Aaron Tveit at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre

I am a huge fan of musical theatre so I could not have been more excited for last night's concert at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre with Broadway star Aaron Tveit! It was a beautiful night (the temperature was perfect) filled with beautiful music and I loved every minute! Tveit was backed by the Utah Valley Symphony under the baton of Cheung Chau and he told the crowd that he specifically picked the songs in his setlist in order to take advantage of singing with an orchestra. It was an eclectic program as a result but I really enjoyed it! He began with a beautiful version of "Fly Me to the Moon" which I loved because I went through a Frank Sinatra phase when I was in my twenties (it was a strange time).  He continued with "Younger Than Springtime" from South Pacific and then returned to music made famous by the Rat Pack with performances of "What Kind of Fool Am I?" and "The World We Knew" (this was a highlight for me because it is one of my favorite songs by Sinatra and I still remember every word!). Next came "You Can't Tame Me" and "Doorway to Where" from Schmigadoon (I am so sad that we didn't get a third season of this show). Another highlight came next when he performed "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables. He played Enjolras in the movie adaptation but he told the crowd that he auditioned for Marius and so he wanted to sing one of his songs for us. This always brings a tear to my eye and his arrangement was amazing! He originated the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge on Broadway so he ended his first set with "El Tango de Roxanne" and this made all of the theatre girlies in the audience lose their minds! Just kidding. It was me. I am theatre girlies. Tveit took a short break while the orchestra played "Polovtsian Dances" from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin. The audience got a bit restless during this number but I really enjoyed it (you know I love the Russian composers). He returned to the stage for a medley from West Side Story, featuring "Maria," "Something's Coming," and "Tonight," and joked that he had never played Tony in a professional production but he did play him in eleventh grade! Next came the Sammy Davis, Jr. version of  "As Long As She Needs Me" from Oliver (he really likes the Rat Pack). He continued with "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd. He played the role of Sweeney on Broadway but I am glad he sang Anthony's song from the show because his version was beautiful!  He told the crowd  that he was inspired to sing his next song, "What Was I Made For?" from the movie Barbie, when he saw Billie Eilish perform it with a full orchestra at the Oscars and this brought another tear to my eye! He ended this set with an incredible version of "Being Alive" from Company which gave me goosebumps! For the encore, he sang "Your Song" from Moulin Rouge which brought the crowd (one of the biggest I've seen at the SCERA Shell) to their feet! Not only does Tveit have an incredible voice, he is also very charming and I enjoyed all of the anecdotes interspersed between the songs. I have been looking forward to this concert all summer (I bought a ticket they day they went on sale) and it was thrilling to hear him perform live after being a fan for so long!

Note: I love SCERA because, among other things, they brought both of my theatre crushes, Aaron Tveit and Jeremy Jordan, to town for amazing concerts!  The couple next to me argued over which concert was better and they wanted me to be the tie breaker but I couldn't possibly choose!