Clay Aiken Sings 'Home' Run at Broadway Benefit

Clay Aiken performs 'Home' at Broadway Backwards 6.
View video by Scarlett full screen at YouTube.
Download mp3 audio by deborah760 here.

Broadway Backwards 6

Singer Returns 'Home' for Benefit

Clay Aiken returned home to the Broadway stage with a powerful performance of the song by the same name from The Wiz in the annual Broadway Backwards concert at the Longacre Theatre Monday night.

The yearly show, which features male singers performing songs traditionally sung by women and women singing tunes written for men, benefits both Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center (the Center).

Creator Robert Bartley directed and choreographed the sixth edition of Broadway Backwards. Chris Haberl was music director. The recap on the BC/EFA site proclaims that Broadway Backwards 6 raised a record-breaking $281,243. This is the paragraph about Clay's performance:

Clay Aiken, who appeared on Broadway in Spamalot, brought the house to tears with his heart-felt yearning for "Home" from The Wiz.

For more details, see the recap by Andrew Gans at Playbill, including a photo gallery. View Getty Images here.

Clay at BB6 after party.
Double clickable photo by Joseph Marzullo (WENN)

CA Fans Describe Performance

Fortunately, there were lots of Clay Aiken fans in attendance; and they have shared their experiences on various message boards.

According to dancermom, Clay was introduced just before the final group number. Included in the intro were the story of an LGBT teenager who recently committed suicide and the urgent need to stem the rash of teen deaths.

dancermom: I was in tears, and then they introduced Clay, saying the song was dedicated to all LGBT Youth.

Applause was polite when Clay was introduced. Then he sang. Quiet at first, but the song 'Home' built. It was amazing and beautiful.

When he was done, the applause was deafening. He gave a quick bow. The applause continued with a huge crescendo. Someone in the wings must have pushed Clay back on stage because came out about five feet and bowed again.

Double click to expand BB6 graphic by LovesClaysVoice.

ncwannabe: The female host told of the story of the young woman who tragically took her own life, and introduced Clay and the song, stating that it was in tribute to her.

Clay walked out in that commanding way that he enters a stage, calmly adjusted the height of the mic stand, listened to the introductory music, and then proceeded to envelop that song into his very being, only to release it again to utterly infuse itself into every molecule within the theatre.

Starting out quiet and gentle, with an earnestness that drew in the listener to the point one was leaning forward, hanging on every word. He slowly unleashed the constraints until, suddenly, you were pushed back in your seat by the power and the emotion flowing forth from his voice, his hands, and his entire being.

Then, in those last moments prior to the final “home,” in a motion so reminiscent of his triumphant "Bridge Over Troubled Water," he glanced to the side and slightly down, as if to gather up all the life force within him, and nailed that last note with all the conviction he could muster, with a look in those eyes that was pure steel.

nanjeanne: Clay was extraordinary. It was a very special moment they gave to Clay since the song was dedicated to a young girl who committed suicide. And he was simply "Clay Aiken" like everybody knew who he was.

The applause after he sang was very strong. Lots of people were turning to each other after he sang, nodding and clapping.

asolo: It was a very special night. A very special night. Men yelled "Bravo!"

copincalif: For all those kids bullied, all those LGBT youth who wonder how they are going to make it through another day, Clay Aiken is a testament to titanium.

Clay singing 'Home' at BB6.
Click to enlarge photo by Peter James Zielinski.

'Home' from 'The Wiz'

When I think of home I think of a place where there's love overflowing
I wish I was home
I wish I was back there with the things I been knowing
Wind that makes the tall trees bend into leaning
Suddenly the snowflakes that fall have a meaning
Sprinklin' the scene, makes it all clean
Maybe there's a chance for me to go back there
Now that I have some direction
It would sure be nice to be back home
Where there's love and affection
And just maybe I can convince time to slow up
Giving me enough time in my life to grow up
Time be my friend, let me start again
Suddenly my world has changed it's face
But I still know where I'm going

I have had my mind spun around in space
And yet I've watched it growing
If you're list'ning God
Please don't make it hard to know
If we should believe in the things that we see
Tell us, should we run away
Should we try and stay
Or would it be better just to let things be?
Living here, in this brand new world
Might be a fantasy
But it taught me to love
So it's real, real to me
And I've learned
That we must look inside our hearts
To find a world full of love
Like yours
Like me
Like home.

Hopefully, others will share their Broadway Backwards 6 reflections in the comments. Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!


Signature by Linda

Clay Aiken Advocates for Inclusion, UNICEF, Human Rights

Screen cap links to video of Clay Aiken on 'The Joy Behar Show.'

Three Within Five Days

Clay Aiken Champions Causes

Singer Clay Aiken has championed three causes in the past five days at a major event -- children with disabilities (National Inclusion Project Gala) -- and in the national media with pre-Halloween publicity for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF (Broadway Playbill) and The Joy Behar Show during which he articulately discussed gay/lesbian rights and the epidemic of bullying.

Appropriately, Oct. 20 is Spirit Day, a global event for remembering young adults and teens who recently took their own lives due to bullying. Created by Brittany McMillan and sponsored by GLAAD, Spirit Day is being commemorated both online and off.

Color of the day is purple, and the slogan is "Everyone Rally Together." Don your purple, and support the Human Rights Campaign.

Singer Man definitely gets around. In addition to the video linked above, you can comment on Clay's anti-bullying interview at the Joy Behar website.

Broadway Supports UNICEF Kids' Night

Broadway and "American Idol" veteran Clay Aiken knows how to have fun for a good cause on Halloween.

An Ambassador for UNICEF since 2004, Clay spoke recently about the annual Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign, which is being supported by Playbill and the Broadway League this year as part of Kids' Night on Broadway.

For 60 years, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has served as the Original Kids Helping Kids Campaign®. In 1950, children across American were inspired to collect coins for UNICEF to aid children abroad.

Established as one of the longest-running youth volunteerism initiatives in America, with nearly $160 million raised to-date, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF remains an inspiration to the young (and the young at heart) to further the cause of children everywhere.

Read about Clay's childhood Halloween memories as well as three easy steps for participating in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF at Broadway Playbill. UNICEF photo of Clay in Uganda by Guillaume Bonn.

NIP Enlists New Pepsi Voters

Last weekend's National Inclusion Project Champions Gala was a huge success, honoring outstanding champions of change, raising funds for the next season's projects, infusing organization supporters with new ideas and enthusiasm.

The NIP, currently at #14, continues the October campaign for a $50,000 grant through the Pepsi Refresh Challenge with renewed strategies. The foundation must remain in the top 10 to secure the funds.

Be sure to register at the National Inclusion Project for a chance to win a new iPad if the charity is successful. You can also cast your Internet votes from this link.

Children participate in Let's ALL Play inclusive programs.
Click to expand photo from Arc of Atlantic camp by the sea.

US residents 13 and older can vote three ways 10 times -- via the Pepsi site, Facebook, as well as mobile phone texts (#102308 to #73774). That's three votes for the National Inclusion Project with the remaining 27 spread among the charity's voting alliances and partners from every eligible member in the household!

Scarlett regularly updates the NIP Voting Widget under the calendar in the Carolina sidebar, and it is simple to make your selections from the four alliance/partner lists there. Be sure to copy/paste a message similar to the one below so the organizations will know the Inclusion Project is supporting their cause:

National Inclusion Project just voted for you. http://www.refresheverything.com/nationalinclusionproject. Text 102308.

Teacher Finally Learns To Text

If you are from this grandmother's generation, you may need texting instructions printed on the clickable flyer below. If your cellphone is as ancient as mine, you need a teen-aged piano student like Joseph, who spent part of his lesson Tuesday as the instructing his teacher.

Double clickable flyer
Expand, print, distribute,
send as email attachment!

A daily NIP/partner voter through Facebook and Pepsi throughout September and October, I finally sent my first text vote Tuesday afternoon, thanks to my eighth grade piano student who configured my out-of-date cellphone. After successfully texting a vote for inclusion, he retraced his steps while his "teacher" took very good notes.

Before our role reversal, I had to promise to call AT&T about an upgrade. Longtime readers of the Carolina blog will remember Joseph as a featured student composer in the 8/28 entry.

Earlier Tuesday, my daughter had tried to no avail to walk me through texting via a long distance phone call 800 miles away. When my final student was a few minutes late, I followed my "teacher's" instructions and sent my offspring a simple "hello" text, figuring she would truly be shocked. She was indeed!

A makeup for Tuesday's piano-turned-text lesson is in the works!

Anyone who has voted on the Pepsi site knows that at busy times of the day, it simply has to work through certain cycles. Take a tip from Margaret5828 and put in your text votes during Pepsi's lag times.

Among the topics discussed at the Gala were successful strategies other charities are employing to engage large numbers of daily Pepsi Refresh voters. Print copies of the texting flyer, and hand them out at football games, shopping centers, club/faculty meetings, anywhere you can get people to vote daily for the NIP.

The clickable flyer below contains text numbers for the National Inclusion Project' and the charity's voting alliances.

Double clickable flyer
Enlarge, print, distribute,
Send as email attachment!

Let's enlist an army of new voters and win the $50,000 grant for the National Inclusion Project this month. Have a wonderful, productive week, Clay Nation!

Caro

Clay Aiken To Bring Broadway Home

Clay Aiken performs on Raleigh stage. AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds

Dancers To Benefit Inclusion

NC Theatre Slates Fundraiser

Clay Aiken will be among five featured performers for "Bringing Broadway Home," June 21 fundraiser for the North Carolina Theatre Group. Subscriber tickets for the musical evening at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium got underway yesterday with general seating set for Monday, April 19.

In addition to Singer Man, the benefit concert celebrating 27 seasons of Broadway at the NC Theatre will star Lauren Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Terrance Mann, and Quiana Parler. Brief bios of all five are printed below.

Tuesday afternoon WRAL's Out and About column and Playbill posted stories promoting the NC Theatre benefit. Broadway World is also featuring the release, Aiken Joins Broadway Stars for NC Theathre Concert:

North Carolina Theatre, the region's only producer of professional Broadway musical revivals, announces "Bringing Broadway Home," a spectacular benefit concert on Monday, June 21st at 8 PM in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.

This one-night-only event will celebrate 27 seasons of Broadway at North Carolina Theatre and will feature Clay Aiken, Lauren Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Terrence Mann and Quiana Parler.

Clay Aiken is a multi-platinum recording artist and is set to release his sixth album, Tried and True, this summer.

Since his meteoric rise to fame on the hit TV show American Idol in 2003, Aiken has launched eight tours, authored a New York Times best-selling book called Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life, starred on Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot, and has guest starring roles in TV's Scrubs, 30 Rock, and Saturday Night Live.

Before all of these accomplishments and more, Aiken performed on the North Carolina Theatre stage in Shenandoah and 1776 in 1996.

Theatre Benefit Flier

Cotton, a Clay Aiken fan from North Carolina, outlined the following plan for those who would like to secure tickets during this week's NCT membership pre-sale. Pricing is shown on the double-clickable flier above.

For the subscriber membership, you can buy two of the three shows offered in the Mini Pack (Cinderella, Annie, Little Shop of Horrors). You have to order tickets for specific shows and locations (i.e., Sun Aug 1 2PM, Mezz).

If you choose weeknights and balcony, you can become a subscriber for $100 or so plus fees. A weekend ticket subscription comes to around $120. I was able to buy eight benefit tickets Tuesday morning with no problem.

NC Theatre on Facebook suggests: Call 919-831-6941 x6943 or x6944. Hurry - tickets are going FAST!

Benefit To Celebrate 27 Seasons

Abbreviated bios and clickable photos of the five featured NC Theatre fundraiser performers are printed below. Their benefit concert will celebrate the theatre's 27 seasons. The above flier is double clickable.

Clay Aiken

CLAY AIKEN, a Raleigh native, rose to fame in 2003 as the runner-up on the second season of American Idol. The multi-platinum singer has recorded five albums with RCA Records; and his first CD with Universal Decca, "Tried and True," is scheduled for release June 1.

Aiken has launched eight North American tours and performed on a variety of holiday, comedy, and talk shows on television. His 2008 Broadway debut as Sir Robin in Monty Python's Spamalot received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike.

The singer won honors in North Carolina when he performed "This Is The Moment" from Jekyll and Hyde. In 1996, he performed on the NC Theatre stage in Shenandoah and 1776.

Lauren Kennedy

LAUREN KENNEDY, a native of Raleigh, is an actress and singer who has performed many roles on Broadway. She most recently originated the role Off-Broadway at Second Stage last summer.

Among her Broadway roles include Lady of the Lake in "Spamalot," Fantine in "Les Miserables," and Betty Schaefer in "Sunset Blvd." Kennedy is a member of the Board of Directors at The North Carolina Theatre, an Artistic Advisor at Farmer’s Alley Theatre, and Producing Artistic Director at Hot Summer Night’s at The Kennedy.

Sharon Lawrence

SHARON LAWRENCE, a seasoned stage actress, Sharon Lawrence was recently nominated for an Ovation Award and won the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for her acclaimed performance as Vivian Leigh in Pasadena Playhouse’s Off-Broadway hit "Orson’s Shadow." Her last Broadway appearance was as Velma Kelly in "Chicago."

Among her many TV credits are NYPD Blue, Desperate Housewives, Monk, Law and Order:SUV, Grey’s Anatomy, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She will star in a new comedy pilot for CBS entitled Hitched.

Terrence Mann

TERRENCE MANN made his big break-through in the original Broadway cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, playing the lead role of Rum Tum Tugger. Other Broadway performances include Javert in the original Broadway cast of Les Miserables, Beast in Beauty and the Beast, and Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Mann is currently playing the role of Mal Beineke in The Addams Family, which opened on Broadway on April 8.

Quiana Parler

QUIANA PARLER, a native of Charleston, SC, began her professional career singing for Calvin Gilmore of the "The Carolina Opry." In 2003 she parlayed a Top 48 placement on American Idol Season 2 into touring vocalist with Clay Aiken.

Parler's vocals can be heard on albums by Clay, Bianca Ryan, and Renee Olstead. She has recorded with some of the industry’s most respected producers and performed on numerous national television programs. She debuted in 2008 as Effie in the NC Theatre production of Dreamgirls.

After years on the road, the singer has returned home and assembled an incredible group of players and singers. Quiana Parler and Friends is an exciting, interactive band, a group with deep-rooted musical sophistication and an extremely diverse song list that travels throughout the USA and abroad.

Celebs Dance for Inclusion Project

In an annual benefit for the Foundation, the National Inclusion Project and A Step to Gold International Ballroom will co-host Dancing Like the Stars at Raleigh's Southern Women's Show on April 25.

Local celebrity participants have been practicing with their professional dance partners to provide great entertainment for the show attendees. Bios of the celebrity participants and their dance partners, as well as each couple's practice video, are provided here.

DLTS participants include Renee Chou (weekend morning anchor/reporter for WRAL-TV) and Dan Barber; Billy Dukes (music director/night DJ at 94.7 WQDR) and Kay Truitt; Scott Fitzgerald (WPTF 680AM radio personality, author, playright) and Melanie Dale; Bill Reh (meteorologist for NBC-17) and Amanda Shannon; Tina Seldin-Cash (WRAL TV) and Mike Gepner.

After watching the practice videos, use this link to vote for your favorite couple and make a donation to the National Inclusion Project. Every dollar donated will count as a vote towards the contestant of your choice (minimum online bid of $10).

Donations are 100 percent tax deductible. Voting will end at 11:59 EDT Saturday, April 24.

A MUSICAL STROLL - Founaindawg's latest graphic highlights Clay Aiken's six RCA albums and the much anticipated June 1 release with Decca, "Tried & True."

Fans on TNT Snippet Alert

Clocks have slowed to Larghissimo and Lenton assai tempi as time draws near for Amazon to post snippets of the upcoming "Tried & True" CD tracks. You can bet CA fans are staying in close contact with sites that will soon reveal smidgens of the new album's songs.

Another safe bet would be the Clay Aiken page at Decca Records.

Animation by gerwhisp

Larghissimo and Lento assai are slower than Largo, Lento, and Grave. I know I'm ready for the Vivace, Vivacissimo, and Vivacissimamente variety. How about you?

Below is a clickable of Fountaindawg's wallpaper:

Have a great week, Clay Nation!

Caro