When I was teaching at the Sagemont School,in Weston Florida, the classes I was teaching advanced from algebra 1, to algebra 2, to pre-calc and then on to calculus and AP calculus. This did not happen every year, but when it did some students advanced with me. I even had some students for three consecutive years. When you add my physics class, many students were in my class for two hours in the same day. Sebastian was one of those students that I really got to know very well having been his teacher for multiple classes. He was a plucky student and joyous young man, always humming a tune and jotting down lyrics both in class and in the hall ways. He had a great voice and we talked singing as I shared with him my high school concert choir experiences. In his senior year he was in my AP Calculus class and I saw less and less of him. Little did I know he was working on his demo tape. It must have been one hell of a demo tape because in the intervening 15 years he has won a Latin Grammy, been nominated for a Grammy for his song from Encanto, acted on Broadway, been a judge on the Spanish version of the Voice, acted in and starred in telenoveles and much more! Once we got tickets, I started working my social network to see if we could get a message to him and maybe even get to meet up. First a message to his brother a month ahead of the show. Next I put out a FB post and another on Insta two weeks before the show. This time I got a response from a former student. After multiple back and forth messages, finally he says that our information was shared with Sebastian's manager and he will be in touch. So we anticipated a message from the manager right up to the day of the show but nothing. So I sent more messages. It was aa flurry of back and forth messages and low and behold a message came from the manager. We can see Sebastian around 10 PM before he goes on at 10:30. We parked ourselves at the designated meeting point by 9:45 thinking they may be early. However we were in Spain and they did not get to the venue until 10:25. We saw the van drive up but there was no time to stop as he was on stage singing five minutes later. It was a great show and the attendees really loved singing along to his songs. There were pyrotechnics, blasts of fog and lasers to top it all off. The manager did send another message saying that he will try to get us backstage after the show. With renewed optimism, we headed back to the designated spot after his set was over. We were soon joined by Sebastian's mom and about 15 other folks who wanted to see the star. We were shepherded backstage to a circle of shipping containers that had been converted to trailers. He was still in his trailer letting his voice rest. We talked to Adela, the mom, and found out that she is going to live up the road from us in Malaga. Sebastian had just bought her a nice house there and she was moving in the next day. Once he came out of the trailer, he saw me and bust out into a huge smile. I got to talk with him first, we hugged and I got the most time of all the folks that were there. To top it all off, it was his birthday and they brought out a cake!
The stage is set
The last band before Sebastian is finishing up
The designated meet up point was pretty lonely, especially as our time came and went
Great back drops on the big screen
So the folks in the back can see
He sat down for a slower song and serenaded the crowd
The sound was crystal clear
Nice contrast of colors
Spectators are we
Very bright
After the ups and downs of the failed early meet up, to find out we will get back stage after the show lightened the mood immensely
Breaking through the screen
Great fun!
Pulling out all the stops!
During the rains, they passed out ponchos. They soon became a trip hazard
At the meeting point we are greeted by Sebastian's Mom
Backstage! Are you in there?
Here are the big smiles!
Bring in an aunt
Some exchange students that we talked to while waiting
No one seemed to have eaten any of the goodies
Yo Sebas, its your birthday
They were trick candles that cant be blown out, eventually he pinched each wick and that worked
