A closing rendition of Hurt is an easy win, but it's also a classic and nobody fights with a song immortalised by Johnny Cash.
Responding to a thunderous ovation Mr. Christie offered a generous four encores: more Charpentier (the finale of "David et Jonathas"; the Agnus Dei from "Messe 'Assumpta Est Maria' "; and a giddy chorus from "Filius Prodigus"), and a closing rendition of Campra's "Requiem Aeternam," suffused with a white light that suited the occasion.
Far better was a show-closing rendition of Del Shannon's "Runaway," which struck a nice balance between the original's familiarity (keyboardist Tony Sciuto duplicated the signature solo break to the note) and LRB's own restructuring.
Haggard's set included cornerstone songs "Silver Wings," "Workin' Man Blues," "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink," "The Bottle Let Me Down" and a show-closing rendition of "Okie From Muskogee".
He bobbed his head as the large cast joined in for a show-closing rendition of "We Are the World," but instead of standing next to the likes of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder, as he did when the song was recorded 18 years ago, he was standing beside his own look-alikes and a 13-year-old singer from Denmark who moonwalks.
Audiences have found it so inspiring that they have stood and undressed for the closing rendition of Blake's hymn Jerusalem.
It felt well worth the wait during a punchy singalong set which included "Rat Race", an animated "Nightclub" and a closing, triumphant rendition of "Ghost Town".
"I discovered when I was little that I could pretend I was in a box," she explained of her secret gift, before belting out a close-mouthed rendition of her Grammy-nominated song "Bang Bang".
But it's also true that this is the first mainstream production about Iranians in L.A.; for it to succeed, viewers would have to believe that it's a close-enough rendition of the lives of average Iranians.
And while that did occasionally mean dreamily spacey explorations like the album closing renditions of "Footprints in the Snow"—more often than not it meant a wholehearted embrace of the instrument's goofiest, most winning possibilities.
A police officer in Pennsylvania brings a standoff to a close with his rendition of White Christmas.
