For actor, musician and comedian Stephen Kramer Glickman, every day is different.
It's hard for him to pinpoint just one routine because of his many varying projects and the entertainment industry as a whole. However, this day was one Glickman was extremely excited for: his first live concert.
“Most of the time when I’ve been in front of an audience, it's to do stand-up or host panels at Comic-Con or things like this, but to actually be in front of a big room full of people and be singing, that's such a dream,” Glickman said. “I'm excited for the opportunity. I think it's gonna be great.”
Glickman came to Ohio University to perform songs from his first album, The Moving Company, for the Saturday entertainment slot of Dad’s Weekend. The Post got to follow him through this day: from picking him up at the hotel to taking him to the airport the next day.
Before the show
After flying in late from Los Angeles to Ohio the night before, Glickman spent the day resting. Around 4 p.m., he was picked up from the hotel and ready to start preparing for the show.
He was joined by Marza Merophi Wilks, a Peruvian-born cellist, recording artist, educator and content creator. The two spent about 30 minutes on a driving tour of Athens, seeing Court Street, The Ridges and all of the Ohio University hot spots.
“It was a bit of a culture shock,” Glickman said. “And then this morning on the drive to Athens, we were like, ‘Wow, talk about an inspiring and beautiful place to be able to create stuff.’ It's no wonder why so many talented people come out of this school. You just have such a beautiful place to be able to create from.”
Once Glickman and Wilks arrived at Baker University Center — even stopping to take some fan pictures on the way — they got settled in their dressing room and green room area in The Post’s newsroom. Then, it was time to head up to soundcheck.
After they arrived to soundcheck, they played around with the stage formatting to make sure they were hearing and seeing each other in the best way. Once they found the arrangement that worked best for the show, Glickman and Wilks performed a few songs to test out their equipment.
Following soundcheck, Glickman and Wilks had a few hours before the performance was set to begin. They decided to get to know the sponsors helping out with the event, including students from The Post and the University Program Council.
Then, to get the real Athens experience, they went on a trip to the College Bookstore, 50 S. Court St., to get some OU merch. There, they browsed the aisles, greeted some fans and ended up buying sweatshirts, hats and magnets to have as permanent keepsakes of their weekend in Athens.
After stopping to chat with some fans and take pictures on the walk back to their green room, Glickman and Wilks had some snacks and sat down to talk with The Post about their performance that evening.
“Being able to support someone like Stephen on a concert like this is so exciting and thrilling for me,” Wilks said. I'm sure I'll get the excited nerves; when you step on stage, they kind of disappear. But, really, I'm just excited to make music with Stephen and to support him and everything that he's doing, and I'm really looking forward to today.”
Glickman, too, felt the pre-show nerves, but his extreme excitement ultimately won out.
“I've been so used to performing live on TikTok and Instagram over the last year that actually being in front of an audience and really feeling that energy, that's gonna be pretty crazy,” Glickman said. “I can't wait.”
The performance and VIP event
Fans lined up outside the Baker Center Ballroom to get their general admission seats first for the show. After showing their tickets, fans headed to the VIP section to get their passes and then patiently waited for Glickman to start his performance.
Meanwhile, Glickman and Wilks got dressed. At 8 p.m., they made their way up to the ballroom and prepared for their first-ever live performance as a duo and Glickman’s first live concert ever.
Between his songs, stories and audience interaction, Glickman completed his first live concert. Fans of the show were excited to be there, and Glickman and Wilks were floating on air when they left the stage.
“My God, that was an extraordinary feeling,” Glickman said, immediately after he stepped off the stage. “That was amazing.”
Once the show was over, Glickman and Wilks returned to The Post’s newsroom to prepare for the VIP meet and greet event, where they talked with excited fans and took photos for around an hour and a half. Both musicians took the time to connect with the people who came to the show and individually answer some burning questions.
“My manager, who I adore, was like, ‘Oh, you should maybe do your first live concert in Los Angeles,’” Glickman said. “And I was like, ‘I don't want people in Los Angeles to come watch me do a live concert; that's not my people. My people are the people that grew up watching me on television. If I can get them to accept me as this, then that would be great also because then I can be both things: I can be a part of their childhood, and I can be a part of the music that they like in some way.’”
After the evening was over, Glickman and Wilks went back to their hotel to rest before flying home the next morning.
Heading home, reflecting on the show
Before heading to the airport to catch their afternoon flight, Glickman and Wilks stopped for lunch at Applebee’s in the Columbus area. Of course, both being avid content creators, they had to stop and take some videos for their social media.
They were both extremely pleased with the way their performance went. Glickman said it was the nicest crowd he’s ever performed for, and they both felt the positive energy still radiating the next day. They were met with a warm embrace from their fans on social media who saw the show and are so excited to continue on their musical journey together.
“I think, towards the future, shaking the dust off a little bit and being like, ‘OK, let's go do another one. Let's go find other places to go do this and keep it moving’ ... I think this is the start of a very exciting thing,” Glickman said.
“I think that's really important to share with the audience: this is the first time we're doing this. They’re part of the creation of this and the creation of this next step in our partnership in music and our collaboration, and that's so exciting,” Wilks said. “I think that's why we're feeling a little bit emotional with this group of people and being here with all of you. It's like this is the first step in a huge journey that's gonna happen, and we're really thankful that everybody's gonna get to be on this journey with us.”
Photo by Nate Swanson.