The Spark of Creation from Children of Eden

Music by Stephen Schwartz

Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

A two-act musical written in 1991, Children of Eden is based on biblical subject matter. Act I tells the story of Adam and Eve, Cain, and Abel. Act II describes Noah and the Flood. The Spark of Creation is sung by the character of Eve in Act I. Despite her life being perfect, she yearns for something more, to see and know what is beyond the garden.

I've got an itching on the tips of my fingers

I've got a burning in the back of my brain

I've got a hunger burning inside me, cannot be denied

I've got a feeling that the Father who made us

When He was kindling a pulse in my veins

He left a tiny spark of that fire, smoldering inside

The spark of creation is flickering within me

The spark of creation is blazing in my blood

A bit of the fire that lit up the stars and brought life into the mud

The first inspiration, the spark of creation

I see a mountain and I want to climb it

I see a river and I want to leave shore

Where there was nothing let there be something

Something made by me

There's things waiting for me to invent them

There's worlds waiting for me to explore

I am an echo of the eternal cry of

Let there be

The spark of creation burning bright within me

The spark of creation won't let me rest at all

Until I discover or build or uncover, a thing that I can call

My celebration of the spark of creation

The spark of creation, may it burn forever

The spark of creation, I am a keeper of the flame

We think all we want is a lifetime of leisure

Each perfect day the same, endless vacation

Well, that's alright if you're a kind crustacean

But when you're born with an imagination

Sooner of later you're feeling the fire, getting hotter and higher

The spark of creation

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz

Music by Harold Arlen / Arranged by Jordon He

Lyrics by Yip Harburg

Made famous by Judy Garland's stunning performance in the 1938 film The Wizard of Oz, Somewhere Over the Rainbow is the signature tune of this iconic film. After failing to coax her family and friends into listening to an unfortunate incident involving her dog, Dorothy takes Toto for a walk and sings this enchanting song that muses upon a place where there are no troubles, someplace beyond the rainbow.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

There's a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow

Skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far

Behind me

Where troubles melt like lemon drops

Away above the chimney tops

That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow

Bluebirds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow

Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly

Beyond the rainbow

Why, oh why can't I?

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Rainbow Connection

Music by Paul Williams + Kenneth Ascher

Lyrics By Paul Williams + Kenneth Ascher

Rainbow Connection is sung by Jim Henson in his timeless role as Kermit the Frog. The song features in the 1979 film 'The Muppet Movie'. While a piece of music sung by a puppet-frog playing a banjo as he floats downstream on a log might at first be difficult to take seriously, the song has a powerful message of unifying positivity. It speaks of finding a 'rainbow connection' in all aspects of life, one where all aspects are in harmonious resonance.

Why are there so many

Songs about rainbows

And what's on the other side

Rainbow's are visions

But only illusions

And rainbows have nothing to hide

So we've been told and some Choose to believe it

But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it

The Rainbow Connection

The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish

Would be heard and answered

When wished on the morning star

Somebody thought of that

And someone believed it

Look what it's done so far

What's so amazing

That keeps us star gazing

And what do we think we might see

Someday we'll find it

That Rainbow Connection

The lovers the dreamers and me

All of us under its spell

We know that it's probably magic

Have you been half asleep

And have you heard voices

I've heard them calling my name

Is this the sweet sound that call's the young sailors

The voice might be one and the same

I've heard it too many times to ignore it

Its something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it

The Rainbow Connection

The lovers, the dreamers and me

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A Case of You

Music by Joni Mitchell / Arranged by Jordon He

Lyrics by Joni Mitchell

From the 1971 album 'Blue', A Case of You is a wistful song by one of histories greatest artists. The inspiration for A Case of You is often cited as being Joni Mitchell's break-up with singer-songwriter Graham Nash. Certain turns of phrase in the lyrics are derived from Shakespeare's 'Julius Ceasar' and the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. A song about wayward relationships, it is a strikingly honest example of love in all of its emotional guises being the ultimate muse.

Just before our love got lost you said

I am as constant as a northern star

And I said, "Constantly in the darkness

Where's that at?

If you want me I'll be in the bar"

On the back of a cartoon coaster

In the blue TV screen light

I drew a map of Canada

Oh, Canada

With your face sketched on it twice

Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling

And I would still be on my feet

Oh, I would still be on my feet

Oh, I am a lonely painter

I live in a box of paints

I'm frightened by the devil

And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid

I remember that time you told me

You said, "Love is touching souls"

Surely you touched mine

'Cause part of you pours out of me

In these lines from time to time

Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling

And still I'd be on my feet

I would still be on my feet

I met a woman

She had a mouth like yours

She knew your life

She knew your devils and your deeds

And she said, "Go to him, stay with him if you can

But be prepared to bleed"

Oh, but you are in my blood

You're my holy wine

You're so bitter

Bitter and so sweet

Oh, I could drink a case of you darling

Still I'd be on my feet

I would still be on my feet

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Blue Skies

Music by Irving Berlin / Arranged by Jordon He

Lyrics by Irving Berlin

This song was composed in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical 'Betsy'. On opening night, Blue Skies had such a tremedous effect that the audience demanded a subtle 24 repetitions of the song by way of encore! Imbued with an uncomplicated message, the song is filled with positivity and has become an extremely popular jazz standard. Famous renditions include covers by Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Willie Nelson and many others.

Blue skies

Smiling at me

Nothing but blue skies

Do I see

Bluebirds

Singing a song

Nothing but bluebirds

All day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright

Never saw things going so right

Noticing the days hurrying by

When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days

All of them gone

Nothing but blue skies

From now on

I never saw the sun shining so bright

Never saw things going oh-so right

Noticing the days hurrying by

When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days

All of them gone

Nothing but blue skies

From now on

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Landslide

Music by Stevie Nicks / Arranged by Jordon He

Lyrics by Stevie Nicks

Featured on the album 'Fleetwood Mac' by the British-American rock band of the same name, Landslide was written by lead singer Stevie Nicks at a crossroads in her life whereupon the artist was contemplating a career shift. It is a reflective song that muses upon lifes challenges. Nicks cites "looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us ... at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways".

I took my love, I took it down

I climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills

'Til the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky

What is love?

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changin'

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older

And I'm getting older too

Well, I've been afraid of changin'

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older

And I'm getting older too

Oh! I'm getting older too

Oh-oh, take…

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Blackbirds

Music by John Lennon + Paul McCartney / Arranged for solo piano by James Dobinson

One of Lennon + McCartney's most iconic songs, Blackbird first featured on The Beatles 'White Album' in 1968. The lyrics were supposedly inspired upon McCartney hearing a the song of a blackbird during his travels in India, as well as being a commentary on race-relations in the USA in the 1960's. This arrangement by James Dobinson for solo piano subjects the famous tune to multiple iterations (in variations form) whereupon the pianist is given the opportunity to pyrotechnically flourish within the confines of a deeply expressive musical discourse.

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We Are Women! from Candide

Music by Leonard Bernstein

Lyrics by Richard Wilbur

Guest starring Ayesha Patel

Based on the 1759 novella of the same name by Voltaire, Candide is an operetta by American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. Though unsucessful at its premiere, the work has now become a staple feature in theatres all around the world. The narrative of Candide is comic and complicated. In We Are Women!, the charaters discuss how best to play an impending marriage. This performace features Ayesha Patel as Cunegonde and Laura Raineri as The Old Woman.

CUNEGONDE, OLD LADY

We are women! We are women!

We are women, little women,

Little, little women are we!

OLD LADY

Not a man ever born ever could resist

A well-turned calf, a slender wrist,

A silhouette as airy as the morning mist,

And a dainty dimpled knee.

CUNEGONDE

Every male I may meet must acclaim for weeks

My twinkling thighs, my flaxen cheeks,

My memorable mammaries like Alpine Peaks,

High above a wine-dark sea.

OLD LADY, CUNEGONDE

We've necks like swans, and oh, such sexy legs,

We're so light-footed we could dance on eggs. (They do.)

A pair of nymphs from fairyland

And every day in every way our charms expand!

You may add, if you wish, to that growing list

A mouth so fair it must be kissed

And parts we cannot mention but we know existIn a rich abundancy.

Not a man ever born ever could resist

A pretty little thing like me!

OLD LADY

Not a man ever born ever could resist

A well-turned calf, a slender wrist, etc.

CUNEGONDE

Every male I may meet must acclaim for weeks

My twinkling thighs, my flaxen cheeks, etc.

OLD LADY

We've Giotto hands, da Vinci smiles,

We are brava divina to balletophiles.

CUNEGONDE

We've Giotto hands, and Mona Lisa smiles,

We are brava divina to balletophiles. (They dance.)

OLD LADY, CUNEGONDE

A pair of nymphs from fairyland, etc.

We are women! We are women!

We are little, little women,

Little, little, little women are we!

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Where? from The Rabbits

Music by Iain Grandage + Kate Miller-Heidke

Lyrics by Lally Katz + Kate Miller-Heidke

The Rabbits is a multi Helpmann Award winning Australian musical work created in 2015. Though specifically a children’s show, the work examines serious subject matter. Based on the book by John Marsden, the story embodies an allegory for the White colonization of Australia. It depicts an invasion of ‘rabbits’ which are described as alien, harsh and grey, as they destroy the land and lives of the ‘native marsupials’. Though an ensemble song in the show, Where? was released by Miller-Heidke and the ABC as a solo vocal work. It is a hauntingly beautiful song from one of the most excellent Australian productions of the century thus far.

Now the land is bare and brown

And the wind blows empty cross the plains

I have walked these plains for the whole memory of my soul

And the soul of my mothers

And the soul of my father’s fathers

We have been the life of these plains, ghosts on these plains, The wind once full

The grass once green

There were plants in our hands

The time seems so long ago, now

Where is the rich dark earth brown and moist?

Where is the smell of rain dripping from gumtrees?

Everything familiar is gone

Everything I counted on

I can’t run

I can’t swim away from this land

Where is the rich dark earth brown and moist? Where is the smell of rain dripping from gumtrees? Where are the billabongs?

The long legged birds?

Where are the rivers, they used to flow clear

Now they’re eaten by mud

Who will save us?

From the rabbits?

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One More Day

Music by Sinead O'Connor / Arranged for flute and piano by Jordon He

Guest starring Lina Andonovska (flute)

Featured in the film 2003 'Veronica Guerin' about the Irish journalist of the same name, One More Day is the funeral song for the title character after her being murdered for prying too deeply in investigative journalism into Dublin's drug trade. Sung in the films soundtrack by Sinead O'Connor, the song is imbued with a deep pathos and acceptance for what has passed - "dry all your tears, come what may, in the end the sun will rise on one more day." Lina Andonovska beams in for a special guest appearance from her home in Dublin, Ireland.

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Irish Tune from County Derry (Danny Boy)

Music by Percy Grainger

Derived from the county of Derry in Northern Ireland, this gorgeous melody is widely known as 'Londonderry Air' but more popularly as Danny Boy. Percy Grainger is an Australian composer who wrote many stunning and embellished settings of folk tunes such as this, magnificently matched to the resonant and expressive capabilties of the piano. This setting is richly sonorous, with the melody most often being buried within the inner parts of the dense chordal writing.

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The Parting Glass

Traditional Folk Song

This soulful melody is most often sung in Ireland and Scotland upon the departure of friends. The gesture of offering a 'parting glass' was one to fortify before undertaking travel. It is an immesely popular songs having been covered by notable artists such as Bob Dylan, The Wailing Jenny's, Ed Sheeran, Paul Kelly, The High Kings, Celtic Woman, and many others.

Of all the money that e'er I had

I have spent it in good company

Oh and all the harm I've ever done

Alas, it was to none but me

And all I've done for want of wit

To memory now I can't recall

So fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be to you all

So fill to me the parting glass

And drink a health whate'er befalls

Then gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

Of all the comrades that e'er I had

They're sorry for my going away

And all the sweethearts that e'er I had

They would wish me one more day to stay

But since it fell into my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I'll gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

So fill to me the parting glass

And drink a health whate'er befalls

Then gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

But since it fell into my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I'll gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

So fill to me the parting glass

And drink a health whate'er befalls

Then gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

Good night and joy be to you all

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I'll Always Remember Us This Way from A Star Is Born

Music + Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby, Hilary Lindsey + Lori McKenna / Arranged by Jordon He

This love ballad was featured in the 2018 film A Star is Born. I'll Always Remember Us this Way is sung by Lady Gaga in her role as 'Ally'.

That Arizona sky burnin' in your eyes

You look at me and, babe, I wanna catch on fire

It's buried in my soul like California gold

You found the light in me that I couldn't find

So when I'm all choked up

But I can't find the words

Every time we say goodbye

Baby, it hurts

When the sun goes down

And the band won't play

I'll always remember us this way

Lovers in the night

Poets tryin' to write

We don't know how to rhyme

But, damn, we try

But all I really know

You're where I wanna go

The part of me that's you will never die

So when I'm all choked up

And I can't find the words

Every time we say goodbye

Baby, it hurts

When the sun goes down

And the band won't play

I'll always remember us this way

Oh, yeah

I don't wanna be just a memory, baby, yeah

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo

So when I'm all choked up

And I can't find the words

Every time we say goodbye

Baby, it hurts

When the sun goes down

And the band won't play

I'll always remember us this way, way, yeah

When you look at me

And the whole world fades

I'll always remember us this way

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Hide and Seek

Music by Imogen Heap / Arranged for solo piano by Alex Raineri

Released on the 2005 album 'Speak for Yourself' by UK singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, Hide and Seek is a love ballad that tells a painful story of losing someone. It's genre is defined as 'folktronica', a meeting point of folk music and electronica. In the a capella original, Heap's voice is heavily electronically altered, giving it an other-worldly haunting sound. In this new arrangement for solo piano, the instrument is also heavily sonically-altered. Plastic straws, small metal screws, and blue tack are used to transport the familiar sound of the piano to something similarly other-worldly.

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Samson

Music by Regina Spektor

Lyrics by Regina Spektor

The lyrics of Samson reference the biblical episode of Samson and Delilah. Samson was granted extraordinary physical strength by God. His strength was held in his hair, without which he was powerless. He fell in love with Delilah, who, because of his lust for women, discovered his vulnerability, and used it against him. The Samson of this song reference a man dying of cancer, and a devoted wife who nurses him through his illness. It is a poigniant story of unconditional love and forgiveness.

You are my sweetest downfall

I loved you first, I loved you first

Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth

I have to go, I have to go

Your hair was long when we first met

Samson went back to bed

Not much hair left on his head

He ate a slice of Wonder Bread

And went right back to bed

And the history books forgot about us

And the Bible didn't mention us

And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall

I loved you first, I loved you first

Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads

But they're just old light, they're just old light

Your hair was long when we first met

Samson came to my bed

Told me that my hair was red

Told me I was beautiful

And came into my bed

Oh, I cut his hair myself one night

A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light

And he told me that I'd done alright

And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light

And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light

Samson went back to bed

Not much hair left on his head

He ate a slice of Wonder Bread

And went right back to bed

Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down

Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one

And the history books forgot about us

And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall

I loved you first

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Show Me from My Fair Lady

Music by Frederick Loewe

Lyrics by Frederick Loewe

My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical film adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical, which itself is based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play 'Pygmalion'. The film depicts a poor Cockney flower-seller named Eliza Doolittle (played in the film by Audrey Hepburn) who overhears an arrogant phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, as he casually wagers that he could teach her to speak 'proper' English, thereby making her presentable in the high society of Edwardian London. After Higgins is credited with 'fixing' Doolittle's speech and she herself recieves none of the congratulations, Show Me depicts Eliza's frustration over the situation.

Words Words Words

I'm so sick of words

I get words all day through

First from him, now from you

Is that all you blighters can do

Don't talk of stars

Burning above

If you're in love

Show me

Tell me no dreams

Filled with desire

If you're on fire

Show me

He we are together

In the middle of the night

Don't talk of spring

Just hold me tight

Anyone who's ever been

In love'll tell you that

This is no time

For a chat

Haven't your lips

Longed for my touch

Don't say how much

Show me, show me

Don't talk of love

Lasting through time

Make me no undying vow

Show me now

Sing me no song

Read me no rhyme

Don't waste my time

Show me

Don't talk of June

Don't talk of fall

Don't talk at all

Show me…

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If I Loved You from Carousel

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

A sentimental song, If I Loved You is from Rodgers + Hammerstein's 1945 musical Carousel which depicts the romance, dramas, and emotional tempests of the shows main characters Billy and Julie. The song is frequently sung in isolation from its context in Carousel due to its immensely beautiful musical sweep and intense vocal demands on the singer in terms of fine control and expression.

If I loved you,

Time and again I would try to say

All I'd want you to know.

If I loved you,

Words wouldn't come in an easy way

Round in circles I'd go!

Longin' to tell you,

But afraid and shy

I'd let my golden chances pass me by!

Soon you'd leave me,

Off you would go in the mist of day,

Never, never to know

How I loved you

If I loved you.

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Always True to You in My Fashion from Kiss Me Kate

Music by Bella + Samuel Spewack / Arranged by Jordon He

Lyrics by Cole Porter

Always True to You in My Fashion is a show tune written in 1948 by Cole Porter. It is from the musical Kiss Me Kate though similarly is also often performed out of its original context by musical theatre and jazz singers alike. It has recieved many notable covers by singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Peggy Lee and Julie London.

How in hell can you be jealous

When you know, baby, I'm your slave?

I'm just mad for you

And I'll always be

But naturally

If a custom-tailored vet

Asks me out for something wet

When the vet begins to pet, I cry "hooray!"

But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion

Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way

I enjoy a tender pass

By the boss of Boston, Mass

Though his pass is middle-class and not Backa Bay

But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion

Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin' in my way

There's a madman known as Mack

Who is planning to attack

If his mad attack means a Cadillac, okay!

But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion

Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin' in my way…

Based in London, musical theatre performer Laura Raineri is in her final year of training at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, studying a Bachelor of Musical Theatre. Her performance in the 2020 Brisbane Music Festival ‘Streamed Series’ was critically lauded as “soulful … moody and evocatively-rich … compelling, powerful, but also appropriately fragile … formidable vocals” (Blue Curtains Brisbane).

Theatrical credits include; Little Women (Amy), Mary Poppins (Winifred Banks), Agamemnon Returns (Iphigenia), Northanger Abbey (Catherine) and The Laramie Project (various). Upcoming performances include ‘The Old Lady’ in Bernstein’s Candide (Mountview Academy). Previous national training includes National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and Australian Dance Performance Institute (ADPI).