It feels very appropriate that tonight's rehearsal was held amidst the Lyrid meteor shower, as everything felt sprinkled with stardust. Especially as our unofficial theme for the evening here at KTB Music Theatre Chorus seemed to be "awesome solos".
Our first task, though, was to survive the bumpy ride through the warmup atmosphere. And I mean that in quite a literal sense. I don't think our tailbones appreciated the thumping they took during one of our more 'active' warmups... "It's this or the bananas and mangoes," said Katy with a shrug, and we're kinda conflicted about that one.
The energy was high as we kicked off the session with a seat-dance to Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" (this would also be quite literal, if you missed one of the sit-downs in the warmup), and then the Ozians in the chorus were on the edges of our seats as we rang that New Song Alarm for Wicked favourite "What is this Feeling?" It definitely isn't loathing, as far as we're concerned. The Wicked fans did have to get to grips with just following the backing part rather than including the lead part/s we also sing along to at home (it's a bit of a curse in this chorus), so that we can be ready to go when our soloists are in attendance. This is going to be a really fun moment, and I already expect that we'll have audience members following along!
We agree with Elle Woods: the satisfaction of accomplishment gives quite a high, and we were certainly on a roll on that front as we worked through "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde. This was the first soloist-led piece of the evening, and the bar was set higher than entry into Harvard with amazing vocals that you are going to need to buy concert tickets to experience. You're bound to leave with some earworm lines from this one - we know we have quite a few!
Under a shower of shooting stars, "Singin' in the Rain" from the classic movie of the same name received some refreshing and polishing, and we moved on to "Stampede" from The Lion King. There was a change in the air tonight with this one; without any discussion, we all fell into sync and really, truly committed to it.
Dear reader... the triumph! The cheering! The words "That was incredible!" coming directly from Katy! The song that just a handful of sessions ago was causing us to throw down our music in annoyance was now the reason for an appropriately comet-like shower of music in celebration. Brace yourselves, concert audiences: yona, yona, yona.
A run of incredible solo vocals up next, starting with "Let it Go" (Frozen). The rest of the chorus joins in at the end of this one, so that gave us a chance to sit back, enjoy, and try not to get so distracted by the awesome that we forget to come in. "Belty and delicious" said one of my fellow chorus members - exactly what's needed here.
"Come Alive" from The Greatest Showman is another number where you just can't help dancing along to the beat. Our lead vocalist and additional character soloists had us all believing in our dreams and reaching for the sky, and then our soloist "Somebody to Love" (We Will Rock You) blew us all away with some truly amazing vocal gymnastics. "It gave me goosebumps" was one of the rave reviews from this performance.
"Without Love" (Hairspray) got a run-through to keep us all sharp. This is another big one for earworm transmission... to the point that I actually had to look up what 'Bromo' is all about because my brain would not stop replaying that whole section. (It's a reference to an old Baltimore-originating antacid that, apparently, was also sedating.) I've mentioned before that you can learn all sorts of things here at our Musical Theatre Chorus!
"Oh Happy Day" (Sister Act 2) was our final song for the evening, and what a number to leave on! Another incredible show of vocal agility from our soloist, and we are finding it very, very hard not to throw our music down for another reason: we're starting to feel the urge to reach for that last bit of freedom to let go! This one sinks into your skin, I swear. You'll know what I mean when you come to the concert.
Make your wish, dear reader, because those two hours flew by faster than a shooting star. I can't quite express just how much uncontrolled laughing and cheering we all did tonight. I sometimes worry that I'm sounding too hyperbolic in these posts, but as I re-re-re-read to see if I can tone it down a bit... I can't. It honestly reflects the kind of energy we have at MTC. As supportive as we are when things get tricky, we are equally celebratory of each other's wins. However that feels appropriate on the night! "I promise there will be no more sheet music throwing going forward," says one chorus member (name withheld for very sensible self-preservation).
As this chorus is known for being innovative, this writer is sure that we'll find many, many other ways to express ourselves as we get closer to perfecting our concert set list. Let's see what May brings us!
Written by Aeryn Isherwood