To celebrate Céline Dion's 52nd birthday, and to commemorate the original video reaching 7 million views, here's an alternate take of Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan singing the Céline Dion classic "It's All Coming Back To Me Now." "Broadway Loves Céline Dion" played for two performances on January 9th of 2015, and the famous video is of the second performance, at 9:30PM. This video is of the first-ever performance of the song, at 7PM that night.
At the time, Jeremy was in tech rehearsals for a Sondheim revue, "A Good Thing Going: The Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince Collaboration," which opened at the 92nd Street Y the following evening. Jeremy and I had rehearsed the song in December, before the holidays, and we'd send rehearsal tracks back and forth from band rehearsal, but, you can imagine, things were feeling a little rushed and crazed. He finished rehearsal on 92nd Street at 6PM and hopped in a cab across town to Feinstein's/54 Below. We only had time to run the song once in the Green Room with the background vocalists before the show was to begin. He and I went over a few notes quickly, and then I had to run downstairs to start the show. It was my first show as an Original Programming Producer at the venue, and the pressure was on. This number took place 50 minutes into the show, and when he took the stage, neither one of us were quite sure how it was all going to go. And then, something very magical happened. He knew the song just well enough to trust himself and let himself fly, and the music came to life! The two "Broadway Loves Céline Dion" concerts were smashing successes, with the entire cast boldly singing the heck out of Céline's ambitious repertoire, and it was the perfect kick-off to the year of concerts I would create at the venue. That contract also brought the "Broadway Princess Party" to life that August!
Later, when it came time to choose which performance video of "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" would be uploaded to KZfaq, we knew the 9:30PM performance had fewer obvious stumbles, and was a little more accurate lyrically. I made a few stealth edits to the 9:30, to make sure it sparkled, and released it into the world. I had a feeling people would think it was good fun, but, we had no idea what was about to happen. Within the first day of posting, the song's writer, Jim Steinman, had left us a note about loving the performance, and the video was picked up by dozens of blogs all over the internet, and was splashed all over Facebook and Twitter. For weeks it got wilder and wilder and bigger and bigger. Now, when Jeremy and I tour, people ALWAYS ask for the song. We very rarely do it because Jeremy worries we wouldn't be able to recreate the magic of us flying by the seat of our pants this night. The danger of us teetering on the edge in this footage is perhaps what makes it so fun and dynamic.
Either way, I'll be glad to perform it again someday. I'm so proud so many people have enjoyed the original video, and I'm thrilled to share this performance with you. I've always liked this version a little better - it's a little more serious overall, and the audio mix is a touch better. Let me know what you think! I'm thrilled, after 5 years, that I can share both versions and you all can share the thrill of that night with me again.
And, here's the original video, just in case you wanted to compare! • Jeremy Jordan - "It's ...
BROADWAY LOVES CELINE DION
January 9, 2015 - 54 Below
BAND: Benjamin Rauhala (music director/piano),
David Cinquegrana (guitar), Charlie Rosen (recorder/bass), Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf (cello), Shannon Ford (drums)
BACKGROUND VOCALS: Rachel MacKenzie, Tara Minogue, Jeff O'Donnell, and Jillian Soares.
Orchestration by Julie McBride.
Vocal Arrangement by Benjamin Rauhala.
Produced by Benjamin Rauhala
Filmed by FAMOUS IN NY - famousinny.com