I have loved music and performing music for as long as I can remember. Once in high school I continued to play sax but I also joined the choir. This put me in an interesting position, as both my band and choir teachers needed me--I was the section leader and strongest player/singer for my groups, alto sax and alto vocals. During my high school career, I participated in "Oklahoma," "Peter Pan," "The Music Man," and "The Sound of Music," as well as the band and choir music tours.
"Oklahoma" was during my freshman year; I hadn't joined choir yet so I only played saxophone in the pit orchestra. It was amazing to watch these juniors and seniors playing the characters so well. At the time I hadn't been kissed yet, so I often wondered what it was like for the actors during their kissing scenes. Was it just Curly and Laurey kissing, (the characters) or really Greg and Heather (the actors)? Plus the songs were just a lot of fun to learn and play. With all the rehearsals, you get to know your part really well, and then it's about more than just hitting the right notes--then you can really get into the music and express merriment.
"Peter Pan" was a lot of fun--I had a small role and even a couple lines, as Liza the maid. I remember being coached with the leads, since every speaker had to sound British. "Over and under, over and under the ball kept on bouncing!" our coach would repeat, undulating her hand over invisible hills to show where we should put the inflections. The drama department opted for one of those "flying" rigs, and one Saturday the entire cast and crew was allowed a few minutes of flight time (with parental consent forms/waivers in hand).
"The Sound of Music" actually took place on a different campus--my choir teacher's husband also taught choir and they decided to team up for an amazing production. Tryouts were grueling--I have rhythm but not much dance experience, and part of the tryouts included learning a brand new dance routine. Some of the music was in Latin--beautiful stuff, but a different language is a different language. In the end I was cast as one of the nuns, and then I designed the shirts and program cover :)
"The Music Man" was probably my favorite production. That was the one year I was on stage AND in the pit orchestra--the choir director and band leader could not do without me! Talk about an ego boost. Luckily I didn't have to do too much running back and forth. The most critical choral numbers were in the first act, and the most critical orchestra numbers were in the second act. The "Pick A Little, Talk A Little" song was a very challenging tongue-twister to master, but very fun to perform; for "Shipoopi" I learned to play the soprano sax, wailing away on it like there was no tomorrow!
I never did land a lead role in any of these productions, but I was perfectly satisfied playing the parts I was assigned. I saw all the work the leads put in to learning all their lines, their blocking and dance routines. While I believe myself perfectly capable of handling all that memorization and performance pressure, I had plenty of other stuff to do in my life. School and church were important to me, too, and I never wanted to focus so completely on one aspect of my life that I would be forced to give up something else. It was fun just to be a part of all the magic, to get to know new people, to learn new music and perform for an audience. Not to mention the fun of making fart noises backstage with my hands, with all the other actors trying not to laugh out loud. Good times, good times...
One other aspect of my musical career included band and choir tours. It just so happened that there was another instance when my band and choir teachers simultaneously needed me desperately. My amazing parents made it possible for me to do both tours that year. They drove down to the L.A. area, shuttling me and two other band/choir mates to and from band and choir events. The band performed in Disneyland, and the choir sang "Pilgrim's Hymn" inside the Santa Barbara mission.
(One word: Wow. Eight-part acapella harmony echoing off vaulted stone ceilings--let's just say some very skeptical choir members had quite a spiritual experience that day. There is absolutely nothing like being in perfect harmony with a group of people, with overtones ringing just right when those sound waves match up completely.)
I sure had some incredible musical experiences in my high school career. Maybe next week I'll talk about my collegiate career in music. (Two words: barbershop quartet!)
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