Myron and Jeannette meet with Il Volo and Barbara Vitali to discuss details of plans for the March Il Volo Fan Faire.
(hint: the most important news is toward the end of this article)
Report on meeting of officers of “Il Volo to Las Vegas” and “ Il Volo Fan Faire” with
Il Volo guys and manager in Las Vegas Nov. 15 – 20, 2015.
For Jeannette and me the goal was to sit down and share the various ideas for the Fan Faire with the guys and with Barbara Vitali, one of the managers (road manager) and to get their input and ideas.
Il Volo arrived in Las Vegas at 6:00pm Sunday, November 15 and went to the hotel – a portion of the MGM Grand Hotel called the Signature Towers. We had our first of many communications in the next few days that same night by email and text. We knew that they would have to “squeeze “ us into a very busy schedule. On Monday, this meant being a bystander in the background while all of these performers (including Il Volo) went about the business of interviews, wardrobe try-ons, photo shoots, more interviews, some meetings with producers and American representatives and more interviews. Oh, by the way, did I say they did interviews ? I felt sorry for the guys since they were going from one to another of these things and in different hotels – not just the MGM – around the strip. They would start at about 9:00am and go until 10:00pm – whew ! This went on Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday until rehearsals started.
The main Latin Grammy show was in two parts: lessor parts on Wednesday afternoon and the main event Thursday, November 19 with red carpet starting at about 3:00pm Pacific time.
Each day Jeannette and I were communicating with Barbara via email or text as she tried to find time to fit us in. We all knew that we did not want the usual “fly-by” talk while on the way to doing something else. We all agreed that we wanted a nice, quiet sit-down and chat time. After various “maybes” and “how about this?” that did not work out because their schedule was almost always about 20 to 40 minutes behind, Barbara finally gave up on trying to fit it in during these days and decided to do it after the sessions. She was lucky when she found out that I live only 15min. away from the the MGM so it is easy to get there for me. Jeannette is further away but we still made ourselves available for anytime she could do it. The end result was 4:00pm of the day after the Grammy show – Friday, November 20- just before they were to fly back to Italy. When we got there, Barbara was still running late with a meeting (even on that last day ! ) so to kill time we went into a coffee shop just off the lobby of their hotel to have something to drink until she was to give me a text that she was ready to meet.
As we walked in I went: “ hmmm ? That is someone familiar ahead of us at the counter ordering something to eat and drink with two friends.” Was luck with us? Yes. It was Gianluca and friends. We ordered our drinks and sat down deciding to wait until he was finished eating his salad. I noticed that he would look over at me once in a while as though he recognized me a bit but was not sure (after all it has been a year and half since we last saw each other up close). When he finished eating I walked over and introduced myself and asked if he could come over by our table (about 6 ft. away) for a few minutes. Then everything started to fit into place. We talked about our plans for the Fan Faire which he was anxious to know more about. We talked about his singing technique and other professional things (its my job, you know) . I asked him if he remembered the first time we ever talked and when he said Chicago at Barnes and Noble 2012 we were set. Jeannette and I came away with the same feeling people seem to get all the time: this is one wonderful gentleman- kind, caring and great to talk with and Not in a hurry to get it over with like some famous people are.
I asked if we could take a photo and he offered to take it for us. The result you see above. Just as we said goodbye (he had to go finish packing for departure was only three hours away) he gave us each a couple of nice, wonderful hugs . He seemed to be very happy that he saw us and that we were meeting with Barbara – and Lo! She sent a text just at that time. Off we went to meet with Barbara.
There are a lot of details to discuss but the main focus with Barbara and therefore all Il Volo management was one point: getting a commitment that on March 25, the boys will come to be with us at the Fan Faire sometime before their concert later that night. Well, I did not even have to start asking. (I cannot give an exact quote but an approximate one)
{ Barbara started by saying that she was determined that on that day (March 25) the boys WILL come and spend quality time at our Fan Faire – not just a little time but “quality”time. She really likes the idea of a relaxed and “laid-back” time with fans and wants to turn it over to us. Then the real clincher as she looked over and said: “ after all these years of support, you deserve it “ }.
That is exactly what we were looking for. Could not ask for something better !! What a relief and we did not even half to argue about it at all. Barbara was very much on our side and very gracious. But she has to work with a production company – CAA – and the company that does the meet & greet programs. It is a group called “ OMG-VIP “ out of L.A. Barbara has to wait until the schedule sets, sound-check time, rehearsal time, also where are they going to stay (I said they should stay in the Palms hotel where all their activities are – she agreed) or are they just going to get on the bus after the meet and greet and drive through the night to L.A. – the next stop. Once that has been figured then she will know where to plug us in.
Bottom line as stated above: she is determined to secure a nice “quality time” with us in the Fan Faire. So that is what we are planning. The Il Volo boys will visit but that the time slot may change as we get closer.
I write on behalf of Jeannette and myself when I say the visit with Gianluca and Barbara was absolutely wonderful. There are still challenges ahead that we will have to take on at that time but this was a wonderful way to end a very busy week.
refer to: http://www.ilvololasvegas.wordpress.com