What ever happened to Saturdays being a day off? (I guess that changes when you have kids.) Today I spent three hours driving three girls to and from the CMEA choir festival (and listening to the performance), then spent 2.5 hours observing ballet rehearsal (making a chart so that the stage managers know which kids are supposed to be where).
Fortunately, the evening was much more relaxing. DH had a delicious dinner waiting when I got home, and I spent over an hour playing Lego Indiana Jones with B.
Showing posts with label choir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label choir. Show all posts
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Scheduling Needs To Be Done Earlier!
It's November 1st, and I JUST received an announcement from B's choir teacher about the date of the winter concert. Naturally, it's on the same night as Nutcracker dress rehearsal. B has already been pulled from one of her Nutcracker performances because she's missing rehearsal this Saturday (she has a role in the school play, and was assigned to the matinee performance), and missing a dress rehearsal is grounds for removal from at least one more show. The last two years, the winter concert was the second Wednesday in December, so I had hoped that by not signing up for Nutcrackers that week (necessitated by my schedule and DH's schedule), we'd be covered for the concert. Looks like I guessed wrong...we're hoping that the choir teacher will be flexible about an alternate assignment.
We still have one potential conflict coming up--both B's ballet school and B's choir teacher have the afternoon of December 4th reserved, but neither one has a time! I can make an educated guess for choir (4:30 pm the last two years that M sang at the tree-lighting ceremony), but the ballet school won't tell us until the week of the rehearsal.
We still have one potential conflict coming up--both B's ballet school and B's choir teacher have the afternoon of December 4th reserved, but neither one has a time! I can make an educated guess for choir (4:30 pm the last two years that M sang at the tree-lighting ceremony), but the ballet school won't tell us until the week of the rehearsal.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Three Times Before the Tree Grows
I know it's been a while since I last posted; I've had a couple of blog posts rattling around in my brain, but haven't had the time to write them down!
Last weekend was a four-performance weekend. Friday night I worked backstage at B's Nutcracker performance. On Saturday, I left the house at 9:50 am, returned for five minutes at lunchtime, then headed out for another Nutcracker. "Dinner" was 15 minutes at home, spent packing up my stuff, e-mailing and calling carpool members to sort out who was driving, then driving into SF for the S&P concert. With the post-concert reception and the drive home, I didn't get home until 11:30. Sunday afternoon was the first Voci concert (one more this weekend).
On Tuesday, I worked backstage for two outreach performances of the Nutcracker (Act I only), and on Wednesday night I worked the first half of the dress rehearsal before leaving for a Voci dress rehearsal.
Which brings me to the actual topic of this post: Nutcracker music. Although I took ballet as a kid, I never got to perform in a Nutcracker. In college, my women's chorus served as the Boston Ballet's chorus for their Nutcracker production, so every year we would get on the T and ride downtown to the Wang Center. We put on choir robes, picked up our battery-operated candles, and waited backstage for our cue, which was the growing Christmas tree. I still know the musical cues for that--the music grows three times, and the big event happens at the end of the third crescendo. That's when we filed out onto the risers, holding our little candles. Two decades later, I'm still listening for the same cues, because that's when the stage crew has to stumble onto the stage in the dark and remove the furniture (couch, table, and chair), while trying not to collide with the mice frantically throwing gifts and the Nutcracker doll off stage. Next time you watch the Nutcracker, look around during that scene and see what's going on in the dark!
Last weekend was a four-performance weekend. Friday night I worked backstage at B's Nutcracker performance. On Saturday, I left the house at 9:50 am, returned for five minutes at lunchtime, then headed out for another Nutcracker. "Dinner" was 15 minutes at home, spent packing up my stuff, e-mailing and calling carpool members to sort out who was driving, then driving into SF for the S&P concert. With the post-concert reception and the drive home, I didn't get home until 11:30. Sunday afternoon was the first Voci concert (one more this weekend).
On Tuesday, I worked backstage for two outreach performances of the Nutcracker (Act I only), and on Wednesday night I worked the first half of the dress rehearsal before leaving for a Voci dress rehearsal.
Which brings me to the actual topic of this post: Nutcracker music. Although I took ballet as a kid, I never got to perform in a Nutcracker. In college, my women's chorus served as the Boston Ballet's chorus for their Nutcracker production, so every year we would get on the T and ride downtown to the Wang Center. We put on choir robes, picked up our battery-operated candles, and waited backstage for our cue, which was the growing Christmas tree. I still know the musical cues for that--the music grows three times, and the big event happens at the end of the third crescendo. That's when we filed out onto the risers, holding our little candles. Two decades later, I'm still listening for the same cues, because that's when the stage crew has to stumble onto the stage in the dark and remove the furniture (couch, table, and chair), while trying not to collide with the mice frantically throwing gifts and the Nutcracker doll off stage. Next time you watch the Nutcracker, look around during that scene and see what's going on in the dark!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Choir Uniforms
Male singers have it easy--they just have to buy one tux and not outgrow it. Women, naturally, have a more difficult time. Some choirs require particular uniforms: you buy the same dress that everyone else wears. Easy enough to do, but because of the nature of dress committees, you usually end up with an outfit that doesn't look particularly good on anyone. (I have at least two long, black dresses in my closet that are gathering dust.)
Other choirs allow you to choose your own outfit, within certain parameters (generally black, full-length, long-sleeved). I've always taken this approach with the choirs I run, because every woman looks good in something different. It does have its drawbacks, though. It's not as formal as the men's unifed tux look, and can frankly look rather ragged with the disparity in styles.
My main complaint today, though, is that I have a closetful of formal black clothing, and can't decide what to wear tonight. Pants? Velvet skirt? Other skirt? Two-piece satin dress? T-shirt, beaded T-shirt, or sweater? Suit jacket or beaded cardigan? Plus, whatever I pick out needs to work with the "Christmas-colored" scarf I've been requested to wear for the second half.
Other choirs allow you to choose your own outfit, within certain parameters (generally black, full-length, long-sleeved). I've always taken this approach with the choirs I run, because every woman looks good in something different. It does have its drawbacks, though. It's not as formal as the men's unifed tux look, and can frankly look rather ragged with the disparity in styles.
My main complaint today, though, is that I have a closetful of formal black clothing, and can't decide what to wear tonight. Pants? Velvet skirt? Other skirt? Two-piece satin dress? T-shirt, beaded T-shirt, or sweater? Suit jacket or beaded cardigan? Plus, whatever I pick out needs to work with the "Christmas-colored" scarf I've been requested to wear for the second half.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
I got to sleep in today, and finally dragged myself out of bed to eat the lovely brunch the kids made (scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast with hearts cut into the slices). After spending a little family time cleaning up the back yard, we went to the pool and hung out there for a couple of hours. The kids had a great time swimming and playing, and I relaxed with a Diet Coke and the Sunday newspaper. For dinner, we went to King Tsin restaurant and had a nice meal.
Yesterday was a little crazy. DH and I each ended up taking one kid for the day. DH got to take B to the pre-ballet dress rehearsal (she's a teaching assistant) from 9:30-11:30, then to her rehearsal from 1:30-3:30. I took M to fencing class (10:30-12:00), obedience class (first meeting without dogs) from 1:00-2:00, then the CMEA choral festival from 4:00-5:00. Each in a different city, of course (DH was impressed when he looked at the minivan's trip odometer: I had filled the car with gas while M was at fencing, and reset the trip odometer--it had over 50 miles on it by the time I got home!)
M's chorus was one of only three middle-school choirs invited to perform at the festival, and the only one that was limited to sixth-graders. I heard two of the groups that preceded theirs--one was a high school group, and one looked like it might have been middle-school girls. I thought M's group sounded really good, for a non-auditioned group of kids. It's too bad M doesn't want to continue in choir, but I'm glad he gave it a try this year. There were only ten boys on the stage yesterday, out of the 50-60 kids in the choir, and I suspect there will be even fewer next year. M likes to sing (he has an excellent ear and a pleasant voice), but he dislikes being on stage.
Yesterday was a little crazy. DH and I each ended up taking one kid for the day. DH got to take B to the pre-ballet dress rehearsal (she's a teaching assistant) from 9:30-11:30, then to her rehearsal from 1:30-3:30. I took M to fencing class (10:30-12:00), obedience class (first meeting without dogs) from 1:00-2:00, then the CMEA choral festival from 4:00-5:00. Each in a different city, of course (DH was impressed when he looked at the minivan's trip odometer: I had filled the car with gas while M was at fencing, and reset the trip odometer--it had over 50 miles on it by the time I got home!)
M's chorus was one of only three middle-school choirs invited to perform at the festival, and the only one that was limited to sixth-graders. I heard two of the groups that preceded theirs--one was a high school group, and one looked like it might have been middle-school girls. I thought M's group sounded really good, for a non-auditioned group of kids. It's too bad M doesn't want to continue in choir, but I'm glad he gave it a try this year. There were only ten boys on the stage yesterday, out of the 50-60 kids in the choir, and I suspect there will be even fewer next year. M likes to sing (he has an excellent ear and a pleasant voice), but he dislikes being on stage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
