I'm in the car with friends on the way home from bridesmaid dress shopping and my cell phone rings. I look down and see that its the lovely Ms. Sarah Lynn and answer the phone with great excitement. You see, its the weekend of SAI Region 16's contest. And this is the first year that my former chorus, Saratoga Soundtrack and the fantastic Ms Sarah, are competing.
Me: Hellooooo.
Sarah: Hello Ms Alexis.
Me: Hello Princess Sarah.
Sarah: Guess what's around my neck?
Me: Is it a medal?!
Sarah: Yup. Guess what color it is?
Me: Is it GOLD?!!?!!
Sarah: Yes!!
Me: Ahhhhhhh!
Saratoga Soundtrack won Divsion A their first time out with a 544! Now for those who don't know, we Sweet Ad's have small (15-30 women) and midsized (31-60 women) divisions within our regional contests in addition to our overall rankings. There is also a special contest for the top five in each of those divisions across the international organization called the Harmony Classic. But what is most important and impressive in this story is that the little chorus that could, Saratoga Soundtrack, took home the gold with 22 singers onstage the very first time they ever competed - Brava!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Chapter Nine: Baby's First Regional Contest
Steph, Sabrina and I all piled into Steph's sweet lil mini cooper, popped the address in the GPS and headed off to Philadelphia, PA for our first Sweet Adelines Regional Contest.
The very first stop on our regional journey was rehearsal for the Regional Young Women In Harmony Chorus. This was the first year that the region was trying this out. There were girls from three groups. The Gracenotes, a YWIH college group from Westchester PA that had been started by a tenor who grew up in Region 15 and brought barbershop to college with her. The First Ladies, a high school group taught by Laurie Woolever, the Region 15 YWIH Coordinator. And then there was Steph, Sabrina and myself - the YWIH of the Harmony Celebration Chorus.
All of us girls got the charts and learning tracks for the songs ahead of time and came to Philly ready to sing. Our songs were 59th Street Bridge Song and Yesterday so we also brought 'hippie' attire to perform in. I don't know why, but we were expecting to have a 2 or three hour rehearsal, but all we had was one hour! We were under the direction of the wonderful Ms. Harriette Walters. She gave us a quick voice placement based on parts and where we normally stand in our own choruses and then as we warmed up moved us around until she got the sound she was looking for. I wound up in the front row, just left of center with Steph over my left shoulder and Sabrina over my right, but up in the center of the chorus. We sang through the songs and got ourselves moving and really selling them. In the front row we had a bunch of the Gracenotes, so we added in a little kick and hand movement that they did in their chorus to spice it up a bit.
The rehearsal flew right by and before we knew it, it was over. Harriette and the other regional ladies all had to rush off to the quartet briefing. That left us young ladies some time to run around Philly and get some lunch before we had to get back to the hotel to change and prep to watch the quartet competition and be ready to performance at the end of it. We had, of course, made friends during rehearsal and so we went to out to lunch with the Gracenotes to the TGIFridays not far from the hotel. Lunch was great and we got to know some of the girls a little better. Their leader had actually been mentioned to us by ladies in our chorus because she sang tenor with Capriccio - the only YWIH Quartet to come through the region. Well since she was going to school out in PA it didn't look like we had found a tenor, but we made a new friend and Kristen was it!
After lunch we still had plenty of time before we needed to head back and get ready so we decided to go for a romp around downtown Philly. We walked down to the beautiful fountain and back up to the famous LOVE sign. We looked at that sign and said "Next Year. Next year we'll come here and take a picture under this sign as a quartet."
We headed back to the hotel and checked into our room - which was attached to the Harmony Celebration Hospitality Suite. So when we thought we would take a quick nap before getting ourselves ready, we actually ended up fielding the sign-in sheet and drop-off of food and beverages for Saturday night - oh well. After some rest anyway we proceeded to get into our jeans, peasant and tie-dye t-shirts, put braids in our hair and even put flowers and peace signs on our cheeks before heading down to the main ballroom to watch the quartet competition. As the YWIH Chorus participants we even got special seating! We sat and watched our first regional quartet competition in awe of the bravery and talent of each woman who crossed that stage. We had a lot of "hometown" quartets to cheer for too: Just4, Vanity Fair, Borderline, In Good Company and Fanfare! After each quartet sang we ran to the back of the room to cheer and hug them as them came back into the ballroom.
Before we knew it, the last of the sequined ladies had crossed the stage and it was our turn. We lined up in the lobby outside the ballroom and Kristen got us started in some soft vocal warmups to get focused as Harriette came to join us. I can still remember how exciting it was to walk out on that contest stage for the very first time. The best part was probably that Faith and Jeannie Froelich were sitting front and center and I could hear them screaming "Go Lexy, Go Sabrina, Go Steph!!" We opened with 59th Street Bridge Song, nailed all of our moves and our chords and it felt groovy - to the say the least. In the break in between songs I was going to MC for the chorus. I walked out to the mic to greet the region. I let them know that we had girls from three groups (we HCC gals had been omitted from the program!) and that not only were we thrilled to be there, but were very grateful to our music educators and regional leadership for getting us there. Then I walked back into the chorus and got ready to sing Yesterday. Well the pitch blew and as I took a breath and restated to step into the first note to sing my legs nearly went out from underneath me! My stomach clenched up so it was hard to breathe and I felt like my whole body had gone shaky. I made it through the song ok - but when we finally got off the stage and I got to take stock. I always get nervous before I go onstage - the little butterflies in the tummy that keep me on point and make sure that that everything goes right - but this was way beyond that. I had never felt like my legs would go out from underneath me onstage. For me it was a confirmation that barbershop was something I needed to do for the rest of my life.
The results of the Quartet Contest were announced and wow! Just4 and Fanfare! were both medalists - 4th and 5th place respectively. All us HCC Ladies were so proud of them!
Sabrina, Steph and I had roped our friend Katie into singing with us. We tried to learn two songs to sing around at contest, but only wound up with one. We called ourselved "Not Yo Mama's Quartet" and our one song was Kickin' It Up A Notch, arranged by the wonderful Ms. Nancy Faddegon. We sang in the lobby for some of the Gracenotes and for a bunch of the ladies in our chorus - it was a blast!
The next morning started out with a little rehearsal and our Chorus Breakfast. The Buzz was around because they were going to be singing on the show of champions that night and so Karen Breidert came to watch us that morning and give us some feedback and support. She sat there beaming while we sang and told us to trust the message of the songs and we'd do great. Next came the actual breakfast and (my favorite part) Chorus Rah!, lead of chorus by our very own Jean and Diane. This year's tribute to our contest journey was set to the familiar story and tunes of The Music Man, a musical which Scott is more than fond of. [sidenote: Scott Brannon is Harold Hill - in the he can totally play and sing the snot outta that part way] I think the highlight of it would have to be the Marian the Librarian parody. The line was something about "I hear the HC Chorus has a new director, do you know what they're saying? Their director is Maaaaaaaaasculine." We all laughed so hard! Next we had a double quartet who sang the Buzz's It's My Song. Well right around the time they got to "I give to you this part of my because you are my friend" I was in tears. It was the morning of my first contest ever, the first contest for this rebirthed chorus, and I couldn't imagine anywhere I would rather be, or any people I would rather be sharing it with. To close out the breakfast we recognised everyone who worked so hard to make sure we made it to Philly that weekend, and after one last quick of my cranberry juice and some quick hugs it was off to the room to begin preparing.
The first order of business was to get dressed and made up in time for our row-by-row costume and makeup checks. This was our first real encounter with "True Tan" foundation. Now of the three of us, Sabrina is fair and freckly; Steph is fair-ish, but is Italian and has that great olive glow; and I tend to be the tannest, but I still don't compare to "True Tan." The initial reactions of my fellows was a "you've got to be kidding me" but by the end of the blending process (which is not a quick one) and with all of the other stage makeup on, while we were feeling kind of drag-queen-ish, we did look pretty glamorous. Once we donned our sequined tops and spangled earrings we moved into the hospitality suite to gather as a chorus and take some pictures too.
Next we headed to the elevator bank to line-up and warm up. The sound was crazy with such a low ceiling - it was bouncing right back at us. Scott reminded us not to over-sing into the sound we were hearing and just take it easy for now. The host chorus Hickory Tree, came up the elevators to get us and we were off into the pattern! Now for someone who has never been in a contest, the pattern is a series of stops/rooms that each chorus goes through on their way to the stage. First you hit the lobby, then the rehearsal room, the primp room (gotta love the last minute makeup details,) the photo room (where there is generally a little time for some singing), then its down the escalator to wait outside the ballroom.
From there the front row started into the backstage, SQ and I engaged in our pre-show ritual, and the fantastic Ms. Katie Holden lead the charge as the front row of the Harmony Celebration Chorus hit the regional contest stage for the first time. We were out there smiling for what seemed like forever when Scott finally followed our last member onto the stage and front row began our peel-off to head back to the risers. I can still remember how I felt as the lights came up on us for the first time as they announced us ... "from Ridgewood NJ, under the direction of Scott Brannon, the Harmony Celebration Chorus!" We opened with How Deep is the Ocean and closed with Yes Sir, That's My Baby. [A funny lil story about our uptune; earlier that morning we realized that our front row choreography was too big for the stage and had to change it! The lyric goes "one more time, here's the line that I'll deliver to the preacher, he's all mine." Well on line, we formed a line and then popped out the side and pulled back into a V as Scott comes storming up the middle. Well we didn't have room for an 11 person line from the risers to the front mics. So we pulled the back two people (Sharon Guzi and myself) from the line and made it so we pop to the sides and "present" the line. Luckily Sharon and I aren't the kind of gals to freak out about last minute changes like that. Still I love the fact that at my first contest we changed the choreo the morning of - makes for a great story.]
I would just like to take a moment to state the obvious and say that the end of a contest is the most nerve wracking 15 minutes (or so) of your life. We knew we had sung well, done our best - but at this point what would our best earn us? Well our best was a 593 which earned is Third Place Medals and status as the region's Second Place Midsize Chorus! We were ecstatic! Liberty Oak came in second, and Greater Nassau took home the gold.
The chorus met up in another ballroom immediately following the announcements to hand out our white ribbon 3rd place medals, and our pink 2nd place midsize chorus awards. We all had time to eat, come back and get changed and have rehearsal before the Show of Champions that evening. The top 3 choruses and quartets all get to perform and we were so thrilled to be able to sing again that evening.
The show, like the rest of the weekend, seemed to go by in a flash and before I knew it we were sitting in the audience waiting for the final act, The Buzz, to take the stage. Now up until this point I knew all about Jeannie. I knew that she had won two crowns (one with City Lights, and one with The Buzz.) I knew that she had a beautiful voice (she stood right behind me in the chorus.) I knew that she was warm, inviting, and lots of fun. I also knew that all the Buzz-ladies had two crowns and clearly I was in for a treat...But I had no idea just how amazing the sound and performance that was coming right at me was going to be. I was covered in goosebumps within seconds and on the edge of my seat the whole time, unless I was rocking back in it from laughter or on my feet applauding. I remember very clearly turning to Steph and saying "Its a really good thing I didn't hear them sing before I auditioned for the chorus or I really would have peed my pants trying to sing for Jeannie." [sidenote: not because she would ever make me feel that way, but more because I would be quaking in the awe of her awesomeness]
After the Show of Champions it was up to the hospitality suite to make sure everything was ready. Not Yo Mama's Quartet performed for our chorus and also went down to sing our one song for the ladies of the Golden Apple Chorus. We also sang in our room for some of the quartets that been singing in other hospitality suites when we sang - namely Vanity Fair, In Good Company, and Hit Parade. Now I don't know how things work in other regions, but in ours we are fortunate enough (and small enough) that everyone and everything is in one hotel. So Saturday night every chorus goes back to their own hospitality suite and waits while different quartets come around and sing to them - its awesome!
Steph had to get to sleep early because she was working a NJ Devil's game the next day. I stayed up late singing tags. And Katie and Sabrina stayed up to clean-up. In the morning we caught the end of the Mass Sing down in the lobby as we checked out on our way to the Devil's game. We hopped into Steph's little red Mini-Coop with our medals around our necks and smiles in our hearts as we headed out from Philly.
The very first stop on our regional journey was rehearsal for the Regional Young Women In Harmony Chorus. This was the first year that the region was trying this out. There were girls from three groups. The Gracenotes, a YWIH college group from Westchester PA that had been started by a tenor who grew up in Region 15 and brought barbershop to college with her. The First Ladies, a high school group taught by Laurie Woolever, the Region 15 YWIH Coordinator. And then there was Steph, Sabrina and myself - the YWIH of the Harmony Celebration Chorus.
All of us girls got the charts and learning tracks for the songs ahead of time and came to Philly ready to sing. Our songs were 59th Street Bridge Song and Yesterday so we also brought 'hippie' attire to perform in. I don't know why, but we were expecting to have a 2 or three hour rehearsal, but all we had was one hour! We were under the direction of the wonderful Ms. Harriette Walters. She gave us a quick voice placement based on parts and where we normally stand in our own choruses and then as we warmed up moved us around until she got the sound she was looking for. I wound up in the front row, just left of center with Steph over my left shoulder and Sabrina over my right, but up in the center of the chorus. We sang through the songs and got ourselves moving and really selling them. In the front row we had a bunch of the Gracenotes, so we added in a little kick and hand movement that they did in their chorus to spice it up a bit.
The rehearsal flew right by and before we knew it, it was over. Harriette and the other regional ladies all had to rush off to the quartet briefing. That left us young ladies some time to run around Philly and get some lunch before we had to get back to the hotel to change and prep to watch the quartet competition and be ready to performance at the end of it. We had, of course, made friends during rehearsal and so we went to out to lunch with the Gracenotes to the TGIFridays not far from the hotel. Lunch was great and we got to know some of the girls a little better. Their leader had actually been mentioned to us by ladies in our chorus because she sang tenor with Capriccio - the only YWIH Quartet to come through the region. Well since she was going to school out in PA it didn't look like we had found a tenor, but we made a new friend and Kristen was it!
After lunch we still had plenty of time before we needed to head back and get ready so we decided to go for a romp around downtown Philly. We walked down to the beautiful fountain and back up to the famous LOVE sign. We looked at that sign and said "Next Year. Next year we'll come here and take a picture under this sign as a quartet."
We headed back to the hotel and checked into our room - which was attached to the Harmony Celebration Hospitality Suite. So when we thought we would take a quick nap before getting ourselves ready, we actually ended up fielding the sign-in sheet and drop-off of food and beverages for Saturday night - oh well. After some rest anyway we proceeded to get into our jeans, peasant and tie-dye t-shirts, put braids in our hair and even put flowers and peace signs on our cheeks before heading down to the main ballroom to watch the quartet competition. As the YWIH Chorus participants we even got special seating! We sat and watched our first regional quartet competition in awe of the bravery and talent of each woman who crossed that stage. We had a lot of "hometown" quartets to cheer for too: Just4, Vanity Fair, Borderline, In Good Company and Fanfare! After each quartet sang we ran to the back of the room to cheer and hug them as them came back into the ballroom.
Before we knew it, the last of the sequined ladies had crossed the stage and it was our turn. We lined up in the lobby outside the ballroom and Kristen got us started in some soft vocal warmups to get focused as Harriette came to join us. I can still remember how exciting it was to walk out on that contest stage for the very first time. The best part was probably that Faith and Jeannie Froelich were sitting front and center and I could hear them screaming "Go Lexy, Go Sabrina, Go Steph!!" We opened with 59th Street Bridge Song, nailed all of our moves and our chords and it felt groovy - to the say the least. In the break in between songs I was going to MC for the chorus. I walked out to the mic to greet the region. I let them know that we had girls from three groups (we HCC gals had been omitted from the program!) and that not only were we thrilled to be there, but were very grateful to our music educators and regional leadership for getting us there. Then I walked back into the chorus and got ready to sing Yesterday. Well the pitch blew and as I took a breath and restated to step into the first note to sing my legs nearly went out from underneath me! My stomach clenched up so it was hard to breathe and I felt like my whole body had gone shaky. I made it through the song ok - but when we finally got off the stage and I got to take stock. I always get nervous before I go onstage - the little butterflies in the tummy that keep me on point and make sure that that everything goes right - but this was way beyond that. I had never felt like my legs would go out from underneath me onstage. For me it was a confirmation that barbershop was something I needed to do for the rest of my life.
The results of the Quartet Contest were announced and wow! Just4 and Fanfare! were both medalists - 4th and 5th place respectively. All us HCC Ladies were so proud of them!
Sabrina, Steph and I had roped our friend Katie into singing with us. We tried to learn two songs to sing around at contest, but only wound up with one. We called ourselved "Not Yo Mama's Quartet" and our one song was Kickin' It Up A Notch, arranged by the wonderful Ms. Nancy Faddegon. We sang in the lobby for some of the Gracenotes and for a bunch of the ladies in our chorus - it was a blast!
The next morning started out with a little rehearsal and our Chorus Breakfast. The Buzz was around because they were going to be singing on the show of champions that night and so Karen Breidert came to watch us that morning and give us some feedback and support. She sat there beaming while we sang and told us to trust the message of the songs and we'd do great. Next came the actual breakfast and (my favorite part) Chorus Rah!, lead of chorus by our very own Jean and Diane. This year's tribute to our contest journey was set to the familiar story and tunes of The Music Man, a musical which Scott is more than fond of. [sidenote: Scott Brannon is Harold Hill - in the he can totally play and sing the snot outta that part way] I think the highlight of it would have to be the Marian the Librarian parody. The line was something about "I hear the HC Chorus has a new director, do you know what they're saying? Their director is Maaaaaaaaasculine." We all laughed so hard! Next we had a double quartet who sang the Buzz's It's My Song. Well right around the time they got to "I give to you this part of my because you are my friend" I was in tears. It was the morning of my first contest ever, the first contest for this rebirthed chorus, and I couldn't imagine anywhere I would rather be, or any people I would rather be sharing it with. To close out the breakfast we recognised everyone who worked so hard to make sure we made it to Philly that weekend, and after one last quick of my cranberry juice and some quick hugs it was off to the room to begin preparing.
The first order of business was to get dressed and made up in time for our row-by-row costume and makeup checks. This was our first real encounter with "True Tan" foundation. Now of the three of us, Sabrina is fair and freckly; Steph is fair-ish, but is Italian and has that great olive glow; and I tend to be the tannest, but I still don't compare to "True Tan." The initial reactions of my fellows was a "you've got to be kidding me" but by the end of the blending process (which is not a quick one) and with all of the other stage makeup on, while we were feeling kind of drag-queen-ish, we did look pretty glamorous. Once we donned our sequined tops and spangled earrings we moved into the hospitality suite to gather as a chorus and take some pictures too.
Next we headed to the elevator bank to line-up and warm up. The sound was crazy with such a low ceiling - it was bouncing right back at us. Scott reminded us not to over-sing into the sound we were hearing and just take it easy for now. The host chorus Hickory Tree, came up the elevators to get us and we were off into the pattern! Now for someone who has never been in a contest, the pattern is a series of stops/rooms that each chorus goes through on their way to the stage. First you hit the lobby, then the rehearsal room, the primp room (gotta love the last minute makeup details,) the photo room (where there is generally a little time for some singing), then its down the escalator to wait outside the ballroom.
From there the front row started into the backstage, SQ and I engaged in our pre-show ritual, and the fantastic Ms. Katie Holden lead the charge as the front row of the Harmony Celebration Chorus hit the regional contest stage for the first time. We were out there smiling for what seemed like forever when Scott finally followed our last member onto the stage and front row began our peel-off to head back to the risers. I can still remember how I felt as the lights came up on us for the first time as they announced us ... "from Ridgewood NJ, under the direction of Scott Brannon, the Harmony Celebration Chorus!" We opened with How Deep is the Ocean and closed with Yes Sir, That's My Baby. [A funny lil story about our uptune; earlier that morning we realized that our front row choreography was too big for the stage and had to change it! The lyric goes "one more time, here's the line that I'll deliver to the preacher, he's all mine." Well on line, we formed a line and then popped out the side and pulled back into a V as Scott comes storming up the middle. Well we didn't have room for an 11 person line from the risers to the front mics. So we pulled the back two people (Sharon Guzi and myself) from the line and made it so we pop to the sides and "present" the line. Luckily Sharon and I aren't the kind of gals to freak out about last minute changes like that. Still I love the fact that at my first contest we changed the choreo the morning of - makes for a great story.]
I would just like to take a moment to state the obvious and say that the end of a contest is the most nerve wracking 15 minutes (or so) of your life. We knew we had sung well, done our best - but at this point what would our best earn us? Well our best was a 593 which earned is Third Place Medals and status as the region's Second Place Midsize Chorus! We were ecstatic! Liberty Oak came in second, and Greater Nassau took home the gold.
The chorus met up in another ballroom immediately following the announcements to hand out our white ribbon 3rd place medals, and our pink 2nd place midsize chorus awards. We all had time to eat, come back and get changed and have rehearsal before the Show of Champions that evening. The top 3 choruses and quartets all get to perform and we were so thrilled to be able to sing again that evening.
The show, like the rest of the weekend, seemed to go by in a flash and before I knew it we were sitting in the audience waiting for the final act, The Buzz, to take the stage. Now up until this point I knew all about Jeannie. I knew that she had won two crowns (one with City Lights, and one with The Buzz.) I knew that she had a beautiful voice (she stood right behind me in the chorus.) I knew that she was warm, inviting, and lots of fun. I also knew that all the Buzz-ladies had two crowns and clearly I was in for a treat...But I had no idea just how amazing the sound and performance that was coming right at me was going to be. I was covered in goosebumps within seconds and on the edge of my seat the whole time, unless I was rocking back in it from laughter or on my feet applauding. I remember very clearly turning to Steph and saying "Its a really good thing I didn't hear them sing before I auditioned for the chorus or I really would have peed my pants trying to sing for Jeannie." [sidenote: not because she would ever make me feel that way, but more because I would be quaking in the awe of her awesomeness]
After the Show of Champions it was up to the hospitality suite to make sure everything was ready. Not Yo Mama's Quartet performed for our chorus and also went down to sing our one song for the ladies of the Golden Apple Chorus. We also sang in our room for some of the quartets that been singing in other hospitality suites when we sang - namely Vanity Fair, In Good Company, and Hit Parade. Now I don't know how things work in other regions, but in ours we are fortunate enough (and small enough) that everyone and everything is in one hotel. So Saturday night every chorus goes back to their own hospitality suite and waits while different quartets come around and sing to them - its awesome!
Steph had to get to sleep early because she was working a NJ Devil's game the next day. I stayed up late singing tags. And Katie and Sabrina stayed up to clean-up. In the morning we caught the end of the Mass Sing down in the lobby as we checked out on our way to the Devil's game. We hopped into Steph's little red Mini-Coop with our medals around our necks and smiles in our hearts as we headed out from Philly.
Chapter Eight: I Love Kathy Carmody!
HCC's next step toward our very first trip to the contest stage was our retreat. The key word here being "treat" because our coach for the weekend at the Parsippany Sheraton was the dynamic Ms. Kathy Carmody. We started out Friday night singing through some of the songs in the repertoire so Kathy could get a feel for our energy and our sound. We went through our uptune and ballad so she should really get an idea of what she would need to work with us on for the remainder of the weekend.
When we were done singing (for the evening anyway) we went into a room across the hall to watch a Ben Zander movie. It was really cool - one of those personal empowering movies. I remember the concept about, ok so you can play an aria, but hear how much different it is when you feel it and play through the emotion of the notes. That and the Shinning Eyes. I remember it talking about singing through Shinning Eyes. After the video we had some wonderful HCC Rah provided by Jean and Diane and then were off to bed.
At breakfast the next morning the retreat fun continued with table numbers. Upon entering the dining room we all pick numbers so that our tables would get all mixed up and we were sure to get to know the women in our chorus better. As newbies, Steph, Sabrina, and I particularly welcomed this system and made sure that we all picked different numbers from each other to further expand our chorus circle of friends. I like this system - and was very glad that it continued to be in place for all the meals for the remainder of the weekend.
We spent our lunch and evening rehearsals making sure to sing all of our vowels in the vowel tunnel and making sure to bring joy to all the songs we sang. We started to work on a new skill set - singing supported softs. We also got a chance to have a front row pull out rehearsal and really start refining some of the more precise moments in our choreo plan. We came back into the chorus to combine our good singing with our good dancing and everything just started to feel great.
When we were done singing (for the evening anyway) we went into a room across the hall to watch a Ben Zander movie. It was really cool - one of those personal empowering movies. I remember the concept about, ok so you can play an aria, but hear how much different it is when you feel it and play through the emotion of the notes. That and the Shinning Eyes. I remember it talking about singing through Shinning Eyes. After the video we had some wonderful HCC Rah provided by Jean and Diane and then were off to bed.
At breakfast the next morning the retreat fun continued with table numbers. Upon entering the dining room we all pick numbers so that our tables would get all mixed up and we were sure to get to know the women in our chorus better. As newbies, Steph, Sabrina, and I particularly welcomed this system and made sure that we all picked different numbers from each other to further expand our chorus circle of friends. I like this system - and was very glad that it continued to be in place for all the meals for the remainder of the weekend.
We spent our lunch and evening rehearsals making sure to sing all of our vowels in the vowel tunnel and making sure to bring joy to all the songs we sang. We started to work on a new skill set - singing supported softs. We also got a chance to have a front row pull out rehearsal and really start refining some of the more precise moments in our choreo plan. We came back into the chorus to combine our good singing with our good dancing and everything just started to feel great.
That evening for our entertainment purposes we had Jean and Diane drawing all the lucky winners from our very large Chinese auction. I walked away with a watch, some gorgeous Indian earrings, a LeSportSac makeup bag and a delightfully hideous, perfectly Sweet Adeline sequined dress that no one had bid on, but was unanimously decided that I should receive. At which point I decided that Sabrina needed to try it on - which she did to the hilarity of all. To close out the evenings festivities we were treated to vocal stylings of everyone's favorite quartet, Just 4.
The next morning Kathy really worked with us on finding the heart and the joy in our ballad. She did an exercise with using "You Are My Sunshine." First she had us sing it as if we were singing to our best friend. Then as if we were singing to a puppy dog. Then as if we were singing it to a new born baby. And then (and this was the killer) as if we were singing it to our mother and she was very sick. Well by the end of it we were all in tears, but we had got the message - you need to find that visceral emotion and sing through it. When you sing a ballad sometimes you are singing to a lover, sometimes a friend or loved one, sometimes to a dream - but whatever it is, it has to be real for you. We wrapped up the morning by running the heck outta our uptune. We glided on our new found sound and danced with joy all the way to the tag!
We left our retreat energized and excited to continue our first journey to the contest stage as the Harmony Celebration Chorus - with a renewed love for our craft. But more importantly with a bound spirit of togetherness for each other, our director, and our new friend and coach, Ms. Kathy Carmody.
Chapter Seven: Baby's First Competition Package
Before we took a break for the holidays had a holiday party, at the lovely home of Ms. Heather Collins, and a were given the music for our new competition package. Our two new songs were to be Yes Sir, That's My Baby and How Deep Is The Ocean - such amazing charts!
When we got back together after the break we starting working the uptune because the fabulous Ms. Gail Jensik was coming in to coach us and teach us the choreography plan she had designed for the song. As anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with Gail can tell you, she has great energy! She is sassy and friendly, but she won't let you get away with anything less then what you are truly capable of.
When we got back together after the break we starting working the uptune because the fabulous Ms. Gail Jensik was coming in to coach us and teach us the choreography plan she had designed for the song. As anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with Gail can tell you, she has great energy! She is sassy and friendly, but she won't let you get away with anything less then what you are truly capable of.
As we got into learning the choreo it was decided that anyone who had interest in dancing in the front row would come down and learn the choreo and the line-up would be chosen later. Being the Dance & Theatre majors that we were, Steph, Sabrina and I all came down to learn it. The rest of the day went by in a flash of steps, turns, laughs and song. It was our first big coaching session with the chorus, and just one more thing to seal in the fact and this was a group of ladies that we wanted to sing with for a long time.
At the end of the day we helped take down the risers and load them back into the van. We went back in to get our things and hug people goodbye. On our way out we passed our director, Scott, and he said something like "I just wanted to thank you girls for your energy. Good rehearsal - see you Wednesday night." Well we just about floated to the car! A brilliant end to a very exciting rehearsal.
The next week at rehearsal most of the people who came down to the front row were still there and some others simply went up onto the risers. Did this is mean I had made it into the front row? Well the next week at rehearsal we were going to be voice placed. One by one Scott listened to each voice in the chorus and put us up on the risers and switched us all around until he had a configuration that sounded best. Steph ended up on the stage left side of the front row. Sabrina ended up on the 3rd or 4th row by Edie and Mary Jo - a sweet spot indeed. She was a lead who had "infiltrated the jungle. " And I came to get my second riser placement in the chorus splitting front row center with Ms. Sharon Guzi with Faith to my right - I was pleased as punch! The only thing I like better than singing is singing and dancing, and I was going to be doing just that.
Chapter Six: Showtime & Dreamy Boy Quartets
The debut show of the Harmony Celebration Chorus was "Celebrate A'Capella" on December 1, 2007 - and I had a lot of work to do if I wanted to sing on that show. As it turned out the show was broken into three main parts: an opening section, the Lion King Package, and the Heart Package - with quartets in between.
It very quickly became apparent to me that there was nearly no way for me to cover the breadth of material I would need to learn, both vocally and visually, to be onstage for the entire show. But luckily it was broken into those three nifty sections So I learned the first three songs, I already knew the last two songs from auditions, and all the visual elements to go with them. I even learned all the music for the Lion King Package, but just couldn't learn all the choreo in time.
One of the coolest things about being in your first chorus show, is getting your very first riser placement. During my time as a perspective/new member I had been floating around in the middle of the chorus, which as a bass, is usually where we end up. In my chorus we lovingly refer to that thicket of low voiced, passionately wonderful singers as "the jungle." I was placed up on the third row of the jungle, splitting center with the one and only Ms. Edie Murphy. Edie Murphy (aka Big Mama.. well at least that's what I call her) is a bass as I can only hope to be. She's one of those women that just has the range and the spunk and the class to wail on a bass line - an frankly sings notes so low I can only pray I will be able to sing them someday. On top of all of that, she is funny, kind, and welcoming. Right behind me, over my left shoulder was another bass, Ms. Stephanie Robinson, the compiler of our weekly newsletter "The Party Line." I couldn't have been luckier than to have two cool basses like these for my first riser buddies. Here's a taste of them - when I was still learning a lot of the music, I would get up on the risers for warm-ups and then run down and grab my binder and bring it back up. Well they weren't having it "you don't need it" would be the response or "fake it." It was a combination of putting confidence into me and getting me into that performers mode - and I thank them for it! I would also be remiss in my riser buddy story were I not to mention a lovely lead and lovely lady, Ms. Lorraine, who stood on my right and was always there with a hug and a smile!
On the day of the show, my crazy gals (Steph and Sabrina) and myself got to the venue nice and early to get to work on our "crew duties." Both of the girls were taking grad classes that fall, and so they didn't have time to learn all the new stuff to sing on the show. But being the people I love, they were still as involved as anything! Sabrina designed the lights for the show, which I can tell you was no easy business because she wasn't allowed to refocus any of the lights. But she came through in her standard magnificence and made the chorus sparkle and shine brighter than ever before. Steph and I were posted as backstage crew during the show. Since I wasn't in the Lion King Package and didn't have to change or prepare for it I was able to page the curtains for the performing quartets, and help our director with his quick-change for Lion King.
After the chorus got there and warmed up, sang through our songs, and got used to the new space and the lighting we had a quick break for dinner and a chance to watch the sound check. That's when the magic started - and by magic, of course I mean polished and delightful men's barbershop quartets. First we had Our Town. Our wonderful director Scott on lead, two men's AIC Champs on Bass and Bari, and one heck of a tenor busted out with a sound that I can only describe as barbershop the way it should be. When I think to myself "barbershop" the sound that comes to mind is the sound you hear when Our Town starts singing. What I mean by that is you have four men, with four rich, distinct voices that come together in a sheer explosion of crackling barbershop sound - and four more natural entertainers you could never hope to meet. Simply put -sweet mother of man sound. Like I said, magic. Then, completely on the other end of the vocal spectrum, we had Vocal Spectrum. [sorry I love a good pun, I just couldn't resist] Now up until this day I had never heard them. I knew they were the 2006 men's champs, and I heard they were young and cute, but with getting myself musically ready for my first show I don't think I even bothered to YouTube them. Well was I in for a treat. Picture it - a 23 yr old girl [just 23 mind you, my birthday was the day before] who has been running around with little barbershop ladies for the past 4 hrs sees four handsome young men come strolling into the auditorium and onto the stage and then hears a more than handsome sound - Swoon.
After mic-checks for the quartets the make-up and glitzing rituals began downstairs. This was my first exposure to the chorus make-up plot, but with the help of LilyLou and Sharon Guzi, I was properly glammed up to code in no time. Once we were all perfectly primped we headed to the stage. The upstage was split off from the part of the stage with the risers and we had chairs set up in a reverse-split of our riser order so we could get to where we needed to be with as much ease as possible. When it was time we walked around to get onto the risers and wait for the curtain to open for the very first time, on the very first song, of the very first show of the Harmony Celebration Chorus.
The first set went by like a flash, and before I knew it the curtains were closing to thunderous applause. The chorus quietly exited the risers and went back to change for Lion King, while Steph and I got ready to page the curtains. We had The New Singers sing a tribute to Ann Minihane. Then the lovely ladies of Vanity Fair. Next up was our wonderful 5th place regional medalists, Fanfare followed by the incredible man-sound of Our Town and a quick costume change for Scott. This change took place between when his quartet exited the stage, the chorus was reintroduced and the opening song of the package was performed.. Here comes an anecdote: During our rehearsals of the Lion King package Scott would always tell us about how when his son was younger, Lion King was his favorite movie. He would tell us about how excited his son got dancing around and singing, and then how excited he got, and how we needed to have more of that "6 yr old boy" energy when we were singing things like Just Can't Wait to Be King. Well on this night, as he stood in the wing watching the opening song of the package and I was trying to tie the side of his costume, he had plenty of that 6 yr old boy energy. He would stand and I would go to tie and just as I did, he would turn and I'd get it again, and he'd turn. I was laughing to myself as it was happening just thinking "I cant wait to tell the chorus about this later." The only thing that topped that was right as he was about to go on, his baritone Larry takes a look at him is this crazy jungle-getup we had him wearing and says "Man, you're outta the quartet." I almost died, but instead chimed in with an "I can sing lead" which was responded to with an "Ok kid, you're in." Scott jumped right into the Lion King package, I sang quietly from the wings, and the first half of the show came to a successful end.
Intermission time, aka put on those shiny beaded purple collars. During intermission it was also my job to make sure that both of the guest quartets knew what was going on for/where to come out from during the callbacks at the end of the show. Scott had told his quartet so my job was to tell Vocal Spectrum, and as you can imagine, I was totally looking forward to it. I headed over toward where their dressing room was, off on stage left. As I was walking over I saw Jonny Moroni.
Me: Hey, how are you?
Jonny: Good, you?
Me: So far so good. Has anyone told you guys where to come on for the callbacks?
Jonny: Yes, they told us.
Me: Damn, well there goes my excuse to come over and talk to the cute quartet.
Jonny: Wait, where do we have to be?
Ah a good sense of humor - love it.
With a beaming smile I went to man my post at the downstage curtain as the chorus was ready backstage and the first quartet of the second half was ready to go on, Just 4. These ladies were hysterical and sang beautifully, as always. At the end of their set our dreamy guest quartet came right to where Steph and I were paging the curtains, to listen and be ready. I think it was Eric who made a comment about the ridiculously sparkly collar I was wearing, just something like "you ladies look nice, or like you're ready to sing" or something generally polite like that. To which I responded with a thank you and the recent realization that I had to do a shoulder shimmy in this fringy-beaded getup, which I proceeded to demonstrate to the muffled giggles of the 6 of us in that immediate area. "Well I can do that," says Eric, and then shimmys away. "Well next time bring your purple collar and be ready to get out there with us," I say. "Sure." Next thing you know they're being introduced, Steph and I are opening those curtains, and then sitting down behind them to listen to one of the finest quartets in business. They finished their set to a huge round of applause, that was neatly segued by our MC Ms. Katie Holden, into our final set. The Heart Package flew by as we sang and danced our way through the two final number of our first show to end our show with thunderous applause.
After the show I ran into the audience to find my Mama, Lee, Aunt Gracie, and Gianna who all gave big hugs and rave reviews. Then I had to find Sarah, Kelsey and Beka who had all come up the night before for my birthday festivities and had stayed for the barbershop fun! After a quick clean-up of the stage, a change out of our costume, and another sweep of the dressing area we were off to the AfterGlo. The ride (or attempt) to get to the AfterGlo was filled with entirely more adventure and confusion that it should have been, and that's all I'm going to say about that. [right SQ?]
Our AfterGlo was at a TGIFridays and we were all crammed in to a bunch of tables while quartets wandered around to sing. Our table had Beka, Sarah, Kels, Steph, Sabrina and myself. We ordered some typical snacks and prayed they would get there before we were forced to start gnawing on each other - a good day of barbershopping sure will work up an appetite. After the food came and we had listened to some of the chapter quartets that were singing, I decided to wander down to the other end of the room to see who was singing down there. First I came upon Our Town and Just4 singing Lida Rose/Ladies duet from Music man, which I love. After I was done being transfixed by that I made it down to the end of the room where Vocal Spectrum was singing and Ms. Jeannie Froelich was shouting "Charlie! Charlie! Sing Cheer up Charlie!." As she was doing that I happened to bump into Eric again.
Me: Eric I have to ask you a question?
Eric: Sure, what is it.
Me: Do you sing happy birthday?
Eric: (very seriously and totally looking like he's going to say no) Yes.
Me: Well it was my birthday yesterday, so I was hoping I could request a serenade.
Eric: Sure no problem, just remind me your name again...
Me: Alexis.
Eric: Alexis, great. I'll take care of it, no problem.
Then he went back over to the quartet and clued them in, they blew the pitch pipe and the proceeded to deliver the coolest 23rd birthday present ever.
It very quickly became apparent to me that there was nearly no way for me to cover the breadth of material I would need to learn, both vocally and visually, to be onstage for the entire show. But luckily it was broken into those three nifty sections So I learned the first three songs, I already knew the last two songs from auditions, and all the visual elements to go with them. I even learned all the music for the Lion King Package, but just couldn't learn all the choreo in time.
One of the coolest things about being in your first chorus show, is getting your very first riser placement. During my time as a perspective/new member I had been floating around in the middle of the chorus, which as a bass, is usually where we end up. In my chorus we lovingly refer to that thicket of low voiced, passionately wonderful singers as "the jungle." I was placed up on the third row of the jungle, splitting center with the one and only Ms. Edie Murphy. Edie Murphy (aka Big Mama.. well at least that's what I call her) is a bass as I can only hope to be. She's one of those women that just has the range and the spunk and the class to wail on a bass line - an frankly sings notes so low I can only pray I will be able to sing them someday. On top of all of that, she is funny, kind, and welcoming. Right behind me, over my left shoulder was another bass, Ms. Stephanie Robinson, the compiler of our weekly newsletter "The Party Line." I couldn't have been luckier than to have two cool basses like these for my first riser buddies. Here's a taste of them - when I was still learning a lot of the music, I would get up on the risers for warm-ups and then run down and grab my binder and bring it back up. Well they weren't having it "you don't need it" would be the response or "fake it." It was a combination of putting confidence into me and getting me into that performers mode - and I thank them for it! I would also be remiss in my riser buddy story were I not to mention a lovely lead and lovely lady, Ms. Lorraine, who stood on my right and was always there with a hug and a smile!
On the day of the show, my crazy gals (Steph and Sabrina) and myself got to the venue nice and early to get to work on our "crew duties." Both of the girls were taking grad classes that fall, and so they didn't have time to learn all the new stuff to sing on the show. But being the people I love, they were still as involved as anything! Sabrina designed the lights for the show, which I can tell you was no easy business because she wasn't allowed to refocus any of the lights. But she came through in her standard magnificence and made the chorus sparkle and shine brighter than ever before. Steph and I were posted as backstage crew during the show. Since I wasn't in the Lion King Package and didn't have to change or prepare for it I was able to page the curtains for the performing quartets, and help our director with his quick-change for Lion King.
After the chorus got there and warmed up, sang through our songs, and got used to the new space and the lighting we had a quick break for dinner and a chance to watch the sound check. That's when the magic started - and by magic, of course I mean polished and delightful men's barbershop quartets. First we had Our Town. Our wonderful director Scott on lead, two men's AIC Champs on Bass and Bari, and one heck of a tenor busted out with a sound that I can only describe as barbershop the way it should be. When I think to myself "barbershop" the sound that comes to mind is the sound you hear when Our Town starts singing. What I mean by that is you have four men, with four rich, distinct voices that come together in a sheer explosion of crackling barbershop sound - and four more natural entertainers you could never hope to meet. Simply put -sweet mother of man sound. Like I said, magic. Then, completely on the other end of the vocal spectrum, we had Vocal Spectrum. [sorry I love a good pun, I just couldn't resist] Now up until this day I had never heard them. I knew they were the 2006 men's champs, and I heard they were young and cute, but with getting myself musically ready for my first show I don't think I even bothered to YouTube them. Well was I in for a treat. Picture it - a 23 yr old girl [just 23 mind you, my birthday was the day before] who has been running around with little barbershop ladies for the past 4 hrs sees four handsome young men come strolling into the auditorium and onto the stage and then hears a more than handsome sound - Swoon.
After mic-checks for the quartets the make-up and glitzing rituals began downstairs. This was my first exposure to the chorus make-up plot, but with the help of LilyLou and Sharon Guzi, I was properly glammed up to code in no time. Once we were all perfectly primped we headed to the stage. The upstage was split off from the part of the stage with the risers and we had chairs set up in a reverse-split of our riser order so we could get to where we needed to be with as much ease as possible. When it was time we walked around to get onto the risers and wait for the curtain to open for the very first time, on the very first song, of the very first show of the Harmony Celebration Chorus.
The first set went by like a flash, and before I knew it the curtains were closing to thunderous applause. The chorus quietly exited the risers and went back to change for Lion King, while Steph and I got ready to page the curtains. We had The New Singers sing a tribute to Ann Minihane. Then the lovely ladies of Vanity Fair. Next up was our wonderful 5th place regional medalists, Fanfare followed by the incredible man-sound of Our Town and a quick costume change for Scott. This change took place between when his quartet exited the stage, the chorus was reintroduced and the opening song of the package was performed.. Here comes an anecdote: During our rehearsals of the Lion King package Scott would always tell us about how when his son was younger, Lion King was his favorite movie. He would tell us about how excited his son got dancing around and singing, and then how excited he got, and how we needed to have more of that "6 yr old boy" energy when we were singing things like Just Can't Wait to Be King. Well on this night, as he stood in the wing watching the opening song of the package and I was trying to tie the side of his costume, he had plenty of that 6 yr old boy energy. He would stand and I would go to tie and just as I did, he would turn and I'd get it again, and he'd turn. I was laughing to myself as it was happening just thinking "I cant wait to tell the chorus about this later." The only thing that topped that was right as he was about to go on, his baritone Larry takes a look at him is this crazy jungle-getup we had him wearing and says "Man, you're outta the quartet." I almost died, but instead chimed in with an "I can sing lead" which was responded to with an "Ok kid, you're in." Scott jumped right into the Lion King package, I sang quietly from the wings, and the first half of the show came to a successful end.
Intermission time, aka put on those shiny beaded purple collars. During intermission it was also my job to make sure that both of the guest quartets knew what was going on for/where to come out from during the callbacks at the end of the show. Scott had told his quartet so my job was to tell Vocal Spectrum, and as you can imagine, I was totally looking forward to it. I headed over toward where their dressing room was, off on stage left. As I was walking over I saw Jonny Moroni.
Me: Hey, how are you?
Jonny: Good, you?
Me: So far so good. Has anyone told you guys where to come on for the callbacks?
Jonny: Yes, they told us.
Me: Damn, well there goes my excuse to come over and talk to the cute quartet.
Jonny: Wait, where do we have to be?
Ah a good sense of humor - love it.
With a beaming smile I went to man my post at the downstage curtain as the chorus was ready backstage and the first quartet of the second half was ready to go on, Just 4. These ladies were hysterical and sang beautifully, as always. At the end of their set our dreamy guest quartet came right to where Steph and I were paging the curtains, to listen and be ready. I think it was Eric who made a comment about the ridiculously sparkly collar I was wearing, just something like "you ladies look nice, or like you're ready to sing" or something generally polite like that. To which I responded with a thank you and the recent realization that I had to do a shoulder shimmy in this fringy-beaded getup, which I proceeded to demonstrate to the muffled giggles of the 6 of us in that immediate area. "Well I can do that," says Eric, and then shimmys away. "Well next time bring your purple collar and be ready to get out there with us," I say. "Sure." Next thing you know they're being introduced, Steph and I are opening those curtains, and then sitting down behind them to listen to one of the finest quartets in business. They finished their set to a huge round of applause, that was neatly segued by our MC Ms. Katie Holden, into our final set. The Heart Package flew by as we sang and danced our way through the two final number of our first show to end our show with thunderous applause.
After the show I ran into the audience to find my Mama, Lee, Aunt Gracie, and Gianna who all gave big hugs and rave reviews. Then I had to find Sarah, Kelsey and Beka who had all come up the night before for my birthday festivities and had stayed for the barbershop fun! After a quick clean-up of the stage, a change out of our costume, and another sweep of the dressing area we were off to the AfterGlo. The ride (or attempt) to get to the AfterGlo was filled with entirely more adventure and confusion that it should have been, and that's all I'm going to say about that. [right SQ?]
Our AfterGlo was at a TGIFridays and we were all crammed in to a bunch of tables while quartets wandered around to sing. Our table had Beka, Sarah, Kels, Steph, Sabrina and myself. We ordered some typical snacks and prayed they would get there before we were forced to start gnawing on each other - a good day of barbershopping sure will work up an appetite. After the food came and we had listened to some of the chapter quartets that were singing, I decided to wander down to the other end of the room to see who was singing down there. First I came upon Our Town and Just4 singing Lida Rose/Ladies duet from Music man, which I love. After I was done being transfixed by that I made it down to the end of the room where Vocal Spectrum was singing and Ms. Jeannie Froelich was shouting "Charlie! Charlie! Sing Cheer up Charlie!." As she was doing that I happened to bump into Eric again.
Me: Eric I have to ask you a question?
Eric: Sure, what is it.
Me: Do you sing happy birthday?
Eric: (very seriously and totally looking like he's going to say no) Yes.
Me: Well it was my birthday yesterday, so I was hoping I could request a serenade.
Eric: Sure no problem, just remind me your name again...
Me: Alexis.
Eric: Alexis, great. I'll take care of it, no problem.
Then he went back over to the quartet and clued them in, they blew the pitch pipe and the proceeded to deliver the coolest 23rd birthday present ever.
Chapter Five: Auditioning for the Queen
So now I started to get the scoop. I was getting all the official info on Sweet Adelines International, about contest every year in Philly, about the regular schedule of events and performances the chorus had. And also getting the info on this new entity of Harmony Celebration.
My next big step would be my audition into the chorus. The two songs I had to learn were If I Give My Heart to You and How Many Hearts Have You Broken? (which I would later come to find out are some of the most popular songs in the organization.) Just to give you a taste of my madness you should know that I listed to the bass learning tracks so many times that when Sabrina and Steph went to audition, they basically had to un-learn the bass, and then work on their parts.And then came the fateful night, the night of my audition (dum dum duuumm!!) To be honest, I was so nervous that I'm not even sure who sang in my audition quartet. I want to say it was Faith on tenor, but I could be lying and it might have been Audrey or Alice. I think Ms Peggy Bastone was singing lead, but theres a chance it was Jean. And as for who sang baritone? Umm, Donna maybe oh jeeze, I was standing next to the tenor, so the bari was on the other side of the world from me. And then of course there was my very own bass section leader who listened to me, the one - the only (my favorite two time Queen) Ms Jeannie Froelich.
It was, as I'm sure any barber-shopper could tell you, the longest and fastest few minutes of my life (much like a contest set, eh?) But much to my delighted surprise I passed! Ms Jeannie informed me that I had made it through and done a wonderful job. I couldn't believe it, I passed my audition the first time out?!!? It just goes to show you that hard work pays off, that we're always getting better... or maybe just that I lucked right out - but I was thrilled!
At the next rehearsal I was presented with my official Harmony Celebration Name Tag in front of the whole chorus by President Pat and given a big hug and a standing round of applause. Now thats what I call a welcome! {It should also be noted then I then proceeded to wear that name tag on everything I wore for a week straight}
Chapter Four: Guest Night
As it turns out my first night with the Harmony Celebration Chorus, was the chorus's first night with its new director, Mr. Scott Brannon. I was greeted by the lovely Ms. Beth Fulton. I will always remember her warm smile and beautiful red sweater. She had me sign in and put on a name tag. Then I was right up on the risers warming up with all the ladies. I had my guest folder so that I could follow along with any songs we were working on. I was lucky too, because that first night we broke into sectionals on A Wink and a Smile and Lazy Day. I say that was lucky because it meant that when we got back into the big group I could sing along more.
Then Beth had the guests step out of the chorus. As we did, we were introduced by our name, where we lived, and how we came to the chorus. I was Alexis from Dumont, and I had moved to the area from Region 16 and was looking for a new chorus. I also remember that Maggie was a guest that night, she was from Westchester, the fiance of our new director, and just about one of the nicest women you could ever hope to meet. Maggie and I (and the other guests) settled into our chairs to watch the chorus work on The Lion King.
Then Beth had the guests step out of the chorus. As we did, we were introduced by our name, where we lived, and how we came to the chorus. I was Alexis from Dumont, and I had moved to the area from Region 16 and was looking for a new chorus. I also remember that Maggie was a guest that night, she was from Westchester, the fiance of our new director, and just about one of the nicest women you could ever hope to meet. Maggie and I (and the other guests) settled into our chairs to watch the chorus work on The Lion King.
Holy Cow!!! But I'm getting ahead of myself, lets describe it all first. The package starts off with The Circle of Life, featuring two soloists: Ms. Jean Schoenlank and Ms. Jeannie Froelich. It then moves through In the Jungle as a background to a short monologue given by Ms. Jeannie about the music that binds us all together in this great circle of life. Then its on to the uptune! Just Can't Wait to be King, which is followed by the beauteously arranged (by Renee of course) Can You Feel the Love Tonight? And then to wrap it all up we come back to The Circle of Life. Now I don't know how many people in this world have had the privilege of seeing this music performed live, but it is breathtaking. You have goosebumps, that's just all there is to it. Watching those women sing and dance, watching them bring the messages of the music to life - it was one of those "So this is what I need to do for the rest of my life" moments. This is what I need to do, and these ladies are definitely the ones to do it with!
Now, the only thing better than finding something you love to do is dragging your friends into that something. The next week I brought my roommate Sabrina with me to rehearsal. She voice tested and was told that she could either sing lead or tenor, but at the moment we were in need of good leads, and so a lead became she. And of course the only thing better than dragging one friend is dragging two! So the next week (which was an official HCC Guest Night) we took our third, Ms Stephanie, along with us to rehearsal. Guest night was great. There was a mixture of riser time and viewing time. We learned a tag. We got to see chapter quartet Just 4 sing! The best part was that they sung their classic Have a Nice Day, and because I had been coming for a few weeks, but was still a guest, I got "picked on" in the song! "Some people greet you with a sunny smile, and they say to you Have a Nice Day like Alexis. And I find myself thinking all the while I wish... that they'd just go away! far away!" Love those gals - funniest quartet around.
At the end of rehearsal Steph went and was voice tested. She was told that she could sing lead or bari, but since she had an ear for the part a bari she became. (As we all known Bari's aren't created, they are born - and if anyone was born a baritone, its SQ.) That week the three of us left rehearsal thrilled to be on the start of a new creative adventure with each other and Harmony Celebration.
Chapter Three: Renee Who? Ramapo What?
SQ: "Come get a job at Mville and we'll all move in together!"
Me: "OK!"
SQ, aka Stephanie Quinn is one of my girls. We met each other freshman year of college & hung out a bit, were politely social for the next two years, and became sisters our senior year through the shared joys & struggles of putting up our thesis projects. She is a talented music & voice teacher, dancer/choreographer, actress, seamstress, quilter, sister, fiance, and dedicated friend. I Love Stephanie! The long and short of it goes like this - she and her boyfriend (now fiance) aka The Dan, were moving in together and wanted some roommate company in form of Sabrina and me.
Sabrina, aka Brina-doo, aka Doolottle MALE, is also one of my girls. We met her freshman, my sophomore, year of college and lived together for two years after that. Sabrina is my tech theater goddess, my MacGuiver. She is a boy scout, set/lighting/sound designer, the daughter of a general contractor, graphic designer, clarinetist, actress/dancer/singer, sister, lover, confidant and dear friend. I Love Sabrina!
I interviewed for, and was offered my current position at the college. I am the Secretary for the Office of Field Placement, Certification and Community Outreach in the School of Education of Manhattanville College. (try saying that one 5 times fast) We got an awesome apartment in Dumont, NJ. Hooray for an exciting move! Living on my own (like a big girl and everything!) But wait - that would mean leaving my chorus!!!!! [Personal side note: You know you're a Sweet Adeline When... you're moving away and you're more upset about leaving your chorus than leaving your boyfriend.]
Me: "OK!"
SQ, aka Stephanie Quinn is one of my girls. We met each other freshman year of college & hung out a bit, were politely social for the next two years, and became sisters our senior year through the shared joys & struggles of putting up our thesis projects. She is a talented music & voice teacher, dancer/choreographer, actress, seamstress, quilter, sister, fiance, and dedicated friend. I Love Stephanie! The long and short of it goes like this - she and her boyfriend (now fiance) aka The Dan, were moving in together and wanted some roommate company in form of Sabrina and me.
Sabrina, aka Brina-doo, aka Doolottle MALE, is also one of my girls. We met her freshman, my sophomore, year of college and lived together for two years after that. Sabrina is my tech theater goddess, my MacGuiver. She is a boy scout, set/lighting/sound designer, the daughter of a general contractor, graphic designer, clarinetist, actress/dancer/singer, sister, lover, confidant and dear friend. I Love Sabrina!
I interviewed for, and was offered my current position at the college. I am the Secretary for the Office of Field Placement, Certification and Community Outreach in the School of Education of Manhattanville College. (try saying that one 5 times fast) We got an awesome apartment in Dumont, NJ. Hooray for an exciting move! Living on my own (like a big girl and everything!) But wait - that would mean leaving my chorus!!!!! [Personal side note: You know you're a Sweet Adeline When... you're moving away and you're more upset about leaving your chorus than leaving your boyfriend.]
Once everything was settled (as far as the job and the moving) I had to break the news to my chorus; I started with the Management Team. We were meeting at Cheryl's house in the lovely historic district of Ballston Spa. We had been going over a bunch of items, but primarily were working on the edits for our standing rules. Once we had broken into the cheese and cookies and were wrapping up, I told them that much to my dismay, I had to resign my position on the team. They were as bummed as I was, but quickly got down to the business of "what region is that?" and "what choruses are near by?" I told them that I had already starting looking and that I was going to be living/working in Region 15 and the two choruses closest to me (whom I had already sent emails to) were Golden Apple and Ramapo Valley. Then came the influx "..and they're going through a change over," "..international champions," "Renee is retiring,""..retiring the old name with her."
Me: "Renee Who? Ramapo What?" I had no idea. The Ramapo Valley Spotlight Chorus, under the direction of Ms. Renee Craig, had won international gold three times, and countless regional medals. She was the lead of The Cracker Jills, the first international champion quartet to win without the help of an outside coach, and also one of the quartets credited with changing (for the better of course) the barbershop style and standards. She directed the Coronet Club, which I came to find out was the yearly gathering of all past champions, or Queen's of Harmony.
So that was a little intimidating. But I had sent out emails to both choruses and had yet to hear back from either. I made the move in August, started the job, had a housewarming and did that settling in stuff. My Saratoga Soundtrack ladies were scheduled to have their first performance at Malta Community Day. We had "auditioned" for it over the summer. The day of the audition I was a little late getting to the venue for warm-ups because I went to the old community center instead of the new one. When I got there the gals were in full swing rehearsing the three songs we were going to sing and I jumped right into my spot on the end of the front row. (granted in a chorus our size that meant a front row of 3 people, but still) The other thing about it being such a small chorus was that we only had one tenor, aside from our director, and unfortunately she couldn't be at the audition. This meant that Nancy had to step in and sing - from Deanna's spot, back row center. "Alexis can give us the cut-offs, she knows when they are." "Alexis, move center." "She's MC-ing the song anyway." "Yea, that'll be good, Alexis can just do the cut-off's from the front, we can all see her." What?! Yes, I became a front row, three song director! Fake it till ya' make it. We were singing Overture, Curtain Lights! So in the middle I got to step out and introduce the chorus and tell some shticky jokes. Then it was on to Can You Feel the Love? For that song one of our members who knows american sign language, signed along with the lyrics - it was beautiful. And because we were auditioning for a community day, we ended with the ever so patriotic God Bless America. These were the same songs that we ended up singing at the event, though luckily Deanna was able to be there for it, so Nancy could direct. (I still got to do my MC-ing though!)
And so it was that my Saratoga Soundtrack journey came to an end. Their first performance was my last with them. A more loving and generous group of Sweet Adelines to be my first chorus home I couldn't dream of. Saratoga Soundtrack will always be my chorus at heart.
As it happened, I wasn't going to be between choruses for long. Later that week I got an email from the membership chair of Ramapo Valley/Harmony Celebrtaion, Beth Fulton. She said that she was sorry she hadn't gotten back to me sooner, the chorus was going to through an exciting new time, and that I should come to rehearsal in Ridgewood, NJ this Wednesday night. So I emailed her back and asked for directions to the rehearsal space. A new chorus adventure was about to begin.
Chapter Two: Saratoga Soundtrack
Our original number hovered around 12 singers, 1 director. The first membership campaign was a four week singing class. The class was held on Mondays (through the continuing ed program at the local high school) when our weekly rehearsals would be, so all of our members attended. We learned about the anatomy of the voice, proper breathing & posture, what makes it barbershop. We listened to and watched DVD's of fantastic quartets known as Queens. We learned two tags & a song. The song was God Bless America complete with the super cool, but often unsung, opening verse. On the last night of the class we went around the high school and sang for the yoga class, the African drumming class, and anyone else who wanted to hear us ring! um, I mean sing! From this class we gained one or two new members, but most importantly we brought the entire group up to speed. We began to develop a common vocabulary and understanding that would serve us throughout our chorus life. The first song we worked on after the class was Overture! (curtain lights) - you know, the one BugsBunny sings. It's a really fun chart with a great section of "doo doo doo's" in the middle where an MC can break out and be all "Good Evening everyone we are the Saratoga Soundtrack Chorus! Have we got a show for you!" The only problem was the tag was finicky. Everyone knew their part, and could hold it. But even when it seemed like everything was in tune it didn't always come together right - luckily our talented director was also a talented arranger - she went to work on putting together something new.
In the life of a young chorus, putting together a sound administrative body is just as important as getting new members and learning new music. We decided that a Management Team system would be best to govern our little chorus because it required less people than a Board of Directors and included the Chorus Director in the mix. When all of the nominations, elections, and assignments were said and done our team was made up of:
Does everyone remember their first ballad the way I do? I have this crazy nostalgia attached to mine. Every time I hear it sung, whether its a chorus or a quartet, whether I love their interp or not - it gives me goosebumps. Dancing this Dance, in the Wrong Romance "when I should be dancing with, (bass/tenor) dancing with only you." Uhhhh, I love it. I always used to think I was totally an uptune girl. I have a great sense of rhythm and I love to dance - bring on the uptunes! But man oh man was I wrong. There is nothing, and I mean no-thing like a good ballad. When you are totally lost in the message, the story of the song and all the harmonies glide right into place. Goosebumps in the extreme - its the greatest feeling ever. Learning and working on my first ballad with the Saratoga Soundtrack ladies was a big barbershop milestone for me.
In the life of a young chorus, putting together a sound administrative body is just as important as getting new members and learning new music. We decided that a Management Team system would be best to govern our little chorus because it required less people than a Board of Directors and included the Chorus Director in the mix. When all of the nominations, elections, and assignments were said and done our team was made up of:
Director: Nancy Faddegon
Team Leader: Jennifer Hunter
Financial Manager: Sally Larimer
Secretary: Alexis DePersia-Norelli (thats me!)
Team Leader: Jennifer Hunter
Financial Manager: Sally Larimer
Secretary: Alexis DePersia-Norelli (thats me!)
Corresponding Secretary: Barbara Castelli
We started meeting bi-monthly to really get the ball rolling. We had to make sure that we had a membership plan so that we could get enough singers to charter (15 plus the director.) We needed our own logo - which we got by tapping into one of the talented women in our chorus who designed one. Next was making sure that the chorus became a sound financial institution. As a part of that we wanted to perform in the community (and when we could) get paid to do it - sing for our supper so to speak. We had to go through and edit/create our own standing rules. And of course we had to set dates for regional visits, those all important bench marks on the way to our final goal - becoming a fully charted chorus of Sweet Adelines International. [I would also like to note that I was voted onto the Management Team before I ever passed my audition into the chorus. This would only fly in a tiny prospective chorus, mind you. For the record, I passed my audition at the end of our first team meeting. And it was this one note I was having trouble with - the whole song had this octave jumps and the last time you jumped you had to flat the octave. I could sing it by myself, but it was a hell of a time doing it in the audition quartet. My real point being its just one of those fantastic anecdotes that can't go unwritten. The song by the way was Keep the Music Ringing.]
The regional faculty member who came to visit us was the lovely Ms. Sue Melvin. This was my first ever "coaching" experience. She had Nancy warm us up and then jumped in and tried some exercises with us. She was amazed at the quality with which we were singing! I was excited that she thought we sounded so good for such a new group, but not entirely surprised because Nancy always made sure that we sang well. But more importantly, she made sure that we knew what that meant and how to do it. From my very beginnings as a Sweet Adeline education was there. Yes singing is fun. Yes, harmonies are exciting. We sing! We dance! We wear matching outfits! But none of that matters if we are ruining these God given voices -doing it right is just as important as doing it at all.
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Does everyone remember their first ballad the way I do? I have this crazy nostalgia attached to mine. Every time I hear it sung, whether its a chorus or a quartet, whether I love their interp or not - it gives me goosebumps. Dancing this Dance, in the Wrong Romance "when I should be dancing with, (bass/tenor) dancing with only you." Uhhhh, I love it. I always used to think I was totally an uptune girl. I have a great sense of rhythm and I love to dance - bring on the uptunes! But man oh man was I wrong. There is nothing, and I mean no-thing like a good ballad. When you are totally lost in the message, the story of the song and all the harmonies glide right into place. Goosebumps in the extreme - its the greatest feeling ever. Learning and working on my first ballad with the Saratoga Soundtrack ladies was a big barbershop milestone for me.
That whole chorus was a milestone for me. For me, it set up what it means to be a Sweet Adeline. Its about singing together, well. Its about performing, sharing our gift and having fun. Its about education, competition and improvement. But its really about these women. These extraordinary women who share their lives with you week to week. Who cheer for your smallest successes, pray for you in your darkest hour, and who validate your life and your passion. Being a Sweet Adeline is about being the best woman I can be, for them and for myself, each and every day.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Chapter One: The Making of a Bass
An addiction? Yes. A blessing? Most certainly. A driving, utterly passionate force in my life? You betcha! I am a proud Barbershop-er.
I wasn't born into it (though I do have many fabulous friends that are "barbershop brats" as they say.) And I haven't been doing it that long (started up in October 2006 or so.) But it has quickly become as much a part of my life as my family, friends, and all other performance/theatrical endeavours.
I started singing harmony in high school when my friend Sarah started singing in my ear saying "Hey, see if you can pick this cool part up." Our little group of friends was so dedicated to singing that after a year of giving up lunches & study halls to practice in an adviser's office and performing at random school events, they got us a proper choir teacher and class. When I went to college I became a member of the women's a Capella group and other small vocal ensembles as well as a very active participant in the performing arts at large. In May 2006 I graduated from Manhattanville College with my BA in Dance & Theatre and moved back home to Saratoga Springs, NY. One day my Mom said to me "Hey, there's a women's singing group meeting at the library on Monday nights. They call themselves Sweet Adelines." I asked her "Whats that?" She said, "I don't know, why don't you go and find out."
I went to the library that first night and there were maybe 6-9 of us. Two ladies, Jenn & Nancy were in charge. They asked about what kind of singing experience did we all have, and how familiar with singing/holding harmony parts we were, whether we sang high or low - all that jazz. They told us that they sang barbershop, ya know like the guys in the striped jackets, but in women's keys. [Now, being from Saratoga I was actually pretty familiar with barbershop because of the Racing City Chorus, which growing up I went to see and one of my girlfriend's fathers sang lead with them. ("Lead? Whats that? That's not a real part.")] They told us a little bit about this organization called Sweet Adelines International, about how we sang in Region 16, and that this was the beginning of a prospective chorus. That first night we learned the Mickey Mouse March Tag, Christmas Chopstix, and the opening to Overture! and I was HOOKED.
From that point on we started to grow, bringing in more women by word of mouth or who, like my mother, had seen the ad. We came up with a name, the Saratoga Soundtrack Chorus; a clever play on both musical terms and the local historical/entertainment pull of the racetrack. We applied to the region to officially become a prospective chorus and have a regional representative come to meet with us to get us to the next step. We looked for, and found, a permanent rehearsal home. Then we went through and had official voice placements. Our director, Nancy, wanted to make sure that we were all singing in the part that we were truly best suited to and make sure that the chorus had the right balance to maintain the all important barbershop cone. When it was my turn she called me into the back room and had me sing through some scales and through parts of the songs we were working on. She told me that vocally I could sing bass, baritone, or lead. I told her that while the baritone part is very pretty (and very necessary) I couldn't always hear it and didn't know if I could hold that part. She said that I could be strong lead, but also a good bass; so since I took to harmony parts and they were in need of good basses, a bass I became. Officially.
I wasn't born into it (though I do have many fabulous friends that are "barbershop brats" as they say.) And I haven't been doing it that long (started up in October 2006 or so.) But it has quickly become as much a part of my life as my family, friends, and all other performance/theatrical endeavours.
I started singing harmony in high school when my friend Sarah started singing in my ear saying "Hey, see if you can pick this cool part up." Our little group of friends was so dedicated to singing that after a year of giving up lunches & study halls to practice in an adviser's office and performing at random school events, they got us a proper choir teacher and class. When I went to college I became a member of the women's a Capella group and other small vocal ensembles as well as a very active participant in the performing arts at large. In May 2006 I graduated from Manhattanville College with my BA in Dance & Theatre and moved back home to Saratoga Springs, NY. One day my Mom said to me "Hey, there's a women's singing group meeting at the library on Monday nights. They call themselves Sweet Adelines." I asked her "Whats that?" She said, "I don't know, why don't you go and find out."
I went to the library that first night and there were maybe 6-9 of us. Two ladies, Jenn & Nancy were in charge. They asked about what kind of singing experience did we all have, and how familiar with singing/holding harmony parts we were, whether we sang high or low - all that jazz. They told us that they sang barbershop, ya know like the guys in the striped jackets, but in women's keys. [Now, being from Saratoga I was actually pretty familiar with barbershop because of the Racing City Chorus, which growing up I went to see and one of my girlfriend's fathers sang lead with them. ("Lead? Whats that? That's not a real part.")] They told us a little bit about this organization called Sweet Adelines International, about how we sang in Region 16, and that this was the beginning of a prospective chorus. That first night we learned the Mickey Mouse March Tag, Christmas Chopstix, and the opening to Overture! and I was HOOKED.
From that point on we started to grow, bringing in more women by word of mouth or who, like my mother, had seen the ad. We came up with a name, the Saratoga Soundtrack Chorus; a clever play on both musical terms and the local historical/entertainment pull of the racetrack. We applied to the region to officially become a prospective chorus and have a regional representative come to meet with us to get us to the next step. We looked for, and found, a permanent rehearsal home. Then we went through and had official voice placements. Our director, Nancy, wanted to make sure that we were all singing in the part that we were truly best suited to and make sure that the chorus had the right balance to maintain the all important barbershop cone. When it was my turn she called me into the back room and had me sing through some scales and through parts of the songs we were working on. She told me that vocally I could sing bass, baritone, or lead. I told her that while the baritone part is very pretty (and very necessary) I couldn't always hear it and didn't know if I could hold that part. She said that I could be strong lead, but also a good bass; so since I took to harmony parts and they were in need of good basses, a bass I became. Officially.
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