We are so back! I know, that's a terribly overused phrase to open this next block of rehearsal blogs. I stand by it. We are so back. Following the runaway success of our 2026 summer concert series "Songs From The Musicals", the KTB Music Theatre Chorus piled back into our home territory in the Chorley Theatre Studio to stand in front of the AC unit, to revisit some old favourites, and to see what Katy has up her sleeve for the next few months.
The rehearsals after a concert are always prime time for a bit of a 'silly season' - AKA, business as usual, but on a grander scale. Just the right time to bring in a record seven new recruits and show them what we're really all about, in addition to the work that goes on behind the amazing sound that has had people literally stopping us in the street in the last two weeks. If you're one of those people - thank you so much. You’ve made us feel like celebrities, and we are so grateful and touched by your kindness!
I can only imagine what it must have looked like to someone new to the MTC experience to have chorus members gleefully running across the room to switch sections, to shrieks of laughter, applause, and accusations of betrayal. This was the first time we've all been in the same room since the concerts, so we had plenty of lingering post-show giddiness to get out of our systems.
"It's never serious around here," Katy said to our newbies (was that a sense of mild resignation we detected there from our dear MD?), and this rehearsal was a prime example of the energy in this chorus. It's infectious, too, just to warn you all...
We opened the actual singing with "Suddenly Seymour" (Little Shop of Horrors), which is a number that keeps coming back around here, and my smart watch started pinging me with a "loud environment" notification (it would not be the only time). Not just from the singing itself, but from the explosion of sound that happened immediately afterward.
Another classic chorus staple, "Back in Time" (Back to the Future) got some refreshing for a fun singalong with our resident Back to the Future fan, who always takes on the solo brilliantly. This number is definitely going to be a part of our concert dates in September: two dates (4th and 5th), two venues (Much Hoole Village Hall, and Chorley Theatre Studio), two slightly varied set lists. Now that the word "two" doesn't even look like a word any more, let's move on.
The next song - a completely new one - caused a ruckus in the chorus that hasn't happened in quite some time. I expect that KTB would find some way to retaliate should I go into explicit detail about exactly why... so I'll do that marketing thing and say that this sort of chaos is exactly why you should sign up to join us, because otherwise you'll never get the inside scoop. "Jeepers Creepers", from the 1938 movie Going Places, turns out to be a song sung to... a horse. Yeah, we're not quite sure how that happened either. Far from giddy-romantic notions of lovers gazing into each other's eyes and marvelling at their beauty, isn't it? It's more along the lines of "giddy-up".
By popular demand, "One Day More" (Les Misérables) closed out the evening. As is now tradition for these more 'open' post-show rehearsals, many members set themselves a personal challenge to sing as many parts as they could before it all tangles up too much and everyone is forced to pick a character. I'm sure we can pass it off as vocal agility training or something, right?
In short, it was a brilliant evening to get us back to rehearsals, and flicking through the music stack to see what's coming up has given us a determination to make the revisited songs even better than the first time around. We are, after all, much stronger than we were back in the early days. That being said, we do still urgently need basses; despite the previously-mentioned section switcharoos, we have a distinct shortage of 'qualified' candidates for the bass section. This is still an absolutely perfect time to join us and see for yourself how a dose of MTC magic might be just what you need on a Thursday evening.
This writer wishes you all a lovely week ahead - stay cool, everyone!
Written by Aeryn Isherwood