It is a long-running joke that Michael Bublé only “comes out of his cave” during the holidays, but here we are in early spring and the Canadian crooner has just dropped a new album! In typical Bublé fashion, the LP, titled “Higher,” is comprised of a slew of classic standards as well as a handful of fresh tracks and had Michael Major of Broadway World espousing that “the multi-Grammy, multi-Juno and multi-platinum selling global superstar entertainer” is “at the peak of his vocal and creative powers.” So it is no surprise that the album debuted at number three in the U.S. and number one in the U.K.
The titular tune, a jumpy number co-written by musician Ryan Tedder, certainly lives up to Bublé’s assertion that the “Higher” recordings come from a “feeling of being grateful and happy” following his young son’s successful battle against cancer. Featuring bold vocals, catchy lyrics and punchy notes, the toe-tapper, which MB describes as a “pop song with a symphonic and very orchestral arrangement,” makes you want to jump right out of your seat and dance!
So who better to direct the accompanying music video than “Dancing with the Stars” alum/Hollywood multi-hyphenate extraordinaire Derek Hough? “Higher” marks the second collaboration between the two – Hough also directed, choreographed and starred in the singer’s 2017 “I Believe in You” video. While that project was sweet and somewhat understated, “Higher” is a full-fledged romp that finds Bublé surrounded by a bevy of red-dressed dancers, including Hough’s longtime girlfriend Hayley Erbert, tapping, twisting and spinning against the stunningly gilded backdrop of the Los Angeles Theatre, one of the City of Angels’ most stunning venues.
A masterpiece of French Renaissance and Baroque style, the movie house was originally designed in 1931 by S. Charles Lee, whom the Big Orange Landmarks website deems the “king of theater design,” for independent film exhibitor Herman Louis Gumbiner. Modeled after the Fox Theatre in San Francisco (which was sadly demolished in 1963), the structure was completed in just five short months, with no expense spared in its $1.5 million construction. Appointed with opulence on top of opulence, the finished product is like a work of art! The last of the grand film palaces to be built in downtown L.A., the venue is truly a sight to behold!
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