And it's fitting that we are commemorating the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King with an evening of song. (Applause.) Because songs played, as all of you know, an important part in the civil rights movement that he led.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama at the "Let Freedom Ring" Concert

The first number is now "Loneliness of Evening, " a cut song from "South Pacific, " a move echoed in the current production.

WSJ: Cinderella: That Flexible Fairy Tale

This evening, that strategy took the form of an opening song about the Olympics, with particular attention paid to equestrian dressage.

NEWYORKER: Dead Man Laughing

" The show's best moments exposed the essence of Nico's compositions: The excellent Joan Wasser, who performs as Joan as Police Woman, tapped the raw anguish in "My Heart Is Empty" and "Ari's Song, " while Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev delivered with muted joy the stark poetic imagery of "Evening of Light.

WSJ: John Cale | Collision Course | By Jim Fusilli