I'm a first soprano in a choir that performs classical and modern classical pieces. We're steadily getting larger (it's an "anyone can join" type), and had to move from one venue to another, in order to have enough space. The new venue is in the middle of town, and in a church that has no parking lot. However, there's a side street! Being the nice people we are, not wanting to block main street traffic or use up all their parking spaces, we tend to park on the side street, tucking our cars to the sides between driveways so we can leave space for other vehicles to get through.
Our performance was yesterday afternoon (see Check It Out for the video), so we've been practicing our butts off for days. Thursday and Friday were two four-hour rehearsals in the church, with the entire choir (actually three community choirs and a semi-professional church choir, plus professionals who were brought in to bolster our performance). Lots of cars, and no instructions on where to park.
Friday morning, about twenty minutes into rehearsal, this woman comes storming in with her tween daughter trailing behind her (to be used as a prop - the poor girl had a cast on her wrist), screaming "NO NO NO NO STOP NO STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!"
We all trail off, mid-measure. The conductor (a true professional, he was the pit conductor for Lurhman's La Boeme for months) modulates his voice and starts to ask what we can do for her. She yells at him to shut up, and starts in on her rant.
YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO CONSIDERATION FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE YOU TAKE UP OUR STREETS AND BLOCK OUR DRIVEWAYS SO WE CAN'T GET OUT OF OUR HOMES AND YOU PARK ON OUR GRASS AND OUR FLOWERS AND IF MY KIDS NEED AN AMBULANCE ONE CAN'T GET THROUGH BECAUSE THERE'S NOT ENOUGH SPACE WHAT IF MY KIDS NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL I CAN'T CALL 911 BECAUSE YOU'VE BLOCKED THE ROAD MOVE YOUR F***ING CARS NOW IF THERE ARE ANY STILL IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE IN AN HOUR I'M CALLING A TOW TRUCK AND IF I FIND ANY MORE CARS IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE AIR IN YOUR TIRES.
She ranted on like this for a good, oh, five minutes. I thought she was going to grab her daughter's wrist and hold it up as an example of her KIDS NEED AMBULANCE statement (that one was repeated about four times). When we asked what house was hers (remember, most of us aren't local and don't know that she's the town nutcase), she said FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELVES. Most of us were just baffled by the sudden influx of crazy into what had been a focused rehearsal. Others were used to it, and our already-limited time was limited more because a bunch of people had to go move their cars.
One of the other sopranos told me that last year, when they were rehearsing Handel's Messiah, one evening after practice they filtered out of the church, and she was sitting on her porch with a radio. She cranked up the radio and yelled that she'd rather listen to HER music rather than OURS.
Luckily, we settled quickly, and we sounded AWESOME. I'll throw one video in Check It Out, and that same youtube account will be uploading a bunch more, later today.
Our performance was yesterday afternoon (see Check It Out for the video), so we've been practicing our butts off for days. Thursday and Friday were two four-hour rehearsals in the church, with the entire choir (actually three community choirs and a semi-professional church choir, plus professionals who were brought in to bolster our performance). Lots of cars, and no instructions on where to park.
Friday morning, about twenty minutes into rehearsal, this woman comes storming in with her tween daughter trailing behind her (to be used as a prop - the poor girl had a cast on her wrist), screaming "NO NO NO NO STOP NO STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!"
We all trail off, mid-measure. The conductor (a true professional, he was the pit conductor for Lurhman's La Boeme for months) modulates his voice and starts to ask what we can do for her. She yells at him to shut up, and starts in on her rant.
YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO CONSIDERATION FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE YOU TAKE UP OUR STREETS AND BLOCK OUR DRIVEWAYS SO WE CAN'T GET OUT OF OUR HOMES AND YOU PARK ON OUR GRASS AND OUR FLOWERS AND IF MY KIDS NEED AN AMBULANCE ONE CAN'T GET THROUGH BECAUSE THERE'S NOT ENOUGH SPACE WHAT IF MY KIDS NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL I CAN'T CALL 911 BECAUSE YOU'VE BLOCKED THE ROAD MOVE YOUR F***ING CARS NOW IF THERE ARE ANY STILL IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE IN AN HOUR I'M CALLING A TOW TRUCK AND IF I FIND ANY MORE CARS IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE AIR IN YOUR TIRES.
She ranted on like this for a good, oh, five minutes. I thought she was going to grab her daughter's wrist and hold it up as an example of her KIDS NEED AMBULANCE statement (that one was repeated about four times). When we asked what house was hers (remember, most of us aren't local and don't know that she's the town nutcase), she said FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELVES. Most of us were just baffled by the sudden influx of crazy into what had been a focused rehearsal. Others were used to it, and our already-limited time was limited more because a bunch of people had to go move their cars.
One of the other sopranos told me that last year, when they were rehearsing Handel's Messiah, one evening after practice they filtered out of the church, and she was sitting on her porch with a radio. She cranked up the radio and yelled that she'd rather listen to HER music rather than OURS.
Luckily, we settled quickly, and we sounded AWESOME. I'll throw one video in Check It Out, and that same youtube account will be uploading a bunch more, later today.
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