We arrived around 4 pm and wove through the backstage choked with cables and impressive looking equipment that took up at about 12 semi-trailers. Before our call we had time to wander around and see the immense size of everything involved in this production. The video clip at the bottom of this post shows what it looked like before the audience was there- a pale imitation of the actual performance! But if you really want to see fireworks from the audience's perspective, check it out, this is us at Key Arena*!
It took more time to get us lined up and into our seats than to rehearse our 2 numbers. (Why is it always so hard for choirs to line up?) To our surprise, the conductor, Mark Watters, did not ask for a repeat, courageously assuming we knew what we were doing and would behave like professionals. Of course! Then we had time to tour the lobby which had Star Wars displays of costumes and props such as the guns they used for different characters, and any number of video screens showing the growth of ideas from sketches to fantastic animals and space vehicles used in the various shows.
Finally it was show time! We lined up more quickly, and moved onstage through a dense CO2 fog, with scrim-type curtains surrounding the stage. We all wondered exactly how they would part so the audience could see us, and watched in amazement as some of the scrims whisked up to the ceiling and others dropped to the floor. The audience went nuts about that time, and when the main Star Wars theme came on, the noise was deafening. Then it was our cue. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking singing with a strange conductor and this time was no exception. The music is not difficult in terms of notes, but the rhythms of John Williams are very complex and the orchestral score kept us on our toes, counting, counting, counting. But it did go much better than the rehearsal and we got wildly enthusiastic applause and cheers. As we waited through the first half of the program for our second piece, we could hear Mr. Daniels’ narration but couldn’t really understand what he was saying. We were aware of images above us and to the side of us, but really didn’t have any idea just how much of a sensory blast the audience was getting. I’m glad we now have someone’s video of The Duel of the Fates (see link above)
It was over too soon. We exited at intermission and quite a few of us took advantage of comp tickets and stayed to watch the second half. It was a mind-boggling experience to see what we’d been a part of. And now we get to do it all over again in Portland!
~Ann Griffin, Alto
*a little legal note: the YouTube video embedded above was NOT taken by the SCC or any of it's members. The video below, which illustrates the size and magnitude of the space, however, was taken by me. :-)
