Wafna

Twenty-plus years ago in my first year of marching band our field show was selections of powerful classical pieces, which included two from Carmina Burana, which everyone has heard even if they aren't sure they have.  A few months ago the opportunity to join a local choir performing the work in its entirety came up, sort of bringing my musical relationship with Carl Orff full circle.  Cantorum was joined by about as many local contracted singers and a full orchestra, on stage above the dancers of Ballet West at Capitol Theater... and I realized I was fulfilling a life goal I never knew I had.  I've been to many a show at this venue but until now I'd never seen it from the other side.  It was a thrilling and exhausting and unforgettable experience.  It wasn't easy to learn the challenging score (luckily unmemorized, though by the end...), and it was a long two weeks of driving up to Salt Lake City almost every night (thaaaaanks, Wiiiiiife), but the orchestra and conductor were wonderful, the soloists were amazing and the dancers were exquisite, especially from such a unique vantage point.  I felt so deluxe using the side stage door and getting a firsthand look at the labyrinthine behind-the-scenes/backstage world of CT and walking up and down the many dozens of stairs in an acolyte robe, and of course you can't have an experience like this without getting close with your comrades, the dancers, musicians, costumers and crew, but especially the singers.  The carpool game was strong, and it was fun to spend more time with and get to know more of them better, eat food together, learning the meaning of merde, even go see a movie in between Saturday shows (Hercule Poirot, you clever man).

I'm in the show on the marquee!  Amazing!!!

They were pretty serious about not posting anything before the show actually started so we were pretty excited when they released this official shot of Chase and Beckanne with yours trulys in place.  I'm dead center in the middle row.

I was glad that Mom and Dad and Grandma and Van and Matt and Cortnie (not pictured, but for their 20th anniversary!) could all come and see it!  It's always fun when you know someone in the audience.  Thanks to BW for the comps/discounts!  Sorry for the blurry picture. :/

Panorama monks!  We took some pictures at call time one night, and first they said to look imposing and then they said to look pious and then they said to smile, so... that's what I did.

Getting pumped for the final sprint (marathon??) of Saturday matinee/closing night.

In the immortal words of Titus Andromedon, "I am keeping this robe." (But not really.)  We loved our diligent costume ladies.

I might have sneaked one picture just after the final curtain.

And then they took one and sent it out to everyone.  The dancers looked kind of naked for a good part of the production.

And one more guerrilla style, a similar shot from the 'bove.  Those wires were designed to keep us from falling to our doom.

(I feel like I started to annoy people by overposting but it was a big part of my life for a solid few weeks so there you go.)

I think the feeling most of us had at the end was a strange mixture of elation and relief and melancholy, and more than one of us probably listened to the recording within 24 hours of final curtain, but it had a really great run.

It's amazing how music can get stuck in your head after a big show like this, even for weeks and (so far) months after.  It was just a cool production and a cool experience, and as much as we would have liked to see Serenade (the first, choir-less half of the ballet), a good time was had by all.  Thanks to Ballet West and Cantorum for helping me check something off before I even knew I wanted to or ever could!

ADDENDUM: I would also like to make known that I was not only present, but ON TIME for every rehearsal and performance in SLC*, which, for those who know me, is QUITE an accomplishment.  (The carpool helped.)

ADDENDUM 2 (4 December): Did I mention this was also a paid gig?  I guess that makes me a professional musician. XD

ADDENDUM 3 (21 December): Did I also mention thanks, wife?  Because yes, she is so supportive of my love of music and desperate craving need for the spotlight!  Ha ha, but seriously, I had a good time thinking of new treats and new places to hide them to surprise her with every night before heading to the stage.  New concert tradition??

* including HALLOWEEN, where I learned I can get from my garage to my seat on stage in ~37 minutes...

American Idol 8 Auditions

As expected, here is the report of the madness and mayhem that was the events of yesterday. This is going to be long, but since many of you don't really know how AI auditions are run, the details might interest you. Here we go:

The events of these twenty-four hours in many ways mirror the similar events that took place October 2005 when Dad and I drove to "nearby" Las Vegas for American Idol auditions, but in many ways were also quite unique. On Monday evening Elise, Jeff, Lacie and I drove up to the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City to register (incidentally, am I the only person who thinks that is the most retarded rename of a public venue in recent history?), and found little to no line. Of course, the crowds on Sunday morning, when registration began, were historically insane, but we didn't want to deal with the crowds, plus, you know, previous engagements on Sunday morning. So we each had a wristband, ticket, and instructions for the following day.

I don't think any of us had enough sleep that night, not necessarily because we stayed up really late (although I did), but because were up around 4 to get ready and head right back up to SLC. We parked a nice, free distance away, and then, in the pre-dawn hours of the morning joined the thousands (in truth, reportedly 6000, which probably includes chaperones and guests) that were already queued outside of the arena. We were informed the day before that the venue wasn't allowing a line to begin forming until 5 am, and also that your place in line has nothing to do with your audition order, since our tickets detailed seat numbers based on order of registration which would indicate the order in which we would sing. We made ourselves comfortable in the line, having a light breakfast, playing a little Wackee 6 and listening to iPods. The local news and Fox camera crews were around, but looking for interesting (read: freakish) people to display on TV, and we also saw all-but-forgotten AI alum Justin Guarini. We weren't entirely surprised to find that we were in the second-to-last section, but we were glad that after only a couple of hours we were inside, away from the fast-approaching mid-day heat and sitting on the floor, although they wouldn't allow food of any kind or pillows and such into the venue (which Jeff and I ran them back to the car, sure the line would barely move in our absence, and it didn't). Unlike in Vegas, everyone was immediately ushered into the main arena and sat in their appropriate locations (in Vegas, there were several rooms of standing/waiting to get through, and I never really even had a good look of just how many people were auditioning).

Once inside, the crowd was directed in a series of promotional shots of cheering, welcoming viewers to American Idol, saying gaggy taglines ("Welcome to Happy Valley!" and "Archie did it, I can too!", the latter of which I refused to say), group singing, etc. (Honestly, if you want to be seen on TV, make a sign. It won't guarantee you get past round 1, but it will probably get you some momentary national exposure.) Then the auditions began. Although we were near the end of the group, from our unique perspective, we were able to actually see and watch (and for the most part, hear) the auditions down on the floor. For those who are unaware, there are reportedly two or three rounds before you actually audition before the three famous AI judges, in which hopefuls sing very briefly (no more than 30 seconds) for one of many "producers" sitting at nondescript tables, separated by black curtains. They line you up, four-deep in front of the tables, and four at a time you approach the table, sing one at a time, and then the producer will ask you all to approach, and then give you their decision. At the start, they set up five tables of producers, leaving space for the camera and crew, auditioned the first few people who had won local competitions/contests, etc. and then started the herding of the masses from the bleachers to the floor.


In a few minutes, a crew member introduced a very special guest, which I presumed would be a reappearance of Justin Guarini, but who turned out to be none other than the host of American Idol, that's right, Mr. Ryan Seacrest himself. I was genuinely surprised, since I don't remember seeing hide nor hair of him in Vegas. But there he was, and we were shamelessly and unapologetically acting like total fans, or at least I was. He seemed like a very nice person and interacted very casually and comfortably with the fans. Either he's a genuinely nice person or a very good actor, or some combination of both, but we were sufficiently impressed. We shot a few more group shots of show intros, this time with host in place, and when we were finished, Ryan did a little more in-front-of-camera work and eventually peaced out, and they set up an additional six tables for auditions, which moved the process along considerably, although we still knew there was a long wait ahead of us...

OMG!!! It's Ryan Seacrest!!

SEVEN HOURS LATER (which actually means 11 hours from the time we first lined up)...

Three of us made our way to the floor, at least in the final queue to audition. The preceeding hours were largely uneventful: Watching each and every auditioner; taking note of the surprising lack of weirdos (although there were a couple--the girl with the large and hideous hand puppet, the guy making an obvious show of being a crappy singer, the sequin-clad Tina Turner-wannabe); trying to guess who was in and who was out, being amazed at the number of Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood songs chosen to audition; trying to figure out what they're "looking for" this year; playing Phase 10 in the hallway while listening to painful rehearsal and warmups; calling into work places saying we were unable to make it to work; saying goodbye to Jeff who had to go for a job interview, for which we thought we would surely be done in time; etc. Elise, Lacie and I made our way to table 1, along with Charlie who was assigned also to our row. We took our turns singing (Charlie--no idea, me--Open Arms by Journey, Elise--I Know the Truth by Elton John, Lacie--You Were Loved by Whitney Houston), and then received a seemingly canned response from the producer ("This is season 8, and you all saw the show last year, so you know the bar is set very high, we had the Davids, Carly, Michael Johns, Brooke and everyone, we're looking for someone very poppy, someone with stage presence, high energy, great vocals, etc., and none of you quite fit all of those things, but you're all talented, and all really cute, so I'm sorry, but thank you for coming, if you weren't here, we wouldn't be, so thanks, etc." She kind of lost some credibility with me when she mentioned Brooke though...). She was actually really nice, and said almost exactly what I expected, so no way any of us could be disappointed. By that time, we were all so exhausted anyway, we didn't really have it in us to be nervous, and we realized halfway through the day that it doesn't really matter if you mess up your audition, since crappy people are obviously let past the first round anyway, so no reason to be nervous.

We were just glad to be done by this point. It seems like I just wasn't that exhausted at the end of the day in Vegas, but I think there were considerably less people auditioning there. Twelve hours after lining up outside, we once again saw the sun after going through the "non-winners exit" and weaving through the labyrinthine underbelly of the arena, at least reaching the fresh air of the outside. We were amazed to find that our food was where we had left it in a tree planter outside where we entered, and after eating only a measly, though inordinately expensive hotdog, I was glad for the warm peanut butter and jelly sandwich and fritos we had left behind.

A long drive home, a nice dinner, and then we all absolutely crashed. We were thinking of auditioning for the Scera production of Seussical, but I don't think I could take two rejections in one day, though our chances at the Scera are admittedly much better, and the wait would be considerably shorter.

Random statistics:

• Hours on Tuesday from start to finish: 15.
• Seconds allowed to audition: 37.
• Average number of takes for each shot: 3.
  
• Number of people in the venue: 6,000.
• Number of auditioners allowed to the next round: 150 (give or take, boy:girl ratio about half and half).
  
• People recognized in the crowd: A LOT (including three from the local singles ward, two from the recent Scera Celebrity event, one mission friend, several high school and college acquaintances, of course celebrities, and others).
• Number of hours slept straight to recoup: Approximately 14.

So there you go! More than you probably wanted to know, but if you read all the way through, you win a gummi coke bottle, payable when you come to visit.

We always felt like the system wasn't entirely honest, and after seeing many talented people denied, and many questionable people allowed, our doubts are slightly more validated. We're not bitter, we really went just for fun, but now, having at least seen almost every single person to audition, if when we watch the SLC auditions episode we see some insane amount of freakish people, we will know SOMETHING is up...

Celebrity Video

Here's the video, courtesy of Dad and his hardware. Quite a process to get it from the camcorder to online, but I figured it out eventually. Enjoy!

Celebrity Report

Well, I was waiting until the video was available, but pending some technical difficulties, I have decided to write my little report of the Scera Celebrity event for those who were unable to attend but are still interested to know what happened. The video will be posted forthwith, but for now, I will give the report. Here goes:

So, after receiving my confirmation emails, I arrived in plenty of time to see what things were going to be like. It was a little... confusing, mostly because we didn't have a dress rehearsal or practice with the band beforehand, so we were pretty much performing on the fly (which is fine, I'm familiar enough with the song I chose, and the band was quite good). The 15 performers all went backstage about fifteen minutes to starting time where we at last received some instructions (performing order, directions on using microphones properly to maximize sound, rules, ugly t-shirt distribution, etc.). I was assigned number 5, and was actually pretty surprised to see the difference between performers. They ranged from 12 to mid-(late-?)50s, but probably more than half were under 18, which I think is a hard thing for a competition like this because how do you judge fairly? Also there were only three boys. We were briefed on the guest judges (local "celebrities" of sorts, though you would never know them by name, and in fact they never showed themselves except up in their booth) and told us three people would be announced to move onto the semi-finals next month.

So the competition started. There was some Kelly Clarkson sung by girls way too young for those songs, a lot of repetitive, average country, some pretentious performances of late-90s songs, some very karaoke throwbacks to the 80s, and one or two classics. When my turn came, I walked out and did my thing. My song choice was the classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water", and it went pretty well, not my best ever, but I was satisfied and the band were really complimentary throughout and after. I would sing with those guys anytime, they were funny and pretty good musicians.

Such a cheeser on stage.

It begins...

Starting to get into it...

My personal favorite photo of the night, courtesty of Matt:
My awesome right flip-flop-clad foot.

Awesome dutch-angle photo by Matt,
and awesome grip on the microphone cord in several places by me.

Getting into the last verse...

After the next ten performances (ranging from the amusing to the passable to the painful to the bewildering), Emily Noxon, last year's winner, performed a totally and completely original and not at all in the least bit sounding like anything else country song (sarcasm...) while the guest judges deliberated, and then they presented the finalists. As I half-expected (until the performances began...), I wasn't included among the three. I guess I can't compete with a so-so wunderkinds, the relatives of a famous musical Mormon and the token PC entrants. I was surprised they didn't even pick one of the boys though. Ah well.

As an interesting side note, as promised, today I received an email containing the judges' feedback! Observe:

Drew Graham

• Nice voice. Even though it’s a slow song don’t be afraid to show emotion.
• Good choice of song just make sure the notes and breathing are there.
• Feel free to move more on stage.

I actually sort of agree about my pitch in parts, if I'm being picky (though I worked on breathing), but as for emotion, I only have one thing to say, or rather, show:


If THAT is not showing emotion, I don't know what is! But as Jared said, perhaps the judges stopped listening halfway through. I know I picked a song that starts a little soft and slow, but that's because I wanted to buuuuuiiiild! Which I did. A friend who came to watch was sitting near the judges and actually said one of them was texting during my performance. ZUH?? How unprofesh!

In the end, it was fun to perform with a live band in an outdoor venue, and it's good practice. I was uncharacteristically nervous before going onstage, but it faded once the music started. The outdoor viewing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix afterward was a swell consolation prize, though most of the singers didn't seem to stay. And I was very pleased that so many kith and kin came to watch and support me! Thanks to all who were able to make it, and to those who weren't able, for whatever reason, I don't mind. It was nice to have fans there, but I know sometimes it just doesn't work out, so no worries whatever. A bundle of joy and gladness to Lacie and Jared for the respective high-end equipment and award-worthy cinematography of the video (coming soon), and special snaps to Matt for the AMAZING photography! I never looked so good! The entire collection can be found here. I mean, over 100 pictures for a five-minute performance? Brilliant!

Next year... Elise? Jeff? Lacie? Jared?

And also, I didn't even get my ugly t-shirt! It was orange and said, "Yeah, I'm pretty much famous." What a rip! My own fault I guess, I just forgot... Or didn't care.

Tonight's the Night!

Hello everyone. Tonight is the big night! I keep having mixed feelings of what it's going to be like (on the one hand, it might be hopelessly cheesy and embarrassing, on the other hand it could be really fun and turn out quite well). I received my final instructions, including song choice verification, and at this point I'm mostly just praying it won't rain!

So, check back tonight or tomorrow morning for a full report, hopefully with pictures (eh, Matt?) and maybe even video!

Stay tuned...

UPDATE: I didn't win. But at least it didn't rain. Details to follow.

Celebrity Update

Well, I was a little worried that I hadn't heard any instructions from the Scera regarding this week's events. I thought maybe my registration hadn't been saved or something. Anyway, unfounded fears because this morning I received an email from the Production and Programs Manager at the Scera with all the instructions I need. Hurrah, I'm signed up for sure.

So, here's my (probably) final blog reminder, although I sent out a very exclusive, elite (global...) invitation on facebook last night. I invite any and all to come and watch. Unfortunately, there's not public voting, like other well-known singing competitions, there is a reported panel of "judges", and it would still be fun to come and watch a live talent competition like such and thus. This event takes place at the Scera Shell Outdoor Theatre on Wednesday, 16 July, beginning at 8. 15 people will compete this night, and the singing order is predetermined, though they won't tell us when we'll be singing until we arrive that night. The email I received indicated it will go for 90 minutes, after which the included screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will begin. It does cost $4 per, although I think with a student ID it's only 3! Sit on blankets on the grass amphitheater and bring snacks and cheeses on which to munch.

"Join us for the 3rd Annual Celebrity... [singers will] compete before judges looking for Utah’s hottest talent! The winner will have multiple opportunities to perform throughout the year, including a TV appearance on ABC Channel 4’s Good Things Utah. Competition dates are June 11, June 18, July 9, July 16, Aug. 6 and Aug. 13. Three winners will be chosen each night and those eighteen will perform in the semi-finals on Aug. 22 prior to Dancing Under The Stars. The Top Six will open for Boyz II Men on Aug. 28...

Not a singer? Come cheer on the performers as they rock the mic to some of your favorite tunes. Then stay and watch an outdoor movie @ Dusk."

Information taken from http://www.scera.org/events/view/56 .

Wow...

I know the last post is still pretty fresh, but I came across this when looking at Elise's favorite videos on youtube, and was blown away! I mean, I can understand that Corinne's talent took me by surprise, I really just don't know her all THAT well, but I have no excuse for not realizing Cami had it in her! Fantastic! Especially for a ward function. It reminds me of when Cami played Sister Mary Leo in Nunsense. I just burst with pride every time I watched her dance ballet in a habit.



It is also a pleasant surprise that Cami is enough a fan of Wicked to put this together. Well done, both of you, and good job for the nice intro, Jake.