...a comedy of "chairs"

you know that you must be doing
something right...

when the enemy puts you squarely
in his sights...

after the glorious concert a couple of nights ago...

RIGHT after...

the sulphur began to swirl...

an unwarranted personal attack
on my "featured role", singing friend...
[well-handled by MM... but unpleasant,
petty and undeserved...none the less...]

a death in the immediate family of "Mr.Tenor"...
causing him to miss both the 2nd concert AND church...

the impending 2nd concert responsibilities...
had already thinned the church choir ranks by 3...
with 2 other unrelated MIA's...
and now... there was Mr. Tenor, understandably MIA...
as well as Mz ES ...who had stayed home...
to "rest" for the 2nd concert...

she really needed to rest...
because ...
there would be no chairs for the chorale...
they would have to stand...ON RISERS...
for the entire concert... [over 2 hours...]



[Mudville Chorale..."standing" in concert...2004]

for those of you who have never had to stand...
very still...holding a folder up in front of you...
crammed together...perched on a 12-15 " slab...
your feet going numb and your back aching...
with a smile on your face ...

singing your heart out...INTELLIGENTLY...
coming-in in the right places...
singing the right notes...
correctly...and in tune....
for over an hour at a time...
[been there... done that...
way too many times...]

IT'S HARD...IT HURTS...

you have to be dedicated to your art ...
to do it, as my friends do...for free...
[or as I should have said...they PAY for the privilege of singing...
about as much a year, as I would have made playing the concert set...]

I remember playing long concerts like this one...
I was always stiff by the end...
but I got to sit...
AND... I got paid for it...

the singers were able to sit at times during the first concert...
BUT...there's no room for chairs on stage for the 2nd concert...

however, I digress...


[our church...St Johns, downtown Mudville]


while our chorale brethren would deal with "no" chairs...
here at the church...
we had a different problem...

LOTS of chairs...
not so many singers to fill them...

so with 7 choir singers at church...
[including moi... who was also conducting...]
we were still OK...
we had the "right" piece
scheduled...
[lots of ways to "get it done"...]

so we practiced the handbells...[ 6 people, 9 handbells ]
discovered the choir communion piece listed in the bulletin, was wrong...
but it was too late to "fix"... so we "went with the flow"...

we added organ to a previously "a cappella" verse of the anthem...
to alleviate stress...
and re-voiced the accompaniment...
so the "small, but mighty" choir wasn't overpowered...



[no...this isn't really our choir...we are, however, this cool...]
(that's me... on trumpet...)


the sulphur, that had been gathering ...
like so much malevolent incense...
[we're a liturgical church...we know our incense...]
began to dissipate...

as the service progressed...
things went fine...
the sulphur seemed gone...
then, the comedy portion of our program began...
[also known as "the disappearing choir"...]

right after the anthem...MzYBee, left for the chorale concert...
no problem...the remaining anthem was unison...
[I am smarter than I might appear... and did plan ahead...]
and right after communion, RM left for the chorale concert...

I looked around... Super Sop was still there...
moi, JT, PK and BLT were still there...
we looked around at all the empty chairs...
BLT whispered, "is it my breath... ? "
and we all giggled...

so after church... one of the guys...
"innocently" asked if we were
having "choir practice" today...
I said, "of course !"...
after we stopped laughing...
we went on our way...

everyone at the coffee hour wanted to know
where the choir disappeared to...

all I had to say was, chorale concert...

I sincerely hope that our "chorale brethren" ...
are having a "good one"...
even as I write this...

that the stench of sulphur, will not be sniffed...
anywhere ... in the vicinity of HSS auditorium...
that MM won't need that "garlic clove necklace" that I suggested...
and that maybe... someone figured-out
how to get some chairs onstage for the chorale singers...