...it's coming, it's coming

our Renaissance singing group is giving a concert...
Tuesday night, Dec. 22 at 7:30 PM...
at a church quite near my house in Mudville...
and we've been rehearsing diligently...

Trumpetman is our tenor & recorder player extraordinaire...
he keeps our rehearsals, uhhh, "relaxed"...
[especially if you enjoy extemporaneous musical clichés on recorder...]
I nearly hurt myself, "relaxing" Tuesday night...

he & I spent a LOT of time playing trumpet together, eons ago...
& we were hoping to play a couple of fanfares on natural trumpet...
to begin each half of the festivities...

but, alas, we have yet to score a trumpet for Trumpetman...
so I may have to play, solo...

we process in while singing,"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"...
[I'm borrowing a couple of handbells from the church to assist us...
much more "period" than "boomwhackers"or "choirchimes"...]

the program includes a number of 3, 4 & 5 part songs...
some are church music, some are madrigals...
all of them are very enjoyable to sing & to listen to...

I especially love the Byrd motet,"O Magnum Mysterium"...
the quartet blend is sublime...[I get to listen]
& MizMinka's low lines are exquisite velvet...

other notables include a lovely solo rendition of "Sir Christamas"...
by Silversop, as she plays the guitar[we don't have a lutenist...]
with Trumpetman & his trusty recorder, obbligato-ing along...

there is a haunting Medieval trio of lower voices...
featuring MizMinka, Trumpetman & Bassodude...

a shimmering "Ave Maria" featuring Silversop, MM...
et moi, Catsinger...

a lively set of 2 selections from the 1608 work, Il Festino...
the first, a trio of Silversop, MM & Bassodude setting the stage...
then the "Madrigal of the Animals" sung by all 5 of us...

after the opening fa-la-la refrain...
Bassodude sings a "faux bass" nonsense line...
while Silversop "lives" the "cuckoo"part...
MM questions everyone [she's the owl...]
Trumpetman barks at us [he's the dog...]

and yours truly...? I'm the cat...!
[talk about your type-casting...]
but after all,...I am the Catsinger...
[you knew it was coming...]

you might think that all this frivolity is, "un-toppable"...
but you'd be wrong...
since we're also doing"P.D.Q.Bach's"...
"My Bonnie Lass, She Smelleth"...
[making the flowers, jealouth...]

so it will be a fun concert...
and to make it even MORE fun...
we wear period costumes...
and this is my "maiden voyage"...

in my dress...

[if you know me, you also know that this...
is the only dress I've owned for many years...]



mine is slate blue[they call it,"woad blue"...]
it was the only one that I could find in my size at the time...
I purchased a chemise to wear under it...
[I had to, what you see in the picture that's green...
is the dress, the white part is chemise...]

my chemise is not as nice as the one pictured...
the skirt & sleeves are too long...
[it's actually too big all over, but I have no way to fix it...]
the dress is actually a bit too big too...
[and about 3 inches too long...
but that just means that I can wear comfortable shoes...]

it has the cinching laces in front AND back...
so I can adjust it somewhat...

I need to eventually get a nicer[aka warmer...]chemise...
it's a bit "drafty" topside...
of course, if I looked like the girl in the picture...
I wouldn't care, nor would anyone else...

and since I have "un-period" length hair...
and couldn't afford a wig...



I have a "Goodwife's" hat...
which, of course, is tight...

we will have a dressing area at the church...
which is good since though I live less than a mile away...
there's NO way I could manage to drive myself there...
wearing that skirt...

I'm just glad I bought this costume last year, when I had the money...

so now, I should be all set...
even if the costume's a bit large...
wait...oh no...
I never asked if I have to wear make-up too...
we are, after all, "on stage"...

ARGH...

I knew that I was having way too much fun...
throwing out all that old make-up 2 summers ago...

hummm...

I could use pomegranate juice to stain my lips...

oh well, I'll just be the ugly step-sistah...
[hee hee...]
and NO, there will NOT be pictures of me in "my dress"...
on this blog anyway [sigh]...
at least none that don't, "protect the guilty"...