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.
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