Telly somethin good

Last night I went to an intimate concert (less than 100 people) at the Blue Moon. Telly Leung, Broadway boi and Dalton Academy Warbler on 'Glee', sang and told stories to the audience as if we were old friends. I met him back in June when he coached the Rehoboth Idol contestants.

To my delight, he explained why he was named Telly. His Chinese parents watched a lot of TV to help them learn conversational English. Kojak starring Telly Savalas was 1 of their favorite shows so they named their son Telly after the show's star. When Telly began working on 1 of several Broadway shows he met a production assistant named Telly. The PA explained that he was named after his grandfather... Telly Savalas!

Telly will be back again next Tues to perform at a pep rally for Extreme Makeover Home Edition, which will be filming in this area shortly.

Rather than just being a concert, Telly's performance was more like a conversation with songs. He talked about getting his start on Broadway, going to college to study music and drama, and his parents' eventual acceptance of his career choice which wasn't their 1st choice for him. He weaved songs into the stories for a very enjoyable night.

After the show Telly was available to talk to audience members and pose for photos. When he saw me his eyes opened wide, he threw his arms open in preparation for a hug, and he said "Mark!!" I was surprised that he remembered me by name. After all, the day he coached us Rehoboth Idol contestants was in early June, and with all the people he likely comes into contact with, I didn't expect him to remember my name.

After the hug and 'how are you', he said "You know I've been so busy I never found out who won the Rehoboth Idol contest. Who won?" I smiled timidly and said "I did". That response garnered me another hug from Telly along with a very generous compliment: "That's fantastic! I was really hoping you would win. Your voice is amazing and you really deserved to win. Congratulations!" Of course he might have said that to me even if he didn't think I deserved to win, but it sounded genuine and he really seems to be a nice guy so I thanked him sincerely for the kind words.

Keep up with Telly via his website and on Twitter.