The West Hampton Beach Performing Arts Center is a bright bubble in the quaint Eastern Long Island township where the theatre’s bricks lit up pink beneath the stars. It is a place where the human soul comes to dance, sing and exclaim what really matters. A place where smiles linger for every artistic seed, and where emotions come to play taking center stage daring to walk into the spotlight. On Saturday September 21, 2024, Composer, singer/songwriter and pianist, Randy Edelman ignited a flawless fire on the indigo lit stage in his embryonic appearance in the Hamptons.
An early sense of autumn emerged with regal ease as patrons flooded the theatre in anticipation. Through his music and stories in a two hour, spellbinding performance, Randy shared the soundscape of his life and career with a very diverse audience ranging from ages 8 to 80 and managed to not only hold their attention but keep them ALL entertained the entire time.
The composer seemed “at home” on stage and from the beginning abandoned all pretense through his autobiographical storytelling and his music allowing the audience to become intimately acquainted with the true Randy Edelman. He enabled the crowd to trust him especially after a very emotional introduction to his song “You” covered by The Carpenters….so much so that they asked for more of the same and Randy honored their request with 2 more songs covered by the iconic duo later during his showcase, “Piano Picker” and the very beautiful “I Can’t Make Music.”
Randy has a knack for putting the tiniest, most intimate details into his songs, both lyrically and instrumentally. Some swallow you whole with waves of sadness (Don’t Forsake Me Now), others cause an involuntary swaying (Pretty Girls), and still others chiefly those that echo with the familiar, “A Weekend In New England” (covered by Barry Manilow), “Isn’t it a Shame” (covered by Shirley Bassey, Patti LaBelle and Nelly), “The Laughter and the Tears” (covered by Dionne Warwick), just caused happiness hearing them live from their creator.
He also played his own recorded hits including his anthemic “Apres’ Covid” otherwise known as “Comin’ Out the Other Side” and “Uptown, Uptempo Woman.” His “The Woman On Your Arm”, the very last song Bing Crosby recorded before he died was accompanied by yet another riveting story. Randy is a natural born storyteller both verbally and lyrically and his tales whether humorous, serious or sad leave an impact and take up residence in someone’s heart.
The iconic composer captivated the congregation with his film score collection of both comedy and dramatic based legends including “My Cousin Vinny”, “While You Were Sleeping”, “Billy Madison”, “Kindergarten Cop”, “Beethoven”, “The Bruce Lee Story”, “The Mask”, “Last of the Mohicans” and more. It seemed almost impossible to believe that this music with no translation of words came from his fingertips and out into the world.
Randy closed the concert with an enchanting song by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart called “Where or When” from the 1937 musical “Babes in Arms” originally performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. It was then sung two years later in the MGM musical by Judy Garland. Randy’s version of that song was supreme……and then he was gone….
To say Randy Edelman was on fire is an understatement…..he was burning down the house. Fire by definition is vibrantly alive. It’s meant to illuminate and warm. All of those things happened within his performance and more. He raised the spirit and turned up the heat for live performances everywhere. Randy will be performing at Carnegie Hall on Sunday December 8, 2024 for one night only and at Lincoln Center June 6, 2025, also for one night only….
