Recording: Beverly Glenn-Copeland with Elizabeth Copeland

Artist: Beverly Glenn-Copeland with Elizabeth Copeland

Song: In The Image

Recorded at East End United Church (Burn Down the Capital, Venus Fest and The Music Gallery present), December 13, 2025.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland with Elizabeth Copeland - In The Image

An interesting difference in vibes between this and the last time I saw Beverly Glenn-Copeland. At that show, there was a sense of re-discovery in the air — from audience and performer — as BGC spoke about realizing that the audience for his music that wasn't there when his celebrated albums were made had arrived a generation later; by now, in a packed church, there was a sense of an icon being celebrated. Looking frailer but still in excellent voice, this was a show about joy and celebration, the energy again being sent and received in both directions (indeed, the hall was left fully lit for the full set for the performers to see the audience with whom they were sharing space.)

This was a more stripped-back show, with musical accompaniment mostly limited to Alex Samaras' piano, voice and cheerleading. (Openers Topanga came out to add their voices, and to close things out, as heard here, a whole choir made their way on stage.) Moving beyond "the hits", Glenn-Copeland (along with Elizabeth Copeland, who added complementary vocals and shared some eco-poetry songs when Glenn-Copeland needed a mid-set break) brought out music from the breadth of their career, including the "lost years" they were crafting empathy-raising youth musical theatre shows. That could have made this feel like the corniest glee club meeting imaginable; instead it was fully rousing and affecting. Sometimes you just have to be direct with the cris de coeur.