Monday, December 18, 2006

PCL

… ah, the "Post-Concert Letdown." There is something of a bittersweet "it's over" moment when the curtain lowers on the final show of a concert cycle. We worked on this show for about 16 weeks — and now it's done. The shows were a blast to do, but the music has been turned in, the props stored, and we're through. Of course, now, after struggling for weeks to memorize it all, I can't get the songs out of my head. Go figure.

How many "tricks of the trade" should I reveal? Like: at the final show, someone two rows behind me finally gave up on trying to memorize the words to a song — and taped a sheet with the words to my back while the curtain was down between numbers. And (fortunately) remembered to remove it just before we exited, mid-song, into the audience.

Or: The moment at the first show when half the Chorus sang the right words, and half sang the wrong words — just with equal confidence and volume. It could have come across as some sort of canon or round, if you could ignore the near-panic-stricken faces of the singers.

Or: the look on the director's face when the group finally — finally — does a stylistic flourish he's been asking for the whole time. So long as it wasn't the icy-daggers look-of-death for missing a cue.

Better still are the things that happen when the audience isn't there. Things like the stretching-and-warming-up before the final show … to the sounds of Beyoncé singing "One Night Only," blaring through the auditorium's sound system. Or the discussion of how to tone down the innnuendo in one song for the heavily-marketed-to-kids matinee show. Deciding who will be the designated backstage "stunt singers" for the opening number — a piece full of running around onstage, so we needed singers on mics focused on actually making the SONG part of the song, happen. Or trying really, REALLY hard not to crack up laughing at something said inappropriately while the curtain was down, hoping to high heaven the overhead mics are off.

A fun — though long — weekend, to be sure. (From Friday through yesterday, I was at the theatre around 19 hours, and spent roughly 4 hours in my car in the back-and-forthing.) I'm glad I went through with performing this round. And now I can get down to the enjoying-of-the-holidays part of the month.

4 comments:

  1. You all were excellent as always... Thank you!

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  2. Congrats! It's over for another year. :-) So relax!

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  3. Always fun 2 go C U sing :-)

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  4. Damn. Spider got to see you? Wish I had. We saw the Portland Gay Men's Chorus over the weekend. Fair. I'm sure you were better!

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