Our daughter didn’t go with us to Chautauqua Institution, but if she had, she would have attended the Boyz II Men concert. She’s really into 1990s soul, and the group broke into the charts early in that decade.
CHQ has had other popular music acts this season, such as Martina McBride and the Beach Boys. Still, I wondered if Chautauquans knew of these singers. While some were familiar, others were not so much. “But they were huge!” I noted.
From Wikipedia: “The group first saw commercial success in 1991 with the release of their singles ‘Motownphilly’ and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” both of which peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. Their 1992 single, ‘End of the Road’ peaked atop the chart and set a then-record for spending 13 weeks at the position. Boyz II Men later broke this record twice more with the singles ‘I’ll Make Love to You’ and ‘One Sweet Day’ (with Mariah Carey), which, at 14 and 16 weeks, respectively, set records for most weeks at number one. When ‘On Bended Knee’ took the number one spot away from ‘I’ll Make Love to You,’ Boyz II Men became the third musical act, after the Beatles and Elvis Presley, to replace themselves atop the Billboard Hot 100.”
Formed in 1985, they were a quartet: baritone Nathan Morris, tenors Wanyá Morris (no relation) and Shawn Stockman, and bass singer Michael McCary. McCary left the group in 2003 for what turned out to be multiple sclerosis. Since then, the group has persevered as a trio.
Songs
Here are some of the songs they performed:
Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough (Michael Jackson song)
Water Runs Dry
One More Try
On Bended Knee
More Than You’ll Ever Know
Cooley High Harmony
Uhh ahh
4 Seasons of Loneliness
A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke song)
At this point, nothing shocked me. But then they got much louder than I would have expected and did it well, including Are You Going My Way (Lenny Kravitz song), American Woman (Lenny Kravitz version of a Guess Who song), and Come Together (Beatles song).
Say Goodbye To Yesterday
One Sweet Day – the audience was asked to provide the Mariah Carey part
I’ll Make Love To You
End Of The Road
Motownphilly—of course, Motownphilly. How else could one end the show but with the song that namechecks them? Here are some more videos.
There was no encore. I suspect that was a CHQ requirement since the workers had to refigure the stage for the next morning’s activities. The one song I wanted to hear they didn’t perform, Thank You, blasted from the speakers as the audience departed.
CHQ pricing
I should explain the pricing at the Chautauqua institution. There is a parking fee. Room and board varied depending on the location and how early one books. An access pass allowed you to see most of the shows for free.
People not staying at Chautauqua did, in fact, see some of the programs and got preferential seating. But they paid $69-$129. The CSO concerts of Phil Collins’ music, Dvorak 8, and the Chautauqua Opera Co.’s “Hansel and Gretel” all started at $49 each.