New York Philharmonic honors a World Series bet with a Kansas City Royals performance
The Kansas City Star
by David Frese
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Crushed it.
The New York Philharmonic this week paid up on the final part of its World Series wager with the Kansas City Symphony, performing in concert a rendition of “Everything’s Up To Date in Kansas City” with special guest Joyce DiDonato, the world-renowned mezzo-soprano from Prairie Village.
(Props to DiDonato for breaking out the Amos Otis jersey.)
Music director Alan Gilbert took to the stage in a Royals jersey (prompting a smattering of boos), and explained to the audience the terms of the bet.
If KC had lost, the Symphony would have sent the New York orchestra barbecue and performed “New York, New York.”
But because the Royals won, the Philharmonic owed bagels and lox to the Symphony and a performance of the song from the musical “Oklahoma!”
The bagels and lox arrived in November. Video from the performance of “Everything is Up to Date in Kansas City” was posted this week. Music director Michael Stern and executive director Frank Byrne attended.
In addition to the surprise pinch-hit vocal performance from DiDonato, the Philharmonic rewrote a final verse of the song:
They got a baseball team
All decked out in Royal blue
For 30 years we were sure
That they were screwed
Getting on base
it wasn’t always easy.
They found a way
To somehow get ‘er done.
They’d swing the bat
They’d run real fast
For an inside-the-park home run
Even against the Mets’
Grand pitching staff
They still had some fun.
After the performance, Gilbert threw his Royals ballcap into the audience — a souvenir for a lucky fan, you might say.
The video is below. It’s such an awesome thing to see, maybe the Kansas City Symphony should just go ahead and send them some barbecue.