CONCERT INTRODUCTION

"Send in the clowns," in theatrical reference, means "things are not going well." So "send in the clowns and "let's make jokes."  But Steve Sondheim wrote the song for a character in a musical.  The character is a mature lady who just proposed to one of her boyfriends and was rejected.  She was both angry - for being rejected, and regretful - for having wasted her youth chasing around men.  Because she was angry, the sentences were short, like "isn't it rich", "isn't is queer" etc. Because she was regretful, the melody sounds sad.  When this song is performed in a theater format, the emphasis is on the anger and regret.  However, when performed in a concert setting, the emphasis should be on the sweetness of the melody and the poetry of the lyrics; and I hope that's what we did.

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--Flora Tsui, 2017

Concert 5