Last Wednesday I was able to score a ticket to the matinee performance of Broadway’s Fences, by the great American playwright August Wilson. I say “score” a ticket because it’s practically impossible to get one that’s remotely reasonably priced. As I often do, I procrastinated so much when the show first opened, which was in early April, and didn’t secure a seat when they were (sorta) in abundance. I periodically viewed the all-mighty TicketMaster.com just to see that seats were still available. This no doubt led to more procrastination! THEN … the Tony nominations came out. What happened? Fences was nominated for an incredible 11 Tonys, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Actor for Mr. Denzel Washington’s stellar performance. (Back to him in a second!) This coupled with a rave review in the NY Times made those oh-so-available tickets non-existent.

Well, I was a bit discouraged, but kept looking at the website, hoping for something to pop up and sure enough it did! Last Tuesday when I was checking, low and behold, there was one lone seat in none other than Orchestra Row C! … for the next day’s matinee. The timing couldn’t have been better. It wasn’t too far in advance, so I could commit to it (nothing worse than getting a ticket for something just to have a great gig that you just can’t pass up be scheduled for the same day!). AND it was regularly priced, not those crazy inflated prices that for-profit Broadway will create when a limited run show is uber-popular. (Hey, we all gotta make money, so I’m not complaining!)

So, after a morning recording-session gig with Jeff and other woodwind friends at NYU, I made my way up to midtown, saw ticket holders lined-up DOWN THE BLOCK just waiting to get into the theater, and went to the lovely and ornate Cort Theater to witness one of the great theater events of the year.

If you know anything about August Wilson, you certainly know he’s from Pittsburgh, where all of his plays are set … And not just any place in Pittsburgh, but the African-American neighborhood called the Hill District, where I’m happy to say I was born and raised. It’s a special treat for me to view any of his work because the script will often mention landmarks and streets of the area, some of which don’t even exist anymore depending on when which play was set. In the case of Fences, we’re dealing with the Hill District circa 1950’s.

The performance was tremendous. Right after the show, I could hardly talk about it because I thought I just might break down in tears! It was that moving. The artistry of the prose. The talent of the actors. The beauty of the stage. The integrity of the craft, all overwhelmed me. This modern piece of art has been with us for over 20 years and continues to speak volumes to another generation. It made me proud to be an artist, and just HOPE that my art can inspire others as this did.

It’s the story of a man who is just trying to find his way in the world and hoping to do right by his family. He’s not perfect. He’s made mistakes, but they’ve loved him and he’s loved them. Even if some of them can’t admit it, they recognize that his life has enabled THEM to have a life — and that message is so powerful.

Now back to Denzel! Of course he’s an Oscar winning movie star and the crowd goes wild as soon as he emerges on stage, but quickly he succumbs to the roll so intensely, that you quickly forget he’s one of the most famous people in the world. And oh my, oh my …

That man is SO FINE!! Lawd have mercy!!

If you can find a ticket go see it!

[Monica]