By Jennifer Mustoe and Craig Mustoe
Sitting in the Covey Center for the Arts with a sold out crowd, we all went crazy for Ted Vigil‘s A Tribute to John Denver last night. It was a yee-haw kind of night and the crowd was electrified with Denver love, nostalgia, and hand-clapping glee. Vigil, who looks and has the mannerisms of John Denver, presents a show that played to audience members of all ages. Those of us who were–ahem–old enough to appreciate Denver in the 70s reminisced, but there were plenty of young people and kiddos, too.
Vigil starts the show with a favorite, “Rocky Mountain High”, and encourages the audience to sing along. In fact, he said there will plenty of times for people to sing, and I saw almost every person’s lips moving throughout the show. Vigil said the Denver popular exclamation, “Far out!” a few times, and I could feel the crowd smile. There were several things I loved about this concert. Vigil engages the audience in many ways. The funniest one is asking the audience to come up and make chicken clucks, hound dog howls, and pig snorting in “Grandma’s Feather Bed.” The people onstage were hilarious and Vigil laughed along with us. Vigil has the happy smile and lovely voice we associate with Denver, but shares information about his own life and family and career that makes it very clear that this is a TED VIGIL concert celebrating John Denver’s work. Vigil also shares information about Denver that is sweet and interesting.
Covering many of Denver’s favorites, Vigil also sang one of his original songs that was lovely. Accompanying Vigil is Amy Daves on violin, mandolin, guitar, and vocals. Daves is amazing and might need to have her own concerts from time to time. She has one great fiddle solo and the crowd went a little nuts–she’s so great. Local talent Devin Angelo (from the Salt Lake area) was on keyboard and vocals, and had her own solo, Carole King’s “It’s Too Late,” which was just fantastic.
As we drove to the concert, I asked my husband if he’d listened to Denver as a young adult. He said, “After my divorce, (we are each other’s second marriage), I drove around in the mountains listening to John Denver.” I had tickets to a John Denver concert and couldn’t go because of work–a dumb job I should have quit to see the concert, I freely admit now. So both Craig and I were very excited to see this John Denver tribute and weren’t disappointed at all.
As an actress, I have portrayed real people (Florence Foster Jenkins in Glorious, Bessie Stewart (Jimmy Stewart’s mother) in Jimmy Stewart Goes to Hollywood, but I never tried to really study the mannerisms of either of these real people. Maybe I should have? But I kept thinking that Vigil has clearly studied Denver so much so that he is an authentic representation. He keeps the line clear that he is Ted Vigil, but Denver really shines through. It gave me something to think about if I ever play a real person again.
Ted Vigil’s Tribute to John Denver is a wonderful event, filled with great memories, knee-slappin’ and hand-clappin’ fun, and beautiful music. If he comes to your town, don’t miss this wonderful production. You’ll love every minute of it.
The Covey Center for the Arts presents Ted Vigil–A Tribute to John Denver.
The Covey Center for the Arts, 425 W Center St, Provo, UT 84601
Ted Vigil/John Denver Tribute Facebook Page
Ted Vigil–A Tribute to John Denver Facebook Event
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