VSA Arts Festival

Washington, DC, June 9-12, 2004

On June 9-12, 2004, the VSA International Festival took place in Washington, DC.  It was one of the most remarkable experiences in which we have participated.

VSA (Very Special Arts) is an organization that celebrates great accomplishments in the arts by persons with “disabilities”.  It is designed to allow persons with “disabilities” to learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts.  The VSA International Festival brings together hundreds of talented “disabled” artists of all types from around the world to perform in a 4-day celebration of hope.

VSA was founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith.  It was a dream that became a reality, and an unbelievable reality at that.  Matt and his Trio were invited to be featured artists at the event.  We knew it was an honor to have been invited to join in this event, but we did not realize how much this experience would impact our lives.

Musicians, dancers, comedians, and media artists from over 60 countries come to participate in this event.  The Opening Ceremonies for the festival were held the first evening at The Concert Hall of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  It began with a Parade of Flags from all of the countries represented by artists, and the flags just kept coming and coming!

After the parade of flags, the VSA artists performed a fully staged musical.  It involved as many of the artists as possible in a stunning performance of “The Magic Crayon”, a musical inspired by the book “Harold and The Purple Crayon”. 

Everything was professionally run and choreographed and rehearsed in just two days. Actually, that’s how long the ARTISTS had to rehearse.  The behind-the-scenes work must have taken months.

Matt and I flew in a day early so he could rehearse his part in the Finale.  We arrived in D.C. on the 8^th, arriving late for the rehearsal (as our plane was delayed), but staying until the end of the rehearsal that evening.  We finally left The Kennedy Center at 10:00 PM.  It was exhausting.  But we had the chance to meet the other artists there.  There were deaf dancers, a deaf rapper, singers, artists, people with various birth defects, musicians with limited vision, a musician with a lost limb, a dancer with one leg, dancers in wheelchairs, and people with incredible, incredible talents.  Not one person thought of him or herself as disabled.  And no one looked at anyone else in that way.  It was funny, I think people kind of looked at one another and wondered what was “supposedly wrong” with the person next to them because THEY couldn’t see anything…  Unless someone needed an interpreter for sign language, a person’s challenge was a mystery to others.

Day two of our participation was even more grueling than day one.  There was a full dress rehearsal of the production, a VERY short break, and then the performance.  Matt’s sidemen flew in that morning and arrived just in time for the dress rehearsal.  They were filled in quickly on what would be happening and what they would do, and then it was off to dress rehearsal and performance.

The performance that evening went off flawlessly.

John Hockenberry was the host for the evening, dazzling audiences with his mix of theatrical grandeur and humor.  His presence and spokesmanship delighted the audience and made him the perfect host to bring everyone along on the “magical journey” that was to be performed that evening.

Secretary Tommy Thompson (the Head of the Dept of Health and Human Services) spoke for a bit.

Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith spoke and was lauded for her vision to create VSA and for how far it has come.  She received a huge reception by the audience and a standing ovation for her commitment to the arts.  It amazed everyone that her idea back in 1974, a program with little money but a lot of heart, has grown to become an internationally recognized organization.

Matt and Margaret Bush

Actress Margaret Bush (yes, a relative of President Bush) spoke briefly as a representative of the Bush family and as an accomplished actress.  She recognized the accomplishments of persons with challenges and talked about the support that must be given to all individuals pursuing the arts.  As an actress herself, she spoke from personal experience about the need to continue commitment to the arts and enumerated the many things the President’s administration is doing to support the arts.

Matt and Ben Vereen

The two special performers of the evening were none other than the remarkable Ben Vereen and the extraordinary Ronan Tynan (one of the Three Irish Tenors).

There were so many unbelievably talented actors and performers that evening that I can’t begin to write about them here.  It would take me pages to talk about them.  All I can say is that every single artist was remarkable in his or her own way.  The performance was flawless in its execution, and the audience was thrilled.

The Trio was the featured artist in Scene 5 (the Red Crayon scene).  They came out and performed one of Matt’s new, original tunes (which will be on his upcoming CD) entitled “Infected with Hemiola”.  While they were playing, there were several children who were on the sides of the stage doing artwork.  The children finished their art and left, leaving the band to finish the song.  To our surprise, when the band finished playing, they received a standing ovation from the audience.  The group hadn’t discussed what to do if this happened (as nobody was expecting a standing ovation for just one song), so Matt just stood and took a bow.  The audience went wild.  The other sidemen went over to Matt and bowed with him as the audience continued to clap, and then the band went offstage.  It was fantastic.  It actually brought the show to a stop for a few minutes.

The next scene involved songs by Ronan Tynan, who also moved the audience to a standing ovation.  I had never before heard him sing in person, and the dynamics and range and just shear beauty of his voice was phenomenal.

When it came time for the Finale, everyone awaited the announcement of the “special guest musician”.  The music started, and out came Ben Vereen.   He performed a show-stopping number, and then came to the podium to speak with the audience.  He told of his difficult ordeal so many years ago.  Most everyone knows he had had an accident years ago, but I didn’t know that in fact he had had THREE accidents in ONE DAY.  First, he ran his car off of the road and hit a tree.  He hit his head on the windshield.  He survived that accident and walked away to get help.  As he was walking, he had a stroke.  Blinded by and in the middle of the stroke, he stumbled into the road and was hit by a truck.  By all accounts he should have been killed.

This song and dance man was now in a hospital for quite some time, eventually recovering enough to make it into a wheelchair.  He was told he would never walk again.  After the anger and despair, he started to see things in a different light.  He wrote a poem during that time, which he read to the audience.  It was an incredibly moving experience.  He had come to terms with being his “new” self, the one in the wheelchair.  And he saw himself not as disabled.  This incredible man who had suffered so much and had seemingly lost forever his ability to walk, much less to dance, was at peace.  This showman who everyone knew to “have the moves” wouldn’t move much anymore.  And he was okay with this.

Then, a miracle happened.  With years of hard work and faith and determination, he has recovered.  He didn’t say so, but I believe he still has pain and difficulty moving.  Yet he is singing and dancing again.  If someone didn’t know his story of pain and recovery, they would think he was just a great entertainer. 

Before he spoke of the details of his “Day of Accidents”, I would never have known how much he went through to recover.  Walking is a precious gift to every human being, although people take it for granted.  For someone in a wheelchair, it is a dream.  Not only does Ben walk, he dances.  And he sings.

He did his solo performance, spoke to the audience, and then the entire cast of performers came out for the Finale.  They sang/danced an arrangement of “Do you believe in Magic”, by The Lovin’ Spoonful.  Matt had a long solo in the middle of the song, which received a HUGE round of applause from the audience.

This performance, with its long rehearsals and intense preparation and grueling and tiring work was one of the most rewarding experiences for everyone involved.  In between the times Matt needed to be on stage, we got to know the other performers.  Meeting them enriched our lives immensely, and I will always remember our experience with these talented artists.  As for Matt, he just had fun.  He had many, many new friends to meet and many musicians with whom to jam.

Ben Vereen was extremely nice, and was taken by Matt.  During a break at the first day’s   rehearsal, Ben Vereen brought him into his dressing room and had Matt play for him and for his accompanist and arranger (also a teacher and performer himself).  They were dazzled by Matt’s playing, and Matt showed them some of the music he had written.  The next day, during the break for the cast, Ben asked Matt if he knew Misty.  Matt broke into Misty, and Ben started singing it.  Quamon Fowler, a talented jazz sax player joined in, and they played a fantastic, spontaneous rendition of the standard.  For a few minutes, it was as if there was nobody else in the room, just three musicians playing.  It was wonderful.

(l-r) Quamon Fowler, Ben Vereen, Dave Loeb, Matt Savage

After that, the performance started.

The next day was a day of rest for the Trio, fortunately.  Matt was tired. The day after that, the Trio was supposed to perform twice.  However that day was Friday, June 11^th.   As you all know, it was the day of former President Ronald Reagan’s funeral.  Unfortunately, the location of the Trio’s scheduled performance was close to the area of the funeral procession, so the band’s afternoon performance was cancelled.  On top of that, it rained that day, so, the Trio’s second performance, which was to be an outdoor nighttime performance, was moved indoors to the Hilton Washington Towers ballroom.  Remarkably, there was still a good attendance at the concert.  For some reason, the performance started late, and there was a problem with the keyboard.  All of the notes did not work.  I’ve never heard of a problem like that before.  But the band played on.  Matt didn’t even know that half of his notes were dropping out such that the audience could not hear him.  I was in the front row, so I could hear that he was playing the notes, but I’m sure that the folks in the back row couldn’t hear the notes at all.  Well, I guess every performance doesn’t go as planned.  But still, there was an ovation and demand for an encore.  Because of the late start, there was really no time for an encore, but while the crew was rearranging the drums for the next band, Matt smiled and played a VERY short and playful version of “Jingle Bells”.  This made the audience laugh and cheer.

I, Matt, John and Steve (Matt’s sidemen) would all very much like to thank VSA for involving us in their incredible Festival.  All of us were honored to have participated in the festival, and all of our lives were enriched by the experience.  To all of the performers we met and befriended there, we hope you will continue to keep in touch with us in the future.  You are an inspiration to everyone.  To all of the VSA people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make everything happen and who had to deal with one programming hurdle after another, THANK you.  Your efforts may be unseen by the general public, but all of the people with whom you worked (including us) cannot thank you enough for you dedication and kindness.  This festival, with its many moments of enlightenment, would not have happened if not for all of you.