Journal Entries
Kiss Me, Kate - take 2
Posted Dec 3, 2006
Right. OK. Well, the last few weeks haven't been very much fun, with a whole load of 'stuff' going on in the Operatic Society. I won't go into the details, as it'd bore you rigid, plus it wouldn't be appropriate. I shall just say that nobody has any moral concerns any more, that many relationships are strained and that I have to work very hard to be enthusiastic at the rehearsals. You can't quite cut the atmosphere with a knife any more, but almost...
I've agreed to play the role of Ralph, who is the stage manager of the show within the show. It's quite a fun little part, and means that I double as a chorus member as well, with one or two rather entertaining quick changes on the cards. I will be switching between Ralph and anonymous ensemble person only five times, and one of those is between the two acts, so should be manageable, although during act one, I suspect I'll need to wear the obligatory Shakespearan tights for the ensemble underneath Ralph's trousers for speed of changing. Tights can be very awkward!
As of the end of Friday's rehearsal, we were still lacking a Bill Calhoun plus another supporting male role, but a very pleasant and talented chap was auditioning afterwards, so hopefully we're only one person short now.
First read-through with most principals on Tuesday was encouraging. Some are immediately obvious as fantastically suited to their roles, others less so, but we should get there. I don't have too much to learn this time, but mustn't get complacent.
I'm hoping that by the time we come back after Christmas, I'll begin to look forward to rehearsals and enjoy the idea of the show.
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Latest reply: Dec 3, 2006
Pirates from Scratch
Posted Nov 30, 2006
I'm now half way through the rehearsal process for a concert presentation of The Pirates of Penzance. This means I've been to 2 rehearsals, and there are 2 left. 
It's a concert to raise money for the wonderful Macmillan Nurses, organised by someone who has a relative suffering from cancer. So it's for a good cause, and it's also a relatively stress-free venture, as we can still have our music scores in hand when we do it!
I'm singing in the chorus during the first act, and am then taking on the role of the Police Sergeant in the second, which is wonderful fun. It's a bass role, which is obviously very bizarre for me as a tenor, but he has two wonderfully amusing songs as well as some silly dialogue. Last night, those present (about half of the intended company) were very impressed with my low notes, notes which tenors should never be able to contemplate. 
Learning the two songs was very easy, but there are some bits of recitative (spoken dialogue) and ensemble work which are very hard indeed. But it's all marvellous fun, and I'm so pleased to have been asked to do it.
[By the way, another rehearsal thread should appear over the weekend...]
When the foeman bares his steel Tarantara tarantara!
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Latest reply: Nov 30, 2006
Time...
Posted Oct 19, 2006
...what is it? Where has it gone? I seem to have manahed to fill my hours up to overflowing point.
There's work, which is the biggest slice of my time.
Then there's sleeping. And eating.
Rehearsals (Friday evenings, and possibly Tuesdays as well).
Church (Sunday, with Wednesday evening thrown in).
Studying (Thursday evenings, currently Tuesday evenings, and much of Saturday).
Admin for the operatic society (as and when).
Learning music (when I can).
But there's also Monday evenings and Sunday afternoons. They're good. I've kept them free for the time being. Should I find something to fill them? Or should I just watch rubbish TV and read unimproving books?
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Latest reply: Oct 19, 2006
Kiss Me, Kate - inevitable ramblings thread!
Posted Oct 8, 2006
Well, the slow march towards Canterbury Operatic Society's production of Kiss Me, Kate has begun. We're two rehearsals in, and things are not good. 
There has been a fascinating administrative mess-up (bot sure whether it's ours or not), which has meant that the rights holders seem to be confused about whether we're doing the original version or the updated version of the show. So we have a mixture of materials, and are still waiting to here which one they'll give us the whole lot for. Fingers firmly crossed for the updated version, which is what we wanted, but we can cope with the original.
Auditions were originally supposed to be today, but have been pushed back two weeks in the hope that we'll soon know what's going on and we can audition with the correct keys and arrangements of songs. I'm still not entirely sure which roles to go for, but I think I shall go for Bill Calhoun/Lucentio and the subordinate gangster. Both would be fun, but both would also stretch and challenge me. Quite happy with a smaller role or to be in the chorus, though.
We had a sing-though (of the old version) last week, and this week we tried to learn the chorus bits of the Act One Finale, as that's the one number that appears to be exactly the same in the two versions. Hopefully all will be clear by the next rehearsal, this coming Friday, and we can start work in confidence!
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Latest reply: Oct 8, 2006
Too many anniversaries
Posted Sep 26, 2006
Over the weekend just gone, it was my operatic society's centenary, my church had its golden jubilee and the minister of the church I went to when I lived at home celebrated 20 years there. Next weekend, the church youth group which started up just before I went to university celebrates its 10th anniversary. It's all a bit too much!
For the operatic society, we held a gala concert, by gratis invitation only and invited past members, directors etc along to it. We performed selections from an oodle or two of shows we've done, plus a medley of wartime songs which the audience joined in with and a couple of selections from more recent shows that the society has never performed (I'm not quite sure what they were doing in the concert, but 'Do You Hear the People Sing?' is a rather spiffing song to warble, so I didn't mind). This was a very emotional event for those who had been members of the group for a long time, and a fairly stressful one for me as I had various little bits to do in the concert and had also been in charge of allocating the seats in the theatre (seating 340 or so). This led to various moaning people - why haven't you given me an aisle seat? (answer: you didn't ask for one, and I've never met you so I had no idea you were infirm); why didn't you send me an invitation? (answer: because nobody gave me your name and address); I've given so much to the Society, why have I been stuck back in row J? (answer: I allocated the tickets on a first-come, first-served basis, plus with this theatre *all* seats are good seats). And so on, in a near-endless parade of whinge. It's all over now, though, and we can concentrate on 'Kiss Me, Kate' from this Friday onwards. Expect a rehearsal ramblings thread soon.
I missed my home minister's anniversary due to my Canterbury commitments, but will make it back for the youth group reunion next weekend. Just about! And I missed most of the jubilee celebrations for similar reasons (plus a committee meeting on the Sunday afternoon - I'm now the operatic society's hon. secretary).
I think if these had come along one at a time, they'd all have been exciting and special, but as it is, it's all a bit stressful and manic trying to fit everything in. Ah well, c'est la vie. Most of the time I have no social life at all, and then it all goes completely mad!
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Latest reply: Sep 26, 2006
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