Live at the Coconut Grove

By Brenda Neugent

Published: August 1, 2008

By Brenda Neugent
Register & Bee staff writer
Aaron Stewart is moving on from his win in this summer’s Southside Superstar contest — which led to an audition for “American Idol” — to the jazz era as one of the soloists in the upcoming
production of “Live at the Coconut Grove.”
The show, featuring members of the Danville community, is a fundraiser for the North Theatre and is directed by the North’s artistic director, Jerry Meadors.
“Coconut Grove” features songs from the 1920s and ’30s, including many classics from the Great American Songbook.
The works of Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Noel Coward, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern and Hoagy Carmichael will be celebrated as part of the show, which features soloists Stewart, Brenda Brokaw (who recently took home the title of Ms.
Senior Virginia), Donna Redd, Carolyn Smith, Patty Grigoryev, Raul West, Madalyn Mohamed, Suzanne Singer and Jean Vernon, with appearances by dancers Danya Zuniga, Norris Jose Zuniga and Ann Pflugshaupt, among others.
Stewart, 26, will sing two songs, “Ain’t Misbehaving” — a 1929 number by pianist Fats Waller — and “My Funny Valentine,” a 1937 Rogers and Hart ballad that will feature dancer Anne Pflugshaupt.
Stewart landed his role in “Live at the Coconut Grove” after Meadors caught him in the Southside Superstar contest and invited him to participate.
And he’s been enjoying the experience, although he was forced to take a brief break during rehearsals this summer to head to New York, where he auditioned for “American Idol.”
The five-day trip was part of a prize for finalists in the Southside Superstar contest, and Stewart was one of several who went.
“Showcase Magazine and Captain Copy took the top eight finalists from that contest to New York to audition,” said Stewart, who was initially overwhelmed by the city.
“When you’re first pulling in and you first see the city, it’s so huge and immense it’s almost intimidating,” said Stewart, “but you go with the flow.”
And although auditions didn’t go so well — “I didn’t make it past that round,” Stewart said. “I was disappointed probably moreso for the people back home that were rooting for me.” — it was an experience he’ll likely never forget.
“The worst part is that we had to be in line for hours,” he said. “There were 10 or 15 thousand other
people there, and several times, periodically, we would be interviewed while we were in line.”
Those interviews helped break the monotony of waiting, and also helped to calm Stewart’s nerves while he anticipated his turn to sing for the initial panel of judges in the Philips Arena, the same place the New York Knicks play.
Once inside, contestants caught sight of the tables,
“12 tables stretched across the arena floor, from one end of the arena to the other,” Stewart said.
Singers were grouped in fours, and sang one at a time for the table of judges.
“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I‘d be,” Stewart said, but he knew his chances at a shot at “American Idol” had ended when a girl in his group, one he recognized as a better singer, didn’t make the cut.
During Stewart’s remaining visit to New York, he visited with an agent whose name he got from Meadors — “She has a couple of clients on ‘Ugly Betty’ and one on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’” Stewart said. “She is as big as it gets” — and got to know the city.
But he has no plans to relocate, at least not for now.
“My goal is to be more of a touring musician,” said Stewart, who said music has been a big part of his life since he was a child.
“I’ve sung as long as I can remember,” said Stewart. “My parents are musicians, my dad sings, my entire family sings.”
And in addition to a stint a few years back with his father, Mitch, in the barbershop quartet River Cities Quartet, Aaron leads music at Blessed Hope Baptist Church, where he has the opportunity to expand his musical horizons and add variety to his repertoire.
Stewart has plans to head to Nashville in November, where he will hopefully find someone to give a listen to his demo CD, which features a song he wrote for his wife and sang at their wedding reception.
In the meantime, he’ll take a trip back in time, singing songs from an
entirely different era.
“I like that period of time, the fashion of the era, the whole ambiance and the style of it,” he said. “And to be able to perform in the North ... My grandma would tell me stories about seeing shows and plays there. This would have been her kind of time period, her style of music, so it’s really neat. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Live at the Coconut Grove” starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the North Theatre, 629 North Main St.
Tony Gioia will emcee the show, and Doris Anne Waugh, Robert Sutter, Jana Smith and Kathleen O’Hare will be featured on piano, with Landon Wyatt on trumpet, Steve Eggleston on strings and Jon Foster on drums.
Tickets are $20 and are available by calling (434) 792-2700.
Proceeds will benefit the theater.