The Messiah Is Come

I'll make this quick. I've got to get up and out the door for another Cleveland performance, but I wanted to share with you the review in the Plain Dealer of our Thursday night performance.

There was one little blip in a missing cue to stand, which then affected the next chorus, as most of us were obsessing about the missed cue rather than obsessing about the notes we were singing.

<Professorial Hat On>
For the uninitiated, an explanation: the movements in the Messiah that are sung by the chorus are referred to as choruses, so the statement I just made means the next movement, not the next body of singers who sang. The solo movements are recitatives and airs.
<Professorial Hat Off>

As I posted on Facebook yesterday, "Why, after singing 6,974 black dots, is it the 4 you blew that you remember instead of the 6,970 you nailed?!"

Last night was the first of eight holiday concerts. The orchestra and chorus performed impeccably, and the audience loved it. I'll share one little bit of shtick between Porco and Santa, then I'll head for the shower.

Porco: "How 'bout them Browns?" (Or something about the Browns to Santa, with an accompanying roar from the audience. I guess the Browns are a local sports team. I KID! I KID! STOP YELLING AT ME!)

Santa: [Some funny response]

Porco: "Talking about sports, how about Tiger Woods? Is he still on your list?"

Santa: "Yeah, but it looks like I'm not on his."

This was followed by a rim shot from the percussion section.

By all accounts, the bits between Porco and Santa are hilarious, but from the last row on stage I can't hear clearly. Good thing I've got seven more concerts to concentrate on their words.

Enjoy your weekend. With three concerts in the next 36 hours, I'll sure be enjoying mine!

Photo Credit: Roger Mastroianni for the Cleveland Plain Dealer