STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL HOBBS

Anyone needing a dose of feel-good serotonin needed look no further than the “Salute to America the Beautiful” concert Saturday night at the Sun Valley Pavilion.

Brian Stokes Mitchell and Sutton Foster set the endorphins in motion with a toe-tapping concert filled with pop and patriotic favorites in an event that launched Sun Valley Opera’s 2018 Summer Festival.

And Sun Valley Resort finished it off a fireworks show near the Sun Valley Horseman’s Center that offered a double whammy as the explosions reflected in the hoods of the automobiles parked in the nearby parking lot.

“This is the greatest country on the planet and we’re so fortunate to be here,” said Producer Tom Perakos, a part-time Sun Valley resident who recently won 10 of 11 possible Tony Awards for “The Band’s Visit.”

Perakos said that part of the money from ticket sales would benefit the Sun Valley Opera and fund a four-year-scholarship for a senior who wishes to major in the performing arts. He said other beneficiaries would be the Hospice of the Wood River Valley; the Argyros Performing Arts Center, which is scheduled to open in November, and Higher Ground, which provides therapeutic recreation to veterans suffering from PTSD and other injuries.

“I met an Iraqi veteran at a dinner party the other night, and he celebrates every day with gratitude and appreciation that he was able to serve our country, Perakos told the 1,700 concert-goers who filled the Pavilion.

Sun Valley Owner Carol Holding sat front and center with her grandchildren, fielding greetings from a parade of well-wishers that included Olympic ice skater Scotty Hamilton as Mitchell and Foster took the stage.

The two, who will perform together at the Hollywood Bowl’s Bernstein 100 Celebration Tuesday night, kicked off their Sun Valley concert with a jazzy rendition of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” 

They then set the rafters of the Pavilion quivering with “Tonight” from “West Side Story,” accompanied by Craig Jessop and the American Festival Orchestra.

“The last time I was here you had just started breaking ground for this facility. So it’s great to be here and see people filling it,” Mitchell said, gesturing to the Sun Valley Pavilion with its travertine marble.

Foster declared her day in Sun Valley had been “best day ever” before launching into a couple songs from “Anything Goes,” the Broadway musical where she earned a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.

She described how she and her husband had adopted an infant, now 16 months old, who “opened a room in my heart I didn’t know was there.”

“She’s probably asleep. Hopefully, she can hear me,” she said as she launched into “Gimme Gimme That Thing Called Love.”

The New Orleans-born singer and actress treated the audience to a mellow version of “Up on the Roof” and “Singin’ in the Rain.” Then, noting the mountains that surrounded her, she dedicated “Sunshine on My Shoulder” to her late mother, who used to listen to John Denver’s “Greatest Hits” on eight-track tape.

Mitchell took over the second half of the two-and-a-half hour show, recounting how he had woken up on New York time and so had done tai chi on the mountain as the sun rose.

Stokes led off with “There’s No Business like Show Business,” which is on his upcoming album,

He was as animated as he was enthusiastic, even ending up flat on the stage at one poine.

Then he belted out “The Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha”--one of a couple songs for which he would receive a standing ovation.

Calling it his most requested song, he dedicated it to Carol and Earl Holding, noting it was one of their favorites. Then he proceeded to stretch the “r-e-a-c-h” so long on its way to “that unreachable star” that it probably reached a dozen stars that had began dotting the night sky.

His performance elicited a hug from Carol Holding before he went on to sing “What a Wonderful World,” which he accompanied himself with a melodica.

He got a rise from audience as he sang “And crown thy good with sisterhood….” In “America the Beautiful.”

Not to be outdone, Foster sang Bette Midler’s “The Rose,” which she described as one of Tom Perakos’ favorite songs. Then the two ended the evening with “God Bless America.”

Perakos told the audience that he had seen Brian Stokes Mitchell perform more than 50 times and could unequivocally call him the greatest baritone singing today.

“I probably see more shows than anybody else I know, and Sutton Foster is the finest actor and dancer in musical theater,” he added.

“This concert is a real treat,” said Sun Valley Opera President Frank Meyer. “It’s not just their voices but the way they communicate through song to the audience.”

EYE ON SUN VALLEY'S LYNN MASON-PATTNOSH SAT DOWN FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL AND SUTTON FOSTER BEFORE SATURDAY’S CONCERT. TO SEE IT CLICK HERE.