My friend Eddie comes from a pretty amazing family. His dad is an actor and singer and won a Tony award for some play he was in on Broadway. He continues to perform on and off Broadway and around the country. His sister Lily was in the original cast of "Spring Awakening," another Tony winner (the musical, not Lily herself). He and his brother Alex are pretty spectacular themselves, but a bit less driven than Lily is. On Monday night, the three of them did a show at a really cool venue called Joe's Pub in the Village.
My friend Julia has been there to see other things before, and she told me it's a pretty major spot for Broadway actors to do shows on the side. This is not a place for full-on plays, but for concerts and showcases. Dave, Julia, and I went to see the Cooper clan, and they were absolutely great. They performed with a live band, full lighting, the works!
Eddie, Lily, and Alex
I'd never heard the song Eddie sang before (see below for a video link) and I thought it was hilarious. He has great stage presence. It's interesting hearing him sing alongside Lily and Alex. All three of them are really talented, but Eddie has had lots of musical theater training, and it shows. Both Lily and Alex sound more contemporary, whereas Eddie sounds like he should be wearing suspenders and shaking spirit fingers at the end of big numbers.
The show was great, but I enjoyed what went on in the house just as much as what was onstage. The whole place was sold out, and it seemed that everyone there was a friend or family member of at least one of the Coopers. I've never been part of a more enthusiastic audience. It was fun to watch the three of them being hugged, congratulated, photographed, and presented with flowers after the show, and we all went to a bar down the street for a celebratory drink afterwards. Eddie's friends are becoming my friends, which is great in a lot of ways, but it means I almost always have to leave the party just as it's getting started; most of them are actors, and are "loosely employed."
Click here for a video of: Eddie's song
Click here for the "unexpected" encore: All three Coopers
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