What to say... Fantastic show! Amazing to have the chance to be here... They are extremely talented and yes, in case anybody had any doubt, Kevin is extremely handsome in person and the rest of the cast is a blast! And thanks to all the members attending, great to have meet you all!!!! (Betinad) | I have to admit the highlight for me was when Sandra talked about Kevin. She was obviously playing it up for the "fan girls" but loved every moment of it. Also loved the opportunity to meet Betinad, marrymeowen, princessleah, manluvinfeminist, mckiddbabe, lovemesomeowen and cogromit. We had a blast at the concert and touring L.A. Betinad is a excellent tour guide - maybe too good (Coforever) |
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When I first heard about the Grey's Anatomy: The Songs Beneath the Show benefit concert for the Actors Fund, I thought “Wouldn't it be awesome to go?” Then after chats with several board members and realizing I was not alone, I booked a ticket to fly from New York State to Los Angeles for the weekend to attend the event. There was no reason for me not to go, and I am so glad that I did. The Actors Fund is a cause that is especially important considering the huge budget cuts that are happening to the arts in general. That being said, it was truly my pleasure to spend the money on the VIP ticket to attend the event and attend with two staff members and other fans (9 in total) from www.kevinmckiddonline.com. So we got tickets the day they went on sale and managed to get fourth row which was amazing!
The first one to come out was Sandra Oh in a cute purple dress, with her hair up. She was absolutely adorable and the crowd went wild when they saw her, jumping up in applause. She gave us a sort of pep talk asking us how many are fans, how many came from far away, how many came from another country, it was interesting to see where everybody came from. Sandra gave a little background about The Actors Fund, and then started talking about how the cast will be performing songs from the musical episode. When she started to introduce the first performer, Eric Dane showed up on the other side of the stage playing a guitar, the crowd went wild again, we realized after that there was going to be a running joke with Eric and Sandra about him not getting to sing on stage.
The first number was “Chasing Cars” with Sara Ramirez, Kevin McKidd and Chandra Wilson. For those of us who watched the show from day one, this song is probably the most iconic next to “How to Save a Life”. Sara was so amazing in the first verse, having seen her in Spamalot on Broadway, I knew she was wonderful live, but man still breathtaking as ever. Then Kevin came out, the crowd was so excited and yelled out “I love you!” and he wowed everyone with his command of the mic. I knew Kevin could sing as well, but didn't know how naturally beautiful his voice was until that moment. Its one thing to see them perform a recording in the
musical episode, but it is nothing compared to how he sings live. I loved how Sara and Kevin sounded together, it seemed like they have been singing for ages with each other. When Chandra Wilson came out for the third verse, it was another wild applause. She is also a broadway performer, and I think this was probably my favorite of the night. Not just because it was the first number but they all sounded so natural and beautiful together.
Kevin McKidd was luminous as he performed two solos. The first was from the musical episode called “How we operate” Can I just say that this song was so much better live? I did like it on the CD version, but I think he is a very strong live performer. He carries his voice very well, and also knows how to work the crowd. This is evident even more during his second solo “Looking at the World from the Bottom of the Well”. Kevin did quitea bit of audience interaction which I thought was fantastic. It took some a while to get motivated and Kevin noticed and said jokingly to“now stop videoing us and sing along” the audience loved his sense of humor.
Some of the Grey's ladies including Chandra Wilson helped him with back up. The audience was mesmerized as he inspired them. It was also interesting to see the different range of styles Kevin has under his belt. Makes the wait for the anticipated Speyside Sessions album release seem much longer.
The first one to come out was Sandra Oh in a cute purple dress, with her hair up. She was absolutely adorable and the crowd went wild when they saw her, jumping up in applause. She gave us a sort of pep talk asking us how many are fans, how many came from far away, how many came from another country, it was interesting to see where everybody came from. Sandra gave a little background about The Actors Fund, and then started talking about how the cast will be performing songs from the musical episode. When she started to introduce the first performer, Eric Dane showed up on the other side of the stage playing a guitar, the crowd went wild again, we realized after that there was going to be a running joke with Eric and Sandra about him not getting to sing on stage.
The first number was “Chasing Cars” with Sara Ramirez, Kevin McKidd and Chandra Wilson. For those of us who watched the show from day one, this song is probably the most iconic next to “How to Save a Life”. Sara was so amazing in the first verse, having seen her in Spamalot on Broadway, I knew she was wonderful live, but man still breathtaking as ever. Then Kevin came out, the crowd was so excited and yelled out “I love you!” and he wowed everyone with his command of the mic. I knew Kevin could sing as well, but didn't know how naturally beautiful his voice was until that moment. Its one thing to see them perform a recording in the
musical episode, but it is nothing compared to how he sings live. I loved how Sara and Kevin sounded together, it seemed like they have been singing for ages with each other. When Chandra Wilson came out for the third verse, it was another wild applause. She is also a broadway performer, and I think this was probably my favorite of the night. Not just because it was the first number but they all sounded so natural and beautiful together.
Kevin McKidd was luminous as he performed two solos. The first was from the musical episode called “How we operate” Can I just say that this song was so much better live? I did like it on the CD version, but I think he is a very strong live performer. He carries his voice very well, and also knows how to work the crowd. This is evident even more during his second solo “Looking at the World from the Bottom of the Well”. Kevin did quitea bit of audience interaction which I thought was fantastic. It took some a while to get motivated and Kevin noticed and said jokingly to“now stop videoing us and sing along” the audience loved his sense of humor.
Some of the Grey's ladies including Chandra Wilson helped him with back up. The audience was mesmerized as he inspired them. It was also interesting to see the different range of styles Kevin has under his belt. Makes the wait for the anticipated Speyside Sessions album release seem much longer.
Sara Ramirez performed in several numbers through out the night, her solo called “The Story” sparkled. Shonda Rhimes mentioned in an interview that Sara was instrumental in the organization of the event as she had a lot of stage experience. Chandra's solo was called “Everywhere I Go” made me sorry I missed seeing her when she was in “Chicago” on Broadway a couple years ago. I honestly think if Grey's Anatomy ended tomorrow and Kevin McKidd, Sara Ramirez and Chandra Wilson all started a music trio, I'd be a happy fan.
One of my favorite moments was when the cast read fan comments from the internet about the musical episode. They went from hilarious, to harsh, to what? The fans loved it and reacted on a dime to each of the comments it was really hilarious, especially James Pickens who read one that said “Best episode EVER!”
While I am obviously in love with Kevin's performances that night, the person whose voice stuck in my head the most that night after the event was not even a cast member, it was Justin Chambers' daughter Kayla. Justin performed the song “Young Folks” with three of his kids: Mya, Eva and Kayla. Who also have their own band called NYLA. I have heard about them, but never guessed how talented they are. The minute she sang a few words, the audience went wild. She has such a mature voice. More than one person I was with that night mentioned that she sounded like Norah Jones, I would have added Feist and Yael Naim. You could tell that Justin was really proud of his kids that night and I thought they did an amazing job.
Speaking of singers, Ingrid Michaelson had a great story about how she ended up doing some music for the show after they found her for Grey's Anatomy. She pretty much said it was like a dream come true and that she had a Grey's Anatomy party with her friends the night her song was going to appear but didn't realize the show was two hours long. The song she performed “Keep Breathing” was used in the last scene where Meredith cuts Cristina out of her wedding dress after Burke leaves her at the altar. Being a music fan, I was so glad to see her there.
Two songs the entire cast (minus Sandra Oh and Eric Dane) performed were “Running on Sunshine” and “How to Save a Life”. “Running on Sunshine” was even better live I thought. It is hard to get a sense of everyone's ability in a televised scene. We also got to see more of their personalities at play. During “Running on Sunshine”(the sexy number in the episode) the boys were on one side of the stage and girls on the other. Kevin had some of the most hilarious reactions and really seemed to get some of his cast members going. James Pickens and Justin Chambers seemed to have a lot of fun. The girls Sara Ramirez, Kim Raver, a very pregnant Jessica Capshaw, Sarah Drew and Chandra Wilson were fun to watch as well. Sarah Drew also had some great moments
during that number. “How to Save a Life” was a great performance as well and I think they knew what that song meant for the fans which is why they performed it last. “Chasing Cars” and “How to Save a Life” were the perfect book end songs for the evening.
One of my favorite moments was when the cast read fan comments from the internet about the musical episode. They went from hilarious, to harsh, to what? The fans loved it and reacted on a dime to each of the comments it was really hilarious, especially James Pickens who read one that said “Best episode EVER!”
While I am obviously in love with Kevin's performances that night, the person whose voice stuck in my head the most that night after the event was not even a cast member, it was Justin Chambers' daughter Kayla. Justin performed the song “Young Folks” with three of his kids: Mya, Eva and Kayla. Who also have their own band called NYLA. I have heard about them, but never guessed how talented they are. The minute she sang a few words, the audience went wild. She has such a mature voice. More than one person I was with that night mentioned that she sounded like Norah Jones, I would have added Feist and Yael Naim. You could tell that Justin was really proud of his kids that night and I thought they did an amazing job.
Speaking of singers, Ingrid Michaelson had a great story about how she ended up doing some music for the show after they found her for Grey's Anatomy. She pretty much said it was like a dream come true and that she had a Grey's Anatomy party with her friends the night her song was going to appear but didn't realize the show was two hours long. The song she performed “Keep Breathing” was used in the last scene where Meredith cuts Cristina out of her wedding dress after Burke leaves her at the altar. Being a music fan, I was so glad to see her there.
Two songs the entire cast (minus Sandra Oh and Eric Dane) performed were “Running on Sunshine” and “How to Save a Life”. “Running on Sunshine” was even better live I thought. It is hard to get a sense of everyone's ability in a televised scene. We also got to see more of their personalities at play. During “Running on Sunshine”(the sexy number in the episode) the boys were on one side of the stage and girls on the other. Kevin had some of the most hilarious reactions and really seemed to get some of his cast members going. James Pickens and Justin Chambers seemed to have a lot of fun. The girls Sara Ramirez, Kim Raver, a very pregnant Jessica Capshaw, Sarah Drew and Chandra Wilson were fun to watch as well. Sarah Drew also had some great moments
during that number. “How to Save a Life” was a great performance as well and I think they knew what that song meant for the fans which is why they performed it last. “Chasing Cars” and “How to Save a Life” were the perfect book end songs for the evening.
For the Q&A section, VIP members were asked to fill out an index card which was going to be selected and read by Tony Phelan. Shonda Rhimes also joined the actors on the stage for the Q&A. It was obvious that they were not going to ask spoiler type questions. Someone asked Shonda about if Grey's is going to suffer when her new project starts up. She assured us that it would not. Another question was to Sara Ramirez and they asked how difficult was it to see yourself on screen in the episode. She said that her fiance had a hard time watching her on screen. Of course Kevin always gets the questions about his accent and they asked if he ever slips into his natural Scottish accent? He said sometimes he does and is called on it, and talked about how differently he says the word “schedule”.
My favorite question of the night went to Sandra Oh who was asked what is her favorite thing about working with Kevin McKidd? She said: “I can't talk enough about Kevin McKidd. Yes, talented. Blah blah blah blah. OK more than one thing. One, he's a great kisser. Two: he has amazing skin, and I get to touch it sometimes. She turns to Kevin and says: “Its your skin and your lips babe” and the audience goes wild. Then she says: “He is a happily married man!” One of my fellow KMK Forum members yelled out “Save them Shonda!” and Sandra reassured all of us OC fans and said “Just wait. You'll see, you'll see stick with us.” Every OC fan in the place erupted in screams and as an OC fan that was a very cathartic moment, and I could see show runner Shonda Rhimes nodding her head in reaction, she clearly got the message.
After the event was over we got our swag bag which included a reproduction of a signed photo, a coffee travel mug, pen, sticky note pad, hat, a shirt, and a few other random items. It was pretty cool, but whether we got the gift bag or not, just being there was enough for me. I am so glad I decided to go and that I had great people to go with to support Kevin McKidd, his cast mates and The Actors Fund.
Thank you again Kevin and your cast mates for such an amazing and unforgettable night with Grey's Anatomy.
Review by MarrymeOwen
Photos, videos, reviews by Betinad, Coforever and MarrymeOwen
My favorite question of the night went to Sandra Oh who was asked what is her favorite thing about working with Kevin McKidd? She said: “I can't talk enough about Kevin McKidd. Yes, talented. Blah blah blah blah. OK more than one thing. One, he's a great kisser. Two: he has amazing skin, and I get to touch it sometimes. She turns to Kevin and says: “Its your skin and your lips babe” and the audience goes wild. Then she says: “He is a happily married man!” One of my fellow KMK Forum members yelled out “Save them Shonda!” and Sandra reassured all of us OC fans and said “Just wait. You'll see, you'll see stick with us.” Every OC fan in the place erupted in screams and as an OC fan that was a very cathartic moment, and I could see show runner Shonda Rhimes nodding her head in reaction, she clearly got the message.
After the event was over we got our swag bag which included a reproduction of a signed photo, a coffee travel mug, pen, sticky note pad, hat, a shirt, and a few other random items. It was pretty cool, but whether we got the gift bag or not, just being there was enough for me. I am so glad I decided to go and that I had great people to go with to support Kevin McKidd, his cast mates and The Actors Fund.
Thank you again Kevin and your cast mates for such an amazing and unforgettable night with Grey's Anatomy.
Review by MarrymeOwen
Photos, videos, reviews by Betinad, Coforever and MarrymeOwen
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