information and calendar at the California Musical Theater website.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/12/4252688/music-circus-brings-back-old-favorites.html#storylink=cpy

At the Meyerhoff in Baltimore

Backstage at the Baltimore Symphony after the concert.
Left to right: Kathy Voytko, Marie Zamora, Alain Boubill, Terrence Mann, Jennifer Paz, Eric Kunze at Baltimore Symphony.

photo by Charles Stubow

What an Evening it Was!

A glowing review of Baltimore's "Do You Hear the People Sing" by Charles Stubow from www.broadwayworld.com:

"What an evening it was. A cast of five phenomenal voices accompanied by the huge Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jack Evely, Principal Pops Conductor, accompanied by the Baltimore Choral Arts Society (Tom Hall Director) singing the canon of the great French musical composers Alain Boublil and Claude Michel Schoenberg. Who could ask for anything more... 

It was an evening of non-stop hit after hit after hit. Many in the audience may not be Broadway afficionadoes or familiar with the music presented, but the audience was spell-bound by the five soloists: Eric Kunze, Jennifer Paz, Kathy Voytko, and Marie Zamora and the incredible Terrence Mann."

Be sure to read Page 2 which reads, in part,

"Bring Him Home was performed brilliantly by Kunze."

and goes on to describe the thrilling conclusion of the concert.

Read more here 

Fan Reviews of Do You Hear the People Sing - The Dream Concert

(From Maggi) This is some of the feedback from the series of concerts in Baltimore this weekend.  Thank you ALL for your input!

Susanne:   If I told you that the concert was phenomenal, it would still be an understatement! Where do I even start to tell you about it! The goosebumps started when the orchestra played some selections from Miss Saigon as the overture. Eric came out after Terrence Mann and Jennifer Paz each sang a song.  He looked quite handsome in a black suit and shirt and later in a tuxedo.  I was completely mesmerized when Eric sang, "Bring Him Home". How does he hit those notes so effortlessly? I was so taken with the power of his voice. I kept thinking that it's Broadway's loss if they don't sign him for Phantom.  Many times during the night I had to catch my breath when I heard his ability to push that wonderful voice to the limit! He just keeps getting better and better.

Jeannine: I really enjoyed this show.. The conductor, chorus, and orchestra did a phenomenal job, as did Eric, Terrence, Jennifer, Kathy and Marie. The show opened with one of my all time favorite songs, Bui Doi, from Miss Saigon…Terrence Mann and the choir were beautifully powerful. “Last Night of the World” sung by Eric and Jennifer was just amazing…They showed such a high level of chemistry and comfort with each other, obviously a result of their working together as Kim and Chris through the years, that I was drawn into the storyline wholeheartedly. The audience was told that there would be a concert version of Miss Saigon in 2013, something I would love to see! Kathy debuted a new song called “Maybe” that helps the audience understand some of the angst her character, Ellen, goes through. She did an excellent job with this song. Jennifer also did a great job with "Too much for one heart." It would have been nice to have it stay in the final version of Miss Saigon. Not being familiar with Martin Guerre, I was interested in hearing Eric sing “Martin Guerre.” As always, his clear diction and pronounciation, helped to draw me into the story he and Marie were telling. I also enjoyed Marie, singing in both French and English during “In My Life..” So beautiful… One of 2 highlights for me was being able to hear/see Eric sing the role of “Marius” during this concert, especially as I had never had the opportunity to see him as Marius on Broadway (his first role there J) “Master of the House” was a fun number, as always, and Kathy and Terrence did a great job with it. As I had seen Terrence Mann on Bway, in Les Mis, as Javert, it was a treat to hear him sing “Stars” again.. such a tragic song. The piece de resistance for me was hearing Eric’s version of “Bring Him Home.” He always acts through his songs, in my opinion, vs. just singing a song to get to the end, which definitely draws me into the story and engages me in whatever song he is singing, especially beautiful and well done, with this song. I wish I could hear it again and again—so, so, so expressive.. brought me to tears. I really loved that Alain Boublil performed at the end, with the ensemble.. This was a top notch production that had me wishing for more!


Anita: (Brindlebeast) from last night: "Do You Hear the People Sing" concert with the Baltimore Symphony last night. Eric Kunze sang the iconic prayer "Bring Him Home" from Les Mis to thunderous applause , bravo-- and a handshake from the conductor. Brought me to tears...

Riki: "Hi! Finally home, and let me tell you- that concert made every minute of the last couple crazy days worth it!!! There aren't words to tell you how awesome it was- all the rumblings you have heard are true and more! The whole cast is immensely talented! There were several songs that I had never heard before; that was a treat. Eric gets more talented every time I hear him! He sang a couple of standard faves, but for me the highlights of the night were Martin Guerre - it made one want to jump up, throw your fist in the air and cheer with him! The wedding song from The Pirate Queen made me cry, it was so sweet and poignant! Wow, just wow..... I can honestly say, that out of all the things I've seen yet- this was by far the best!!!! Wish I could see it again!
He did a couple duets with Marie Zamora that were new to me and absolutely beautiful. Have I said wow enough yet? I am still blown away and it has been almost 24 hours!

Miss Saigon Review

A review of last year's Sacramento Music Circus' "Miss Saigon" states what we Eric fans already know: "Eric Kunze, known to Music Circus audiences for his roles as Che, Jesus and Joseph (and a good-looking hunk who probably will play 30-somethings for three decades) is perfectly cast as the GI Chris. His impressive vocal chops never cease to amaze. The combination of dead-on pitch, powerfully resonant yet sweet tone, and surprisingly nuanced and natural acting confirm why he made it to Broadway so early in his career, and why the Music Circus should hire him every chance they get." http://www.davisenterprise.com/entertainment/dont-miss-this-miss-saigon/ 

Eric will be back at Music Circus again this summer.  Stay tuned for all the details!

Break a leg at the Meyerhoff!

Tonight's performance of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" with the Baltimore Symphony will be at the beautiful Meyerhoff Symphony Hall through Sunday.  The hall has a capacity of 2443 people!
Break a leg Eric and the cast and crew!  We know you are going to be wonderful! Looking forward to a report and hopefully some pictures from fanclub members Anita, Jeannine, Courtney, Susanne and Sherri who will be attending. It turns out the programs for the Pittsburgh and Baltimore concerts were printed before Eric was hired. As a result the program lists Peter Lockyer instead of Eric Kunze.