Voices Past and Present
Sunday, March 09, 2003
MVCCC Performance
The Testimony show last night at Mountain View Chinese Christian Church had its goods and its bads. I think that was by far the most stressful show I have been through. We weren't as prepared musically for this show as we were for Christmas Show (by virtue of not imposing "hell week" rehearsals), so from a directing standpoint that was a bit worrisome. Mostly, though, it was the anxiety about giving my testimony. I was really a nervous wreck about it, since I'd only just finished writing it a couple hours before the show (thanks to all the unexpected obstacles in the past week...sigh; it took me all day yesterday) and that meant I was nowhere near having it memorized. The good thing about being director, though, is that it took my mind off the testimony (until the last 2 measures of the last song before it) because my brain was busy trying to listen for group pitch, keep tempo with one hand, signal dynamics with the other, and remember the soprano part for the songs where I was supposed to be a soprano. :P I guess my testimony went okay; I had to look down at my paper a lot, but at least my voice didn't sound like I was about to cry, which is what my speeches in high school were like. If you're interested in reading my testimony (better than hearing me speak it), I've put it on my webspace here.
Musically, the show went decently (on average). The first half was definitely better than the second half. I think we were getting tired, since we're not used to singing a whole show's worth of songs without having breaks for skits. We debuted 2 new songs last night: Step By Step (Kari's arrangement) and God Will Make A Way. Step By Step went very well (it was in the first half, right before the testimony). GWMAW went alright, but it was uncharacteristically weak (it was in the second half, right after the testimony). Despite some rockiness toward the end of the show, though, the audience still seemed to enjoy everything, so that was good. All in all, I think the night went well.
