I was there. This was the best thing I have ever seen on stage. It was SFANW in concert. 27 singers, including Brooks Ashmankas, Jessica Molasky, and Andrea Burns (3 of the originals), Jason Robert Brown playing piano, the original band, and a youth orchestra. It was more than perfect. It was any SFANW fan (of which we are almost a cult) dream come true.

Two things: 1 - I adore this song. It's probably my favorite from SFANW and I rock out to it my car often. 2 - Darius is a revelation in this performance. I cannot get over how gorgeous his voice sounds throughout and how committed he is.

I was listening to it going "Man! This guy's fantastic! I can't wait to hear him go for the C!" Then he did that thing in the last chorus. Darius de Haas. Incredible. Words cannot describe...

Holy mother of God! The last minute of this is sooo inspirational. I absolutely adore this song--I can't even put it into words...

the most amazing version I've ever heard. words can't expresssss how beautiful.

The original recording already brought tears to my eyes... but this version just ripped my heart out. What an amazing amazing man. Performers like him really deserve more recognition! I have watched this a ridiculous number of times, my heartfelt thanks to the uploader.

I was there. It was the greatest theatrical experience of my life...and I have had A LOT of them. For those obsessed with SFANW, it is like a cult and this was it for us. If only someone could get the guy who sang Flying Home. JRB said that it should never be performed again because it was so perfect.

Definitely the best version of this song ever recorded. He's simply amazing.

darius is still my favitoriest tenor ever, this just enhances that. who needs opera when you have darius? and its really too bad no one outside of new york really knows of him, hes so friggin ace.

woof. he is LIVING behind that mic

This is definitely the best recording of this song, ever. He has an AMAZING voice. I've never heard such energy.

Darius DeHaas is one of my all time favorite actor/singers! Thank you for posting this!

I'm so in love with Darius; listening to him sing this and Lost in the Wilderness is remarkable; this song always gets to me emotionally. .. and I like to sing it when I'm alone in my room. >.> or car.

this is the absolute best version of this song ever done, Darius has one of the most dynamic voices in theater today, just wow

Darius was and still is and probably always be my favorite singer/actor. Its too bad hes not mainstream show-wise, I'd love to be able to see him live.

When JRB was in D.C. the guy playing guy 2 (can't remember the name) also took it upthe octave at the end and it was absolutely AMAZING!

the absolute best version of this song ever done, Darius has one of the most dynamic voices in theater today, just wow

that is the most disgustingly beautiful greatest rendition of this song i have ever heard. im speechless.

my sister just came back from studying at NIDA in sydney. they did this play and the kid who sang king of the world was amazing.

Aah! Oh dear... I am completely speechless because that performance was not only flawless, but flat-out amazing. I am so impressed, I can't even say. I don't think there's anything bad that could be said about this performance. Brilliant

If you ever take this video off KZread for any reason whatsoever I will cry. Please don't. I NEED Darius!

good god that's amazing. not only his vocal placement but the performance and interpretation. he's good.

I LOVE THIS SONG! and his voice....

man, this guy can sing. also his facial expressions matched perfectly with his vocals. upcoming singers should learn from his performances.

he is great! i loved him in Children of Eden

That was stunning. I've never heard that song that way.

Karl I'm love with this song now! He does it so well I cain't help but love it! He's freakishly amazing, I don't get how he does it.

Jesus Christ. Awesome.

My favorite youtube video for sure. His range is EPIC! He's fantastic. His eyes are hilarious too when he goes for the high stuff. o man, I think i've seen this like 40 billion times.

What a wonderful voice. Great job.

This is incredible; it's EXACTLY what I want and expect from someone performing this song. I hope to see much more of this gentleman in years to come! Well done!

damn, best rendition ever, i love the end, how high he gets. such control! jealous!

thank god its back!!!

so much energy. this is amazing. i just love how much he gives this song.

what a wonderful comment! I'm so glad that this clip was able to affect you in such a way. that's the power of great material sung by a great talent who knows his instrument inside out. Darius has been blessed with something great and he uses it to beautiful effect

I can't get over the sheer beauty of this performance. It's beyond incredible. It's inspiring, gobstopping, and haunting. Perfection. I'm playing Prospero in a production of The Tempest right now, and this song eerily parallels his story. Down to the lyric "Why am I sitting in this cell?" It's amazing. This song, and especially Darius's performance, has inspired me SO much. I never thought a KZread video could effect my art so much. :)Masterful.

That was truly phenomenal. I'm usually not for changing a melody so drastically like he did, as it quite often ruins the composer's intentions, but that WORKED. Not only did it work, it make it better. Thanks for sharing this.

immaculate, powerful, and all man!!!

makes me so happy that everyone appreciates Darius so much! he's simply one of the most fantastic voices out there- and not a bad actor either. Saw him do a one-man Fringe show in '0g6 where he played like 6 characters and sang high throughout. an MP3 of this easy enough to make. just capture it from ur sound card

thanks for the comments, everyone!! ain't nothing better than Darius...

There is so much love in my heart for JRB. Ah, so good.

His range is unlike anything I've heard. Brilliant!

just to clear something up... the whole idea of going up the "octave" (technically), at the last chorus, was NOT Darius's idea. Billy Porter did it in the original performances of SFANW in '96. you just don't hear it because Ty Taylor did the actual cast recording, not Billy.

What the hell!! OMG! That was freakin' amazing! Why does he have to be so damn good?

This man is so great! WOW!!!

Wow!!! When he goes into that last part... holy shit... it's unreal.

HOLY COW... This guy is frikken amazing!!

he is ridiculously good.

OH. MY. KARL. YOU ARE SEEING HIM IN JCS??!!! you are sooooooo lucky! I love him!

this is pretty much my favorite thing ever.

all these great comments are exactly why I felt compelled to post this- it amazes me that more people aren't aware of Darius' incredible talent, and there's no better way to show it off than by tackling such a difficult song and handling it in a way that makes a lot of excellent tenors hesitant to even try it. Ty Taylor and Billy Porter both sing the hell out of this, but Darius just goes beyond the pale

WOW. I love how he shoots up an octave or two for the last chorus.

why is he so incredibly amazing?!!!

I love Darius. He has an awesome voice :)

Crazy high notes at the end man that was amazing. Nice goin!

sheesh.. fantastic. overkill on the ending though, lol :)

this performance pretty sums up what it's all about for me.

daymn

once again it thrills me to see how much everyone loves this video. best thing I ever posted. BTW, I'm seeing him as Jesus in JC SUPERSTAR this weekend- actually flying down to Atlanta to see it... I get chills thinking of it!

HOW is he so AMAZING??!! I like this eve better than his Lost in the Wilderness. SO GOOD!

WOW. I am speechless.

wow! i am speechless..

he is SO GOOD!!!

yes

Um. I'm still picking my jaw off the ground because he's so freaking AMAZING.

@Mog04 I see what you are saying about the ending. However, using this as an audition piece (and any song for that matter) is different than performing it at a concert. He is showcasing his talent, and producing a fantastic performance for the audience. It is safe to say that is a large part of what a concert is, wouldn't you?

dasmmmmmmmm i live..this dude sounds like me when i go n at church.......

i am speechless

This man is the Zeus of musical theatre.

i know!!! i was excited to learn that he went to teh performance arts school im at now in NY

THIS GUYS FRIKKIN AMAZING

Brilliant!

Genius... Need I say more?

Wow

Holy shit

Darius de Haas=DELICIOUS!!!

I don't know if I've ever seen anything like that.

holy shit that was amazing!

damn dude ur a total badass i mean........damn way to discourage other singers with the end of that thanx haha

More Darius! Please tell me you have more to post!

nice

i think he's amazing

hah! I've actually not heard a single bad thing about this. I just think it's a shame this man doesnt get more recognition outside of NY

Totally agree...

yesss what a piamp! is jrb playing?

yyyeesss. get it man

HOLY FUCK. WIN!!!!

so is your personality for me.

um impressed sounds like an insult at this point...flawless

i don't know..i kinda felt like those high vocals at the end was a little over the top!..but it was good!!

fierce.

This guys gonna make Sharpe Nine the "Ridiculous Mother Fuckers"

is there any video of that i would love to see it

is this from the concert in may of 2005?

hes amazing, are you an actor too?

This is kind of ridiculous... I can't stop watching.

did anyone record any of that?

Obviously, this performance is incredible, and I am humbled by this mans talent and ability, but I think he screws up a lyric before "I was working for the people, I just wanted to be better". It could even be intentional, but I just can't understand what he's saying and would like to know. Can anyone make it out? According to the composer's site it should be "I was not challenging the system..."

Im not entirely sure about this performance, dont get me wrong he is phenominal, and theres no doubt that his talent is extraordinary, but Im not sure that the big ending suited this song, I dunno maybe its a case of less is more, or just because you can do it doesnt mean you should, im very biased about this song anyway cos its my audition peice, so I may be wrong, but I thought he shouldnt have pushed the ending as much.

I liked it at first... But the ending was a little too much for me.