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So many pieces of awesome came together this weekend, it's hard to summarize without minimizing.
The Feminist Easter thing was so well received that it will probably be done again next year (or sooner, I don't know) and apparently those of us Sonja chose now have that rockstar status of Original Cast, so they'll think of us first if they do it again. Bob came and stayed after to congratulate us, and apparently nearly cried, which is something. Lots of people came up to me and told me how moved they were, which is always nice to hear.
In fact it may be particularly gratifying to be so validated for my acting in something I have such minimal sympathy with. It's the Jesus-got-crucified story, which is, of course, sad. I can tell you about how I was in middle school the first time I heard it all the way through with all the horrific details; Rice Chorale was singing the Arvo Pärt St. John Passion, and I was still relatively fluent in Latin, and at the dress rehearsal in the cathedral-like organ hall, I finally made the connections while we sang the whole thing through, translating to myself, and I couldn't sing for crying because people are horrible and why would that ever happen. So I drew on that reaction for this piece of theatrics, but the monologue goes on after lamenting the injustice, and I have significant ideological differences with the rest of it, but people were still convinced by it and moved. So I don't suck at acting. Bob even made noises about how now that he knows, he'll make sure to make use of our skills somehow to a greater degree. I wouldn't mind that.
The second awesome thing, besides getting a sugar-free chocolate easter bunny after expecting no eastertide besides the church work, was that we sent in the rest of the payments to the King's Singers Summer School, about which I'd been worried to a certain degree. If I have feelings of worship and idolatry, this is where they lie. I hope fellow participants are similarly motivated to subvert ego and immerse themselves in this pool of the knowledge of the most high, because if it's anything like the travesty of a reaction we encountered in IAS, I will cry. And an experience with the potential for apotheosis will be diminished.
Speaking of potential apotheosis, the third thing was that last night was the first rehearsal that included my arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody, which me on Freddie's lead. It wasn't great, because it's not an easy piece and even a direct transcription takes time to learn, and I think the classicist's automatic dismissive attitude toward even this most perfect of rock masterpieces came into play, but it wasn't awful, and despite our singular remaining rehearsal and early dismissal last night, I think we can pull it off. I've been asked also to write down the solo, so the pianist has a frame of reference, which I think is ludicrous, but I have no objections to getting it down for many reasons.
At least the adrenaline rushes have subsided; for awhile, I was getting one whenever I thought about the piece. Fewer nerves, now, more buckling down.
The Feminist Easter thing was so well received that it will probably be done again next year (or sooner, I don't know) and apparently those of us Sonja chose now have that rockstar status of Original Cast, so they'll think of us first if they do it again. Bob came and stayed after to congratulate us, and apparently nearly cried, which is something. Lots of people came up to me and told me how moved they were, which is always nice to hear.
In fact it may be particularly gratifying to be so validated for my acting in something I have such minimal sympathy with. It's the Jesus-got-crucified story, which is, of course, sad. I can tell you about how I was in middle school the first time I heard it all the way through with all the horrific details; Rice Chorale was singing the Arvo Pärt St. John Passion, and I was still relatively fluent in Latin, and at the dress rehearsal in the cathedral-like organ hall, I finally made the connections while we sang the whole thing through, translating to myself, and I couldn't sing for crying because people are horrible and why would that ever happen. So I drew on that reaction for this piece of theatrics, but the monologue goes on after lamenting the injustice, and I have significant ideological differences with the rest of it, but people were still convinced by it and moved. So I don't suck at acting. Bob even made noises about how now that he knows, he'll make sure to make use of our skills somehow to a greater degree. I wouldn't mind that.
The second awesome thing, besides getting a sugar-free chocolate easter bunny after expecting no eastertide besides the church work, was that we sent in the rest of the payments to the King's Singers Summer School, about which I'd been worried to a certain degree. If I have feelings of worship and idolatry, this is where they lie. I hope fellow participants are similarly motivated to subvert ego and immerse themselves in this pool of the knowledge of the most high, because if it's anything like the travesty of a reaction we encountered in IAS, I will cry. And an experience with the potential for apotheosis will be diminished.
Speaking of potential apotheosis, the third thing was that last night was the first rehearsal that included my arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody, which me on Freddie's lead. It wasn't great, because it's not an easy piece and even a direct transcription takes time to learn, and I think the classicist's automatic dismissive attitude toward even this most perfect of rock masterpieces came into play, but it wasn't awful, and despite our singular remaining rehearsal and early dismissal last night, I think we can pull it off. I've been asked also to write down the solo, so the pianist has a frame of reference, which I think is ludicrous, but I have no objections to getting it down for many reasons.
At least the adrenaline rushes have subsided; for awhile, I was getting one whenever I thought about the piece. Fewer nerves, now, more buckling down.