My brush with fame

Can you see me in that picture with Debbie Reynolds?

Well, the big Seattle Men's Chorus concert with Debbie Reynolds is done. As usually happens with me, I'm sad that it's all over. I really liked this show. There were some really fun arrangements of some great Hollywood songs. Though I had my doubts at some points during the weekend, we pulled off a really great show, to a couple of sold-out audiences, no less. Yes, SMC is JUST that popular!

Or it might have been our guest star...I guess we'll never really know for sure.

We were introduced to Debbie Reynolds on Thursday at the beginning of tech rehearsal. As I was walking toward the stage, I noticed this well dressed woman nodding to me with a smile as I passed her and it hit me: OMG, that's Debbie Reynolds!

We had a thirty minute Q&A session with her that was more her telling stories than anything. She talked about her husbands (Two were Jewish and one was a Gentile - there's only a small difference) and her daughter Carrie Fisher (Those of you who don't know who I am, you might have seen that little movie Star Wars? Well, I am Princess Leia's mother). She also quite proudly informed us that for a short woman, she is quite stacked (I live in Beverly Hills and my boobs live in San Diego). It was a very fun time!

After that, we ran through the songs we'd be performing with the legend. Can you believe that she's been in show business for 60 years? It quickly became apparent that we were going to have a hard time backing her up. She didn't want any monitors behind her, so it was very difficult for us to hear what she was singing. Still, when that part of rehearsal was all over it hit me: I had just sung on stage with Debbie Reynolds!

I was very worried about my "dance number" that 27 of us did in the show, aka "The Trolley Song". We still hadn't had a whole lot of rehearsal for that sequence, but it somehow came together. Initially, the idea was for us to go back onto the risers with the chorus in our regular places as the song was ending. Then, right at the last note we would take off and hide the red hats we wore for the song. But since Debbie wanted the orchestra behind her, that made getting on and off the risers extremely difficult.

In the end, they changed it so that we just walked off stage. They also told us that we could not get back on the risers from the front. Instead, we had to go up the stairs at the back and work our way through the chorus (FROM BEHIND!!!) to our spots. This meant pushing our way, saying excuse me and getting to our spot before the next number. It was no easy task. Thankfully the guys in the chorus were great about clearing a path for me.

Sometime during rehearsals, an email went out to all the trolley dancers that we should think about developing a "character" during the dance, to connect with the audience. I did a LOT of thinking about my "character" and decided that he should make out with the cute guy who stood next to me at the beginning of the number. Unfortunately, Ben didn't think it would work for his character...

Saturday brought us 1 1/2 concerts. I say "1/2" because before our big opening night, we performed a short, free concert for children with the Seattle Women's Chorus. Also, a reprotory group performed part of their show "The Jungle Book." One of SMC's songs was the Trolley Song. At the end, as we walked off-stage, someone had come up with the idea of having us pair off as though we, too, like the narrator, had hooked up and lost our heart on the trolley. As I was leaving the stage, I saw a guy named Alex and he was walking toward me. I put out my arm for him to take and he put his arm around me instead.

Then was the big opening on Saturday night. The moment the curtain went up, I felt the energy. I love that moment. Suddenly you're on and all that work you've put into the show is right there for the audience to see. Despite some minor snags, the show went off really well. Even the Trolley Song came together. At the end, Alex walked toward me again, this time his arm was hooked for me to take, but I put my arm around him as he had done before. Damn the lack of communication!

After the show, I was standing around the halls waiting for my carpool. While I waited, I noticed that two of the McCaw hall representatives approach our PR guy, Frank. They asked him if Debbie would sign their wall. They have a wall full of autographs of stars who have performed there: BB King, George Carlin...the list goes on and on. It's like a priceless collection of graffiti.

Frank said he thought Debbie could sign the wall before leaving the theater that night and took off down the hall to her dressing room. Moments later, he came out with our star behind him. Star struck, I watched as they came down the hall, stopping mere feet from me. The McCaw Hall reps were gushing as one of them explained to Debbie: "We are SO honored to have you performing here at our theater. We have this tradition where..."

At this point, the nearly 77 year old woman cut to the chase and said in a tired voice, "Yes, I know. Where is it?" To be fair, she was really tired. We all were! Then she looked at me, nodded and said, "Hi." Debbie Reynolds said "Hi" to me!!! It was a very nice end to the day.

Sunday's show went much smoother than Saturday's, but the energy wasn't as popping as the night before. My only real snafu was during the Trolley Song. The row in front of mine didn't get to their spot in time and had to push past me to get to their places. This cause those of us in the back row to get our hats on late. Other than that, everything else seemed to go fine. Alex and I even linked arms as we went off stage. Every time we saw each other before the show we'd remind each other that we were going to link arms.

Debbie did a lot of playing off Kevin, the guy who signs (ASL) our shows. She'd say something a bit on the risque side (usually about an ex husband) and then turn to him and ask how one would sign that. At one point in the show, we actually drove her to tears when she came out on stage after performing a song. She told the audience that we were all her lucky stars (that was the song that Captain Smartypants had just finished). At the end of the concert, Frank brought out a birthday cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. What an amazing experience!

After the show, I went out to the lobby to meet up with Claire, a co worker who came to the show. Several people came up to me and thanked me for the wonderful show. Most of them were old fans of Debbie's and now new fans of the Seattle Men's Chorus. It gave me such a warm feeling. I continue to be blessed with my involvement with SMC.

Okay.... I guess I should talk a little bit about a cute guy in the chorus. I'm not going to say his name, though I have no doubt that anyone from the chorus reading this will know exactly who he is. He's the same guy I blogged about before. Anyway, I got the chance to spend a little time with him backstage. We even walked out to the lobby together. I still think he's an awesome guy and I keep hoping that somehow something will happen between us. Lord knows I really want it to. I think I tried a little too hard to impress him, though. I probably flirted a little too much. Still, I can't help but think (or maybe it's just hope) that he enjoyed hanging out with me. The times were fleeting, but they were meaningful... at least for me.

I wish I had the answers for the best way to talk to someone you like. I mean talk in a way that gets him more interested in you. Is that even possible? You can't really MAKE someone take interest in you. I think you just be yourself and hope that they like what they see. Did he like what he saw? I have no idea. I've never been good about picking up clues like that. Hell, I probably have the worst gaydar of anyone you'll ever meet. I'm lucky I was able to figure out Clay Aiken!

One of the more meaningful moments with this guy I like happened on Sunday when he asked me if I'm singing in the next concert (In june, by the way!). I told him that I'm not sure, yet. Of course I really want to (even though the entire show will be acapella and REALLY hard to sing) but it'll all depend on my carpool. Now that I don't have a car, I have to factor in things like bus routes and carpools. The guys that I catch rides home with aren't sure yet if they're going to sing in this concert, so as of yet, neither do I.

When he heard this, the guy I like (ugh, I should just say his name, but what if he reads this????) said "Where do you live? I could probably give you a ride." When I told him and he realized how out of the way it was he smiled (oh yes, he has the most amazing smile!) and said "I love you, but not that much."

Don't worry, I didn't read to much into that four letter word. I know it didn't mean what I want it to mean. What made that transaction of words meaningful was that he was thinking of me enough to give me a ride. And to wonder if I'm singing in the next conert. Yes, I know I'm probably reading too much into it, but it had meaning for me all the same.

I really do like him! I want so badly to call him, or email him, or do any other foolish teenage girl things that (believe me) I know I should never and will never do. I just want him to notice me more and maybe find something about me that he could like. Is that possible, you think? Friends keep telling me it's possible and I wish I could believe them. I wish I could believe that I could be this guy's "Type". Maybe I am, but I keep doubting I am.

Ugh, could this entry BE any more "Dear Diary: OMG I met the cutest guy today!!" Well I guess that's what this is for. I can't get the guy off my mind, so hopefully blogging about him will help me think about other things.

Yeah. Right.

Tonight's the night!

...come to the Life Cafe after Maureen's show!

Sorry, that was the first thing that popped into my head the moment I typed in the title. Rent-heads will understand.

The title is appropriate, though, as tonight is indeed the night that I will be in the presence of Debbie Reynolds. Before the tech rehearsal, we're going to get that Q&A time with her. I've charged my camera's batteries and I am SO ready to snap a million pictures of her. I might even get some video.

Last night I impressed myself (harder to do than you might think) by successfully riding the bus system to the Seattle Center for the dance rehearsal last night. I even had 45 minutes to spare! GO ME! I even had the pleasure of hearing the life story of the guy sitting next to me who apparently is pissed because "that bitch he slept with" is making him pay child support for their daughter when she makes "much mo money" than he does and has "a son of a bitch boyfriend who is a rich guy or something" so why does she need his "hard-earned money!"? I look forward to more wonderful stories like this from the clientele that rides the metro buses of Seattle. I'll probably encounter a great character for a future story!

At any rate, my success at getting where I needed to go with plenty of time to spare is encouraging. I can actually get by without a car and I won't have to pay outrageous parking charges in Seattle. I was worried that I'd have to ride the bus with my very large tux bag over my shoulder, but thankfully the kind chorus member who gives me rides home after rehearsals will be able to drive me to Seattle tomorrow, the day of the dress rehearsal.

My part of the dance rehearsal last night lasted about 35 minutes, which officially made my ride into Seattle on the bus longer than the actual rehearsal! Still, I agree with another chorus member I chatted with last night who said that this is going to be a fantastic show. It really is, and not just because of Debbie Reynolds. We're singing some really fun songs from the era of MGM musicals. We have some fun dance sequences, not the least of which--okay, it might be the least of them, but it's still fun--is the Trolley Song, the dance sequence of which I am a member.

Yesterday, they sent out an email to those of us in the Trolley Song dance number saying that we should start thinking about our "character" that is riding the trolley. Apparently some people have already been doing this and the powers that be love it! So yesterday I was thinking about my "character." I've decided that he's either 1)extremely jealous of the narrator of the song who is "losing his heart" on the trolley to the cute guy or 2) planning to make out with one of the other cute characters on the trolley. I'm leaning more toward 2.

I was tempted to make my character impatient... constantly looking at his watch, pulling out a cell phone to take a call, pushing his way off the trolley... but I think that might be distracting. At the Edmonds concert, it was commented that we all looked a little bit like deer in headlights, but I think that was because we had had SO little actual rehearsal and none of us had any real idea if the routine would even come together. Let's face it... I think my character is going to end up being a guy who is DEATHLY afraid of missing a count in the dance and messing up everyone around him!

Since the move

I have been in my new place almost three weeks now, so of course I am all moved in, unpacked and organized! Yeah. Right.

I did have a plan. I had seen some perfect shelves at Goodwill that I imagined holding all my books that are currently still boxed up. They were $30 each, however, so I decided to wait until Thursday March 19th when they would go 50% off. This waiting, however, ended up being a stupid idea because they were gone when I arrived on Thursday.

So I am still without a place to put books.

I also have some collectible stuff that I'd like to get out of boxes....but without shelves to put them on... Well, you see where this is going.

Last Tuesday I finally donated my car. It was a hard day. Turns out I really did love that car. Of course, I got another bit of news on Thursday. A guy at work had been interested in taking the car, fixing it up and using it himself. He told me that I'd be able to use the car for errands during the day. Of course, by then the car was gone. While I still think my plan is a good one, it was tough walking home at the end of the day and seeing my parking space empty. I donated to a pretty good charity that fixes up cars and gives them to struggling families, so I'd like to think that life will still be gotten from that sweet little car that I once owned.

Last weekend was the big reunion with my college friend Gavin and his family. His parents live in Mount Vernon, north of Seattle, so they planned a Saturday trip to Seattle to hang out with me. The day was a lot of fun. Gavin's daughter Bronte is such a sweetheart! She wasn't sure what to make of me at first, but as the day progressed, she seemed to accept me.

Of course, I had to find a way to contribute to her education and that opportunity came when we showed her the International Fountain at the Seattle Center. Her father started wheeling her up the slanted wall surrounding the fountain. As they flew by me, I raised my hands and yelled "Bronte! Hands up!" She threw her hands up with a huge grin! She even did it later on the monorail. Okay, so I didn't teach her to read, but fearless hands up on a roller coaster is important, too! Oh, I also taught her how to put money in a bank!

It was also so great to see Gavin and Lisa. It's been a good ten years since I last saw them at their wedding. Ten years! It really felt like old times, though. We did a lot of catching up (of what we hadn't done over facebook) and of course, visited Gavin's favorite comic book shop at Pike's Place Market.

They're expecting a second child, this one a boy. Of course I asked them if they had decided on a name. Back in college, Gavin was insistent that when he had a son, the name would be Merlin. Gavin's name means "Hawk of Battle" and Merlin means "Son of Hawk". It really is a great name as far as meanings go, but one wonders how a boy with that name would fare on the playground. I was told that Merlin has been vetoed and they're going to name their next child Brenden. That's a name I absolutely love!

The rest of my time has been devoted to getting ready for the upcoming SMC concert. It's only a week away! We're actually meeting Debbie Reynolds on Thursday! I was dismayed to find out that we won't be able to take any pictures WITH her, though we will be able to take pictures OF her. Also, she has offered to autograph everything we give her as a chorus, so I handed over my special edition of Singing in the Rain for her to sign.

I am really excited about the concert, though there are still several lyrics I don't quite have memorized yet. Tonight is our first big chance to run the show. We have an out of town concert in Edmonds. It feels like we're not quite ready, but that's usually when things come together and we have an amazing concert.

I'm still in the trolley song dance number, though it's been a LONG time since we rehearsed the dance as a group. I'm due in Edmonds at 2pm and we've been promised some rehearsal time. It think I'd better end this blog, however, and run over some more lyrics. I don't want to completely rely on our human teleprompter (aka our director Dennis Coleman)!

An interesting article

I haven't been blogging at all! I have so much to talk about, I just don't have the time. Hopefully once I get settled that will change, though I also have an upcoming concert at the end of my month and I still have WAY so much memorization to do for that!

At any rate, here is an interesting article that was shared with me. I think it's a very thoughtful look at hypocritical thinking...



Things I Found Out at the Anti-Gay Workshop

Things I Found Out at the Anti-Gay Workshop
icon1 Posted by Hemant Mehta in Gay/Lesbian, General on March 5th, 2009 |

Last night, I attended a workshop about “homosexual activism in the public schools.” The meeting took place at a church and it was sponsored by the Illinois Family Institute, a conservative group. About 80 people were packed into a tiny room.

My observations:

* I overheard one man sitting near me talking to a friend of his before the event started. He quoted the Edmund Burke line, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” He was referring to homosexual activists versus Christians.

Funny. I was thinking the same line, but in a completely different way…

* The speaker spoke about the myth that Christians “hate” homosexuals. We don’t hate homosexuals, she said, adding: “We’re not like Fred Phelps!”

So at least we have that in common. We all think Phelps is one crazy mofo.

They may not hate homosexuals, but they do hate homosexuality. (And apparently, they hate the word “gay.” Because it was barely uttered all evening. “Homosexual” must sound more evil and un-Christian.)

* I learned it’s ok to say being gay is wrong. We can’t worry about hurting people’s feelings. If we did, that would make it impossible for us to say plagiarism and promiscuity are wrong because that would hurt the feelings of plagiarists and promiscuous people. Therefore, it’s ok to attack homosexuality.

I’ll admit that’s the first time I’ve heard homosexuality compared to plagiarism.

* The speaker told the crowd that speaking out against homosexuality was not hate speech. Her argument for this? “Homosexual supporters speak out against polygamy and pedophiles all the time. Is that considered hate speech? No. So neither is our anti-gay speech.”

Not for the first time that evening, she compared gay people to pedophiles.

* The speaker mentioned a local high school in which students “had to read” Tony Kushner’s play “Angels in America.” She asked if everyone picked up the handout listing excerpts from the book (after warning us that it would be graphic).

This was how she began a part of her talk against those homosexual activist English teachers. There was no mention of the facts that excerpts do not a book make. (You want to play the excerpt game? You want to take things out of context? Because the Bible is great fodder for that.) There was no mention that the book was for an Advanced Placement class for seniors, or that parents had to approve the book first before their children could read it (or opt for an alternative book instead, which would be ok), or that only a handful of students (and their parents) decided to take the alternative option. Most were fine with the book.

* There were several jabs at homosexual teachers and superintendents and administrators (they named names) who were trying to push that awful, hideous belief that it was ok to be gay. (Can you believe their gall?!)

* There was a lot of talk about the upcoming Day of Silence, during which gay students and straight allies choose not to speak for the day to bring attention to the silencing experienced by GLBT students. IFI wants parents to remove their children from the classroom for the day if students are taking part in this.

The speaker’s arguments? Let me quote from her handout (PDF):

Parents should call their children’s middle schools and high schools to ask whether the administration and/or teachers will be permitting students to remain silent during class on the Day of Silence. If students will be permitted to remain silent, parents can express their opposition most effectively by calling their children out of school on the Day of Silence and sending letters of explanation to their administrators, their children’s teachers, and all school board members. One reason this is effective is that most school districts lose money for each student absence.

School administrators err when they allow the classroom to be disrupted and politicized by granting students permission to remain silent throughout an entire day. The DOS requires that teachers either create activities around the silence of some or many, or exempt silent students from any activity that involves speaking. Furthermore, DOS participants have a captive audience, many of whom disagree with and are made uncomfortable by the politicization of their classroom.

I teach high school students. Some of them are silent every day. I don’t see Christian parents complaining about that. Also, the DOS doesn’t “require” anything. It’s sponsors don’t run my classroom and I’m not required to “do” anything. Personally, I think it’s irresponsible of teachers to be silent on that day because we still have a job to do (just like pharmacists shouldn’t be able to not sell people birth control or morning-after pills because of their own beliefs), but it’s fine if students want to be silent for one day — it won’t throw me off as a teacher. I can still do my job.

I’m amazed these parents are willing to remove their kids from a day of instruction because other students are choosing to remain silent for a day. Are you kidding me?

* The Day of Silence thing reminded me of a similar incident happening earlier this year. In fact, when you put these incidents together, the IFI sounds downright hypocritical.

Earlier this year, I had students remaining silent because of the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity. It was fine by me and I taught my lessons as planned. But how come I wasn’t hearing anything about that day?

Would the speakers be in favor of pro-choice parents removing their students from the classroom?

They never mentioned that.

So I asked them about it.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: Isn’t the pro-life silence day the exact same idea as the Day of Silence?

Them: Umm… yes. And we do not support the pro-life silence day.

Me: Well, that’s good to hear. But I don’t remember getting any press releases from your organization asking parents to remove their children from school because some students were also going to remain silent for political reasons and personal beliefs.

Them: Umm… yeah… we should really have sent one out about that.

I’m not keeping my fingers crossed that they’ll mention it next year. A quick search on IFI’s website lists several results dealing with the Day of Silence. I can’t find a single result having to do with the Day of Solidarity.

* When the speaker discussed how many schools were putting on the pro-homosexual play “The Laramie Project,” she tried to cite a dubious 20/20 segment in which it was asserted that Matthew Shepard was not killed in a hate crime, but rather that he was the victim of a drug-induced rage. That segment has been debunked, but we didn’t hear that side of the story.

And really, going after Matthew Shepard and the play written about him? That was low.

* During any mention of the word “transgender,” there was something of an eye roll from the speaker and people in the audience. It was obvious the speaker didn’t think transgendered people actually existed. “A man is not a woman,” she said, adding that her mother had cancer and had to get her uterus removed, but that didn’t make her any less of a woman.

I failed to see any connection.

The speaker said she knew one student who “claimed” to be transgendered. He said he was a woman trapped in a man’s body. I knew that boy well, she said. “He was troubled.”

* The speaker mentioned the homosexual agenda. Not just as a general idea, though. She mentioned an actual, specific agenda written by Harvard-trained psychologists Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen. I’d never heard of them… am I the only one that doesn’t know who to take my orders from?

* My favorite line of the night, referring to how Christians need to fight back against the gays:

“There’s a great reluctance of churches in getting involved in the political arena.”

They didn’t really say that, did they?! Yes. Yes they did.

* It was pointed out that being anti-gay does not constitute prejudice. We are not pre-judging, they said. We are coming to our conclusions after careful consideration! Therefore, it is not technically prejudice.

I guess they won the battle of semantics… so make sure you don’t call homophobic people prejudiced. They’re not prejudiced. They’re “Christians who love everybody.” Got it?

* One bright side to all this: I found out we liberals are winning the Culture Wars! (Congratulations, you sodomites!)

The first 20 minutes of the talk, I wondered how much of my own rhetoric I’d be willing to say to their faces. I concluded I would probably tone it down a bit… try to engage them more. Maybe speak their language.

As the evening progressed, I became less eager to please them or to even talk to them. I wanted to point out all the flaws in their thinking, all the parts where they weren’t telling the whole story, all the times they were flat out lying to the audience.

I really wanted to know what the speaker would have said if there were openly gay people in the audience. The speaker made a point to say that there was a Facebook group against her formed by students at the school at which she used to work. A transgendered student wrote to the group that she was actually a nice lady.

As the student did this, the speaker didn’t even acknowledge the student’s sexual identity — couldn’t even fathom that there was a real issue there. I didn’t see that “nice lady” side of her, and the more she speak, the more I felt the desire to stoop to her level. It’s not a side of me I want to see come out.

Afterwards, I walked out of the church and away from that group of people. And good riddance.

I should point out one additional part to this story.

When I mentioned the other day that I was attending this event, I got an email from an acquaintance. She asked if I was going to this particular church (she gave me a name) for the event. That was the one I was going to. It turns out that’s her regular church. She wouldn’t be able to make it that night, but she wanted to let me know that the church did a lot of great things to support the local community and the people there were really nice and caring.

I really believe her. I believe that they mean well and they have the best of intentions.

But, as I told my friend, it’s hard for me to focus on that side when at the same time they are propagating these ridiculous notions. It’s also hard to believe I’m the only person there who felt that way.

I didn’t really say much at the event. I basically listened to them and observed other people. But I wonder if I was the only person there last night who held a contrary view to what was being said.

Where were the Christians who believe that it’s ok to be gay — that God loves gay people and straight people equally? Why weren’t they there to ask questions and challenge what was being said?

Is what I saw typical of what others have seen?