Looking Back (or, in other words, a peek into how my mind words - sometimes)

Warning: Long Post. But, IMHO, worth the read.

I was reading a friend's second blog this morning and saw a post about the book, The Scarlet Pimpernel. The post noted that this was also a play.

But not just any play -- a thrilling musical, if I might say so.

Not long after I started my freshman year at UC Irvine, I had the opportunity of seeing the play performed live at UC Riverside (if I remember correctly). All because of high school.

Why high school, you ask?

During high school, I had the awesome "job" of being the accompanist for a small (20 member?) audition-only, all-girls show choir. I believe it counted as a music/fine arts credit. In any event, it was after school, and the group did some fun numbers. For half of the year, they were "Show Choir" -- performing songs like "Build Me Up, Buttercup," "Hey, Big Spender," "Lollipop," and more. For the rest of the year, they were "Bella Voce," performing songs like "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" (John Gardner), "Rain on Rahoon," "Adoramus Te," (Palestrina), and this hauntingly beautiful song -- the name of which, I cannot, for the life of me, remember -- that was in several parts. I believe it had to do with Mary, Queen of Scots. And it was made up of three or four parts. Ugh. I can see the sheet music in my mind, but cannot make out the name of the piece. There was one part that had this incredible double soprano portion (this put the hauntingly in the beautiful piece). I can still hear the two sopranos who normally sang it in my "mind's ear" -- I'm pretty sure it was Erin B. (now V.) and Cathy G. The lyrics are taken from a poem by Lionel Johnson called "Cadgwith":

My windows open to the autumn night,
In vain I watched for sleep to visit me :
How should sleep dull mine ears, and dim my sight,
Who saw the stars, and listened to the sea ?
Ah, how the City of our God is fair !
If, without sea, and starless though it be,
For joy of the majestic beauty there,
Men shall not miss the stars, nor mourn the sea.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling now.

[[UPDATE: After holding onto this post for a few days, I finally figured this out, with the help of friends. The song I was thinking about is called "The Three Meditations."]]

Besides learning how to accompany a choir, I developed other useful skills such as how to set up mics to record, how to use a huge mixing board (and the portable one we had), how to perform with a group, and how to avoid blushing when being mercilessly teased by a gaggle of high school girls (ok, so I never actually figured this part out -- and I think I mostly enjoyed the teasing).

Over those few years, I also developed a real friendship with the choir director, "Chaz". He taught me a lot about music, about being a musician, how to produce a concert, and about life, in general. We'd have our favorite burritos on the day of the show and talk about all sorts of things. His wife, "S", was great, also. She taught music as well. I visited their home out on the coast several times. If I remember right, they had two dogs at the time, and I think one was named Rachmaninoff =) They had their first child before I left the area -- and I remember being afraid to hold her. (This fear of breaking small babies has largely continued to the present).

I'm sure he didn't know it at the time, but his friendship really meant a lot to me, especially during those weird years we call high school. And our friendship continued beyond that. He convinced me that I could learn how to sing. Ok, more like tricked me: he had me come out one summer to help with a choir camp he was involved with out on the CA coast. I was to play the piano and otherwise help out; kind of like a counselor, but I wasn't quite granted that "rank" (since I think the counselors were largely in college). Anyway, turns out that that they did need my help playing the piano, but they didn't need me all the time. I ended up joining in and learning to sing. This came in handy later, when I was accompanying the choir at UC Irvine and our director (Professor Huszti) decided that the accompanist would sing with the choir when not playing.

Beyond high school and summer camp, "Chaz" and "S" continued to include me in different things. When I'd return to the town of my high school I'd often try to drop in on a Show Choir rehearsal, or grab a burrito and meet up with "Chaz" for lunch.

The year I was at UC Irvine, for "Chaz's" birthday, he and "S" came down to Riverside with some other friends to see UC Riverside perform The Scarlet Pimpernel. And they invited me to go along.

I was very excited, and nervous about getting there on time. We were to meet for dinner beforehand, then go to the play. I drove out to Riverside, found the restaurant, and realized I was probably 30-40 minutes early. It didn't take me quite as long as I anticipated.... (Jill will tell you I still overestimate our travel time, and try to arrive plenty early, whenever possible). In any case, I was trying to decide what to do. I sat out in the car outside the restaurant for a while, then eventually went in when it was a little closer to when we were supposed to be there.

I entered the restaurant alone and explained that I was meeting some friends (and hoped they were there early, too). They hadn't arrived yet, so they suggested I grab a seat at the bar. I sat down at the bar and ordered some ice water. I was a little apprehensive because they didn't ask to see my license. Mind you, at this time during my freshman year, I hadn't even turned 18 yet. Apparently, I looked older than I actually was, because no one questioned me sitting there. (Or, it wasn't busy enough for them to care yet). In any case, the attractive girl behind the bar kept talking to me and offering to get me something else to drink, because surely I didn't want just water. I told her I was waiting for friends. She told me she'd mix me something. Eventually, we settled on her showing me how to cut lemons and limes in such a way that they have a natural cut/split in the middle (instead of requiring an additional cut with the knife) so they can sit on the edge of the glass. We chatted a little while longer, and eventually my friends arrived.

It was a pretty fancy Italian restaurant. I'm pretty sure it was here that I had bruschetta for the first time in a restaurant.

We went over to the theater and finished the rest of our enjoyable evening by watching a musical production of The Scarlet Pimpernel. I remember it being awesome. Costumes, cast, acting, orchestra, music, ... everything was great.

I came away from the show with several favorite songs.

• Act 1: Madame Guillotine
• Act 1: Into the Fire
• Act 2: They Seek Him Here

Back to the first part about reading a friend's post. The song that always comes to mind when I think of this play is "Madame Guillotine." Jill thinks I'm weird. I love to sing parts of it. I think the rhythm is catchy, the words are excellent descriptions of the subject, and -- it's just awesome.

"Broadway's Most Intriguing Musical" - see if there's a show near you.
And check out some clips from the music.

ASIDE: Apparently, someone else is a huge fan. Check out the site.

Anyway.

I've tried to find a video recording of Madame Guillotine to show Jill -- to try to convince her just how amazingly awesome the song is. I haven't been able to find anything on YouTube. That is, until recently.

Either my YouTube searching skills have improved, or everyone and their brother uploaded some Madame Guillotine videos since I last attempted to find a video with decent audio.

I couldn't decide which video to post--so I'm going to link to a few videos. Some are high school groups; others look like college productions. In any event, clicking through some of these will give you a feel for just how cool "Madame Guillotine" is. IMHO.

• From a regional production, Somewhere, CA
• From a 2009 production, Unknown
• From Coral Springs Charter School, Coral Springs, FL(likely)
• From a 2008 PTC production, Unknown
• Century High School, Aloha, OR: Part 1
  Century High School, Aloha, OR: Part 2
• High School Jazz Choir, Unknown

I included the two-parter Century High School one in part because I used to ride my bike around there daily for several months when I was a missionary in the Oregon Portland Mission.

To close:
- Despite the craziness that was much a part of my high school years, I have some great memories.
- A big "thank you!" to "Chaz" and "S" for the music and The Scarlet Pimpernel (and burritos!)
- I still travel for shows
- Slice! Dice! Come Paradise! I still love "Madame Guillotine"
- I need to find my Bella Voce CD and see if (1) Mary, Queen of Scots, on her execution, (2) The City of Our God, or (3) Most Glorious Lord of Life, are on it.

Some writing prompts for your comments:
- Do you have a favorite video of "Madame Guillotine"?
- Do you have a favorite song from a musical?
- Have you ever [seen / read / heard of] The Scarlet Pimpernel?
- Have you seen a good musical lately?
- Who influenced your [musical / theater / art] taste?