“Waving Through a Window”
Your Grateful Hosts: The Augmented 8, Washington D.C.
(from Dear Evan Hansen)
Words and Music by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul
Arrangement by Tom Bulleit
Solos by Tom Bulleit, John Symington, Paul Kraske, Rick Bond
Production by Johnny Del Toro (audio), Amber Schmiesing (video) and
Raise Your Voice Labs, and Tom Bulleit
The Augmented 8 has been entertaining Washington metro area audiences for 70 years, although thankfully, our current membership has joined more recently and has younger voices. Nearly all of us are refugees from collegiate a cappella, and some of our former college groups are joining us as musical contributors to this our second annual virtual (but 30th overall!) staging of Sing Out for Shelter, a benefit concert to raise funds for local charities that support people experiencing homelessness. As the opener for this event, we chose co-director Tom Bulleit’s arrangement of “Waving Through A Window,” the protagonist’s anthem from the Tony Award-winning Best Musical (and now movie), Dear Evan Hansen. The song is the autobiography of a young man, now a high school student, who has grown up on the autism spectrum and knows it, but who is determined not to let it keep him forever “on the outside always looking in.” We think it also has a universality, in that speaks to isolation and a longing to belong, which many of us may be still experiencing from the pandemic. We’ve also assembled a program with virtual performances by some of the elites of college a cappella and our local community, represented by the ladies of Venus D Minor, and the next generation of a cappella singers from two of our local high schools. We hope you enjoy the show, and as we wished (sadly, in vain) last year, hope we will be able to see as many of you as possible live again next year.
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Margie Ploch
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Beautifully done!
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Lynn Trundle
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Sounded really good, everyone! Especially you, Tommy! But, of course, I’m prejudiced. 😉
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Joyce Newkirk
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What a LOVELY arrangement! The video is amazing and your voices are beautifully blended! Kind of a sad song.
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Sarah Holmes
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This is a fantastic rendition A8! Brisk, clear and some terrific soloists! Excellent all around! (And I can channel Nancy Holmes – I don’t say this lightly.). Hugs to all! Sarah
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Jim Bulleit
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Wow! Great song; rich, moving, and exquisitely performed arrangement! And kudos to my big brother for a killer solo! Was that a high b-flat??
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Cathy Webb
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Tom Bulleit, et al.,
What a wonderful, entertaining concert presented by The Augmented 8! You all were great, but I was especially pleased to hear your solo, although the song was sad.
All of the a cappella groups were good choices, and having multiple backgrounds in the videos for various groups made them even more enjoyable.
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Ed Gold
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Wow! That was really beautiful! Great job Tom and company!
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Leanne Sutton
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Beautiful! Thanks for the invite, Reid!
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Carmela Cowgill
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This is lovely! Thanks for bringing us a joyful event.
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Charlotte Ellevold
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What a great arrangement and fabulous solo work! Very moving performance – thank you!
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Paul Pirog
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Nice pipes gentlemen!
Tom–you still have it mi amigo! -
John Lee
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Wonderful! Thank you all
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Lisa Upper
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A big and grateful wave to all from Lisa Upper! Wonderful song, beautifully done. I’m so happy to be able to hear you, and still see several familiar faces out there!
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Julie Yamaguchi
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Lovely arrangement – I’m glad I had a chance to listen to you all at last. It brightened my late evening at work. Thank you
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Judy Abrams
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Well done, Tom and company. The arrangement and performances were excellent, and the video was well done also. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
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