Was it a night I shall remember with fondness for the rest of my life?...Enoo. But it was an experience, and I'm always game ball for a laugh! My pal Anita and I anticipated the three tenors would be tall, dark, and handsome hunks - like their Italian counterparts. No no no...such luck! Air brushed posters are like on-line dating photos - deceptive! When three slightly built fellows appeared at rehearsal, one wearing a baseball cap, a cloud of disappointment washed over all the ladies' faces. And they weren't the Canadian Tenors either - No, they were a splinter Trio from somewhere.
As far as the night went, all the real-deal entertainment went on behind the curtain. Boy, if you ever knew what goes on backstage before the show begins - you'd have immense sympathy for the poor unfortunates having to sing for their supper. I made the decision last night - I'm not cut out for show business. If you think it's as easy as it looks - think again. It's darn hard work.
You could cut the tension with a knife. Nerves were all around like hopping fleas. The choir had nothing to do but croon, and whisper a few sweet nothings, and a Gloria, here and there. At the rehearsal beforehand, one poor girl in the choir had a major panic attack, another nearly fell off the riser, dragging the rest with her, while a third went into a thundering attack on a girl who appeared from nowhere - wearing perfume!! Aagh...perfume is akin to poison in the choir. I know, because I was once an offender.
Nobody knew who this mysterious girl was. One of the ladies from the Perfume Police took her on. "Don't you know you are not supposed to be wearing perfume? And who are you anyway?" The girl brushed it off, while the perfume police tut-tutted in annoyance. She was young, beautiful -and to add insult to injury - was wearing aaagh...Perfume!!
Because the nerves were so bad, and perfumed sprays, deodrants and potions or lotions of any description were not permitted, the BO was pow wow!! Imagine Marilyn Monroe if the perfume police wouldn't allow her wear her Chanel #5? I personally feel they go a bit overboard on the perfume thing. Later, the head of the PP reprimanded me for making too much noise on the riser behind her. The boards were creaking, and it was hurting her ears. Maybe if I had not eaten that Thai they wouldn't have creaked so much. To add to my excitement, before I went on stage, the arm fell off my glasses, so I had to memorize my lines in an instant!!
In the second half, we were joined by around 100 exhausted children. Their tired little voices were the oil to our water, as we had never practised together. Kevin and the girls said they couldn't hear a word we were singing. The tenors had amplified their voices, so ours was barely audible. The feeback from Kevin could be summed up in one word 'Brutal'. That's what I love about my man - his honesty!! He said the tenors were 'average' but they overdid the fundraising for Africa component of the show, and were very aggressive about it with slide shows. This had come too soon after the Philippines tragedy, when everybody in town had emptied their wallets to help. They only had ten people sign up at the intermission, and were very disappointed "Our goal was at least twelve" one tenor announced.
All in all the evening was hilarious - if not exhausting!!
Choo Choo for now,
Love,
Patricia xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment