Secondly, I would like to say that this evening's rehearsal here at KTB Music Theatre Chorus was absolutely and wildly hilarious. 'Actual tears of laughter' kind of hilarious, which is a thing that happens around here quite often. Even so, we got a lot of hard work done. It's all about balance, in the end, and I think I can safely say that we manage that very well.
"Wait... what was your first point? Did something get deleted? Did you finally tease Katy just a bit too much?" Well, let's just say that the scale now starts at Number Two. There's so many layers to that statement that you're really not going to be able to grasp them all unless you were there (or you're in our group chat). Isn't that a great reason to join us? Although at this point, you might want to wait until after the concerts are over, because (deep, calming breaths, everyone... especially our dear MD)... there are no more rehearsals until June. I repeat: there are no more rehearsals until June.
If you have been paying close attention to the pattern of our normal rehearsal schedule, dear reader, then you'll have worked out that we only have three rehearsals remaining until show time. Three. Rehearsals. Remaining. We're now at the point where we are mostly working in set-list order, so to avoid giving you major spoilers before the big event, I'm hitting Shuffle from here on out.
Let's start with the absolute highlights: our soloist-led numbers. From last-minute extra castings and poker faces being tested in "So Much Better" (Legally Blonde), the human equivalent of 'just pick a point in the track and press Play for an instantly amazing sound' in "Let It Go" (Frozen), seriously powerful vocals in "Come Alive" (The Greatest Showman), to entirely memorised and brilliantly delivered lyrics in "Satisfied" (Hamilton)... Well, dear reader, the bar has been raised yet again. We'll be starting the scale at Number Three next.
All of us not singing solo for these pieces have been thoroughly enjoying listening to the way the sound just keeps getting better and better every time, and really focusing on getting the backing parts sharp and accurate to make sure that we don't distract the audience from the main event. Even without our soloists available, we made sure to pick over tricky notes in "What Is This Feeling?" (Wicked), and then partied in the "Haus of Holbein" (Six).
As I've mentioned before: we are always willing to revisit sections until something feels more settled, and so we note-bashed our way through our all-in numbers: "Without Love" (Hairspray), "Stampede" (The Lion King), and "Singing in the Rain" (the title song from the classic musical), then closed out the singing with a snappy, high-energy sing-through of MTC favourite "We Go Together" (Grease).
We also had a short diversion (no, really? Around here?!) to discuss something that we fear has been sorely neglected by this chorus, and that is 'warm-downs'. Also known as: strange noises you should be making in the car/bathroom/etc after singing. To make absolutely sure we got the message (KTB had her Serious Face on and everything), we had a go at it tonight as a group before heading home. Cue another round of laughing until we were crying and our sides hurt. It wouldn't be Musical Theatre Chorus without a bit of an ab (and face) workout.
Now, for all of you who have made the very wise decision to come along to our concert (next month!!!!), one song was saved from the chopping block during this very rehearsal. It isn't one that we sang tonight - it's one of our special bonus/semi-chorus pieces that might only be mentioned once or twice in this blog, if at all - so you really will have to come along to hear it. Don't underestimate the power of highly dramatic people who really, really love a piece of music and are willing to put in a lot of fast and intensive work to get it ready for an audience. I bet you won't be able to tell which one, because they're all going to sound incredible.
Until we meet again, dear reader: take care of yourselves, eat your fibre, and don't forget to warm down as well as up!
Written by Aeryn Isherwood
