Hurricane Randy Edelman Debuts at The Ice Palace
What if tomorrow vanished in a storm? The sky became an iridescent, silvery gray early on. As the hours passed one could notice the sky becoming swollen and shrouded in black thunderheads with the distant lightning glowing mutely like the crackling embers of smoke after the fire went out. But the Sayville ferries were still running intermittently to the Gay paradise island of Cherry Grove, and composer Randy Edelman was still reeling from an adrenaline overdose against the supreme success of his monumental performance the night before in NYC, clamored with an audience of prominent superstars inclusive of record hero Clive Davis….so onto the ferry he went… into storm.
“The waves generated by that storm was so huge that they literally shook the Earth: seismographs in Alaska, picked up their impact 5000 miles away”…. Sebastion Junger (from The Perfect Storm)….”Ship on the rocks, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1839, NO SURVIVORS” (From historic storms of New England, 1891).
The ferry landed as the waves swirled over the dock and the illustrious composer emerged from the boat unscathed… after all they say the show must go on…. The famous Ice Palace has welcomed past guests including Patti LuPone, Carol Channing, Chita Rivera, Alan Cumming, Liza Minnelli, Margaret Cho, and even Lady GaGa. Tonight the world renowned venue would celebrate something grande….the performance of composer Extraordinaire Randy Edelman.
After being picked up in his Grove limo (a one of a kind construction cart), he arrived at the Ice Palace, fireplace crackling for attention with its throbbing red-orange wood heart that held a million days of sunlight. Randy sat in front of the dazzling white baby grand piano underneath the everchanging pink to purple massive triangle originally symbolizing a badge of shame in Nazi Germany for the LGBTQ community, but later reclaimed as a positive symbol of self-identity. Despite the storm the tables filled with a dripping wet crowd waiting in high anticipation…….announced by famous drag/impersonator Porsche (the only Queen ever to be a side-kick on national TV for The Wanda Sikes show)…and he began.
The weather is nature’s disruptor of human plans and is essentially uncontrolled by man, however as soon as the multi-award winning symphonist began to play the room filled with a cozy and soothing warmth, a gift of love ….the gift of Randy’s music and intimate story….and then soon the incandescent particles emanating in flickering streams of music climaxed to blazing flame, a crescendo scorching the emotions of the audience, setting the Ice Palace on fire….
Originally known for his pop ballads, hurriedly unfurling events that led to a romantic conclusion which included songs such as “You” (as covered by The Carpenters), “Isn’t It a Shame” (covered twice by Patti LaBelle and hip hop icon Nelly), “If Love is Real” (covered by Olivia Newton-John), “The Laughter and The Tears” (covered by Dionne Warwick), and of course “A Weekend in New England” (covered by Barry Manilow). He performed many of those and more adding his intricate, emotional and humorous back stage stories, appreciated by the congregation, but then introduced his film score marathon melange and the audience melted…
Credited for composing over 100 motion picture and television soundtracks his medley included excerpts from My Cousin Vinny, Ghostbusters ll, Dragonheart, The Mask, Billy Madison, Kindergarten Cop, While You Were Sleeping, 27 Dresses, The Bruce Lee Story, Gettysburg, the theme from the hit series MacGyver, and Last of the Mohicans, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Special thanks to Daniel Nardicio’ and friends… owners of The Ice Palace, Ken Braun, and Porsche and to those who came out in the storm….
Although the rain came down straight and silvery, like a punishment and seemed to fill the entire world with its leaden beat, the luminous flashes of lightning came only from the music of Randy Edelman…
