Yanni: Live at the Acropolis (1994) Movie Script
1
Thank You. Thank You.
You can't imagine how I'm feeling tonight.
First time... in Greece,
the place I was born...
and especially at the Herodion Theater
right under the Parthenon.
It's one of my life's biggest dreams,
and it's... becoming a reality tonight.
And the next song
I would like to do for you...
is from my new album.
And it's about...
not forgetting how to enjoy life.
You know sometimes we get caught up
in our troubles and our problems,
and we let life sort of slip away,
and life is precious,
all of life, and one must try
to take in as much of it as possible.
Song is called
"Until the Last Moment."
Thank you.
The next song I wrote...
for the woman
that brought me in this world.
She has a very sweet voice,
and she used to sing to me
when I was a kid.
In fact, she tells me now that...
I wouldn't go to sleep at nights
unless she sang for me.
In fact, she calls me niktopuli.
This song captures
her gentleness and her sweetness.
It's called "Felitsa,"
and Felitsa is my mother,
and she's here tonight.
And I'd like to dedicate this--
this one to her.
I would like to leave you
with a couple of thoughts.
A little while back...
I was watching an interview...
with one of the astronauts...
from the space shuttle.
And in this interview he was...
describing his experiences
while he was orbiting the planet.
And he was saying
how beautiful Earth looks from above.
But he said that much to his surprise...
when he was going over Europe...
he found that he was having a hard time...
telling the countries
apart from each other.
He said the reason for that was...
that the lines that are in the maps
are not in the ground.
It makes a great point.
These lines... really... don't exist.
They are made up, completely,
and they perpetuate
this illusion that, somehow,
we're all different from each other.
I think the world
would be a much better place...
if someday...
we stopped pretending
that these lines exist
and we concentrated on our similarities,
rather than our differences.
And I just want you
to remember one more thing,
that everything great
that has ever happened to humanity
since the beginning...
has begun...
as a single thought...
in someone's mind.
And if any one of us is capable
of such a great thought,
then all of us have
the same capacity, capability...
because we're all the same.
Thank you all for coming.
-Very nice. They liked it. Yeah.
-Yes, sir, they liked it.
It was one of the most amazing feelings
I've ever experienced in my life.
It was...
It was like I was on stage
for the first time.
I was nervous...
but at the same time, there's
a tremendous pleasure associated with it.
It was like a dream that I've had
for so many years finally was...
taking place,
and I wanted to take it all in, too.
I wanted to enjoy it,
but at the same time,
I couldn't forget I was on stage
and I was performing.
-Yes, please.
-Thank you.
-Thanks, gentlemen, ladies.
-Great. Great job.
-Great job.
-Great job. A great job.
That was perfect.
You believe this?
It's amazing. Amazing.
It's-- it's a dream fulfilled for him.
I mean, to come back to--
he's hometown boy,
coming home and seeing--
all his relatives finally seeing him play.
I actually got kind of emotional
about the whole thing,
thinking about how
he was feeling out there.
And I could see his mom
and dad out there, so proud,
and so, yeah, it was great.
This is what we do
before we start the gig.
We-- we work on our teeth for a while.
You don't seem very charming.
You know, not too many cavities,
not doing too bad.
I think this is gonna be
a good concert tonight.
My favorite.
This feta cheese, it's really good.
That's the only reason I come to Greece,
is for the cheese.
Yes?
Hello.
This concert that we had here,
it was magical.
It was-- the environment, the place,
as you can imagine, 2,000 years of...
history, and great music,
and great-- great audience.
Everything was magical.
It was pretty amazing,
just to see the enthusiasm of the crowd.
And it being in the setting
and coming back, having brought back...
Americanized Greek music,
playing with the orchestra, and...
just-- I think our performance
did a lot for the audience.
The music was beautiful.
It's probably one of the...
most incredible experiences of my life.
It was probably the most difficult thing
I've ever had to do and put together.
At the same time,
was one of the most satisfying
things I've ever done in my life.
Get away from here!
Thank You. Thank You.
You can't imagine how I'm feeling tonight.
First time... in Greece,
the place I was born...
and especially at the Herodion Theater
right under the Parthenon.
It's one of my life's biggest dreams,
and it's... becoming a reality tonight.
And the next song
I would like to do for you...
is from my new album.
And it's about...
not forgetting how to enjoy life.
You know sometimes we get caught up
in our troubles and our problems,
and we let life sort of slip away,
and life is precious,
all of life, and one must try
to take in as much of it as possible.
Song is called
"Until the Last Moment."
Thank you.
The next song I wrote...
for the woman
that brought me in this world.
She has a very sweet voice,
and she used to sing to me
when I was a kid.
In fact, she tells me now that...
I wouldn't go to sleep at nights
unless she sang for me.
In fact, she calls me niktopuli.
This song captures
her gentleness and her sweetness.
It's called "Felitsa,"
and Felitsa is my mother,
and she's here tonight.
And I'd like to dedicate this--
this one to her.
I would like to leave you
with a couple of thoughts.
A little while back...
I was watching an interview...
with one of the astronauts...
from the space shuttle.
And in this interview he was...
describing his experiences
while he was orbiting the planet.
And he was saying
how beautiful Earth looks from above.
But he said that much to his surprise...
when he was going over Europe...
he found that he was having a hard time...
telling the countries
apart from each other.
He said the reason for that was...
that the lines that are in the maps
are not in the ground.
It makes a great point.
These lines... really... don't exist.
They are made up, completely,
and they perpetuate
this illusion that, somehow,
we're all different from each other.
I think the world
would be a much better place...
if someday...
we stopped pretending
that these lines exist
and we concentrated on our similarities,
rather than our differences.
And I just want you
to remember one more thing,
that everything great
that has ever happened to humanity
since the beginning...
has begun...
as a single thought...
in someone's mind.
And if any one of us is capable
of such a great thought,
then all of us have
the same capacity, capability...
because we're all the same.
Thank you all for coming.
-Very nice. They liked it. Yeah.
-Yes, sir, they liked it.
It was one of the most amazing feelings
I've ever experienced in my life.
It was...
It was like I was on stage
for the first time.
I was nervous...
but at the same time, there's
a tremendous pleasure associated with it.
It was like a dream that I've had
for so many years finally was...
taking place,
and I wanted to take it all in, too.
I wanted to enjoy it,
but at the same time,
I couldn't forget I was on stage
and I was performing.
-Yes, please.
-Thank you.
-Thanks, gentlemen, ladies.
-Great. Great job.
-Great job.
-Great job. A great job.
That was perfect.
You believe this?
It's amazing. Amazing.
It's-- it's a dream fulfilled for him.
I mean, to come back to--
he's hometown boy,
coming home and seeing--
all his relatives finally seeing him play.
I actually got kind of emotional
about the whole thing,
thinking about how
he was feeling out there.
And I could see his mom
and dad out there, so proud,
and so, yeah, it was great.
This is what we do
before we start the gig.
We-- we work on our teeth for a while.
You don't seem very charming.
You know, not too many cavities,
not doing too bad.
I think this is gonna be
a good concert tonight.
My favorite.
This feta cheese, it's really good.
That's the only reason I come to Greece,
is for the cheese.
Yes?
Hello.
This concert that we had here,
it was magical.
It was-- the environment, the place,
as you can imagine, 2,000 years of...
history, and great music,
and great-- great audience.
Everything was magical.
It was pretty amazing,
just to see the enthusiasm of the crowd.
And it being in the setting
and coming back, having brought back...
Americanized Greek music,
playing with the orchestra, and...
just-- I think our performance
did a lot for the audience.
The music was beautiful.
It's probably one of the...
most incredible experiences of my life.
It was probably the most difficult thing
I've ever had to do and put together.
At the same time,
was one of the most satisfying
things I've ever done in my life.
Get away from here!