Monday, November 13, 2006
christmas is a place
Earlier this spring, I auditioned and was accepted into the cast of the Hong Kong Singers' upcoming production, "My Fair Lady". This was going to be a big show for the Hong Kong Singers as it would commemorate the company's 75th anniversary, so I really wanted in. Rehearsals begain right after the summer vacation. However, as it progressed, my enthusiasm for the show began to wane. Cameo roles that were supposed to be assigned during rehearsal were assigned outside of rehearsal, while dance parts were taken up by members of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, leaving very little for the chorus to do. I was getting very bored and restless during rehearsals.
In September, I was invited to help record a demo CD for an original Christmas musical written by a good friend, Nury Vittachi. This was Nury's first musical and he had written it for our church's annual Christmas concert. The demo CD would be presented to the church council to secure their approval to stage it at the Christmas concert.
Our recording studio was the Vittachi bedroom set up with a microphone and a laptop loaded with the necessary recording software. Nury had earlier recorded the instrumental accompaniment on his keyboard which was then converted to midi files. The only thing left to do was to learn the songs and record them.
My first reaction to the songs was that of surprise and awe. I had not expected so sophisticated an arrangement nor such a mix of styles and genres. There was a Beatles-like piece, a swing duet, a jazz piece, and a pop ballad, to start with. I was thrilled at the challenge of learning and recording four songs in under two hours. But what really took my breath away was being told that the songs for the lead Principal was written specifically with me in mind. Wow!! That was the grandest compliment I'd ever received in my life! So, when I was invited to play the lead, it didn't take much persuasion on Nury's part, nor much consideration on my part to quit "My Fair Lady" for this.
The church council approved the musical and rehearsals are well under way now. Last Sunday, another cast member and I sang a duet from the musical during the Offertory to promote the concert. The applause from the congregation was thunderous and went on for half a minute! It was a most gratifying moment. For the first time, I didn't cringe at the applause following a musical offering. In fact, I found myself actually enjoying it. It was awesome. I can't wait to find out how ticket sales went!
In September, I was invited to help record a demo CD for an original Christmas musical written by a good friend, Nury Vittachi. This was Nury's first musical and he had written it for our church's annual Christmas concert. The demo CD would be presented to the church council to secure their approval to stage it at the Christmas concert.
Our recording studio was the Vittachi bedroom set up with a microphone and a laptop loaded with the necessary recording software. Nury had earlier recorded the instrumental accompaniment on his keyboard which was then converted to midi files. The only thing left to do was to learn the songs and record them.
My first reaction to the songs was that of surprise and awe. I had not expected so sophisticated an arrangement nor such a mix of styles and genres. There was a Beatles-like piece, a swing duet, a jazz piece, and a pop ballad, to start with. I was thrilled at the challenge of learning and recording four songs in under two hours. But what really took my breath away was being told that the songs for the lead Principal was written specifically with me in mind. Wow!! That was the grandest compliment I'd ever received in my life! So, when I was invited to play the lead, it didn't take much persuasion on Nury's part, nor much consideration on my part to quit "My Fair Lady" for this.
The church council approved the musical and rehearsals are well under way now. Last Sunday, another cast member and I sang a duet from the musical during the Offertory to promote the concert. The applause from the congregation was thunderous and went on for half a minute! It was a most gratifying moment. For the first time, I didn't cringe at the applause following a musical offering. In fact, I found myself actually enjoying it. It was awesome. I can't wait to find out how ticket sales went!
