We had our final concert of the year on Friday, the POPS CONCERT where the kids get to sing solos of whatever songs they want and i basically prepare cheesy songs from the 60s for us all to sing like "Yellow Submarine" and "Do you Believe in Magic." I had some major hesitation at the beginning, it's a little scary to let your students sing solos of their favorite country and R&B songs... you just never know how it might end up. But I was amazed and thrilled at the talent level and the excitement that came from that little auditorium on Friday night. It went better than i could have asked for.
I was sitting in my office last week, thinking to myself how i had no idea what i was getting myself into in this profession. I had 30 days to put this concert together, not knowing at all what i was doing or what it was supposed to be like. The list of things to think about is astounding and as i looked back at it last week i have to admit i was kinda proud of myself for not forgetting anything too major. Okay, there were MANY mistakes made, like the curtain wasn't closed and the concert was anything but professional, but all in all, i think i'm getting the hang of things. Things like:
Auditions: Lesson learned: be specific. no, you can't curse. No, you can't sing along with Justin Timberlake while he sings on the CD. Yes, you must find an accompanist. Yes, he can play the violin and drums. Yes, i need a copy of the lyrics. No, you can't wear that. Yes, i need to actually hear you sing the song in order for you to be in the show. No, you can't be in 10 acts. Yes, we can certainly work on your song. Sign up on the "Meet with Ms. Clark" board. No, I can't play the piano for everyone. Yes, you're in!
Uniforms- What to wear and when to wear it. You have to be super specific if you don't want to see too much skin, sneakers, green hair, logos on t-shirts, ect. This concert I had each choir wear all black and then an "accent" color of some kind- men wore red, women wore yellow and green, chamber wore blue. It looked so cool when they were all up there together :)
Programs- My dear mother helped me out big time. I emailed her the list of singers/songs (by the way there were 32 acts!) and she put together the cutest program ever. But getting that all correct was hard work and i spelled at least 3 kid's names wrong... Then running them off, folding, making sure you thank enough people, have all the accompanists...
Lighting- Thankfully we have students who know what they're doing but our acts were all over the stage and the spotlighting couldn't have been easy. Luckily i had an excel spreadsheet put together of who would be where, when, so it wasn't as difficult (hopefully) when it was all said and done. But even down to making sure there's enough light for the piano players... it's just more than i thought I'd ever be in charge of. But i must say, working on the talent show crew for EFY the past couple years was seriously the biggest help EVER for this, I knew how to put a show together really quickly as we do every single week in the summer, and what the kids need to know and what they don't. Thank heaven.
Admission- charging admission kinda takes some work.... finding reliable people to take the money, where to put it, how much to charge so that people will come... I am SO grateful for willing parents!!!
Advertising- Making and putting out fliers, getting announcements, getting things on the website, knowing who to talk to. I'm learning.
Sound- We were blessed with the most incredible student's father we could ever have. he does all the sound and he is so good at it. He's patient with the kids and makes every single number sound good. Best thing of all, he records it all, for free, so that we can have archival cds. But going through every single number to make sure the mics are in the right places and people can hear themselves was rather eventful.
Food!/Party- So i ordered 37 pizzas for our end of the year party afterward for the audience. Only thing is, i had no idea how many people to expect or how to get 37 pizzas from the pizza place to the school while i was conducting the choir. 14 calls from Little Caesars later, we got our pizzas. All had a good time.
Senior Recognition- Had to go get roses from Safeway, fill the little water tubes and employ some help getting them on, print out certificates, make sure the principal signed them, make sure they're all spelled correctly, and make sure we have an appropriate song to end on. They sang "Things that Never Die," a piece that I have sung with two different groups, both my own high school's choir and BYU Women's Chorus. It is a song I have very deep feelings about, based on a poem by Charles Dickens. In it it holds the line, "Let nothing pass, for every hand must find some work to do. Lose not a chance to waken love." Those words hit me to the very core, the idea that we have a duty, just by the mere fact that we are human and we live in this world, to better ourselves and the people around us. No one is exempt. We can make a difference by "wakening" the love that people have inside them; the lonely, the heartbroken, the curious, the kind, the angry, everyone. It is a phrase that drives me to action, one that really makes me want to go out and make a difference. Now.
Dress Rehearsal-Ha, can you say stress?? We couldn't hold our day-before-the-concert dress rehearsal in the auditorium because the seniors had their awards assembly in there that night (which we sang at as well) so we had to walk through the concert in our minds. RIIIGHT. we all know how that goes over. It ended in a pretty big disaster last concert. So i learned my lesson and had them arrive 2 hours early for the concert and ran through the whole thing without the songs. And you know what? not a single glitch. okay, maybe one or two. But nothing devastating.
Risers!!-Ahh, how i hate the risers :) as i type i can't help but laugh thinking about trying to wheel 5 huge riser sets from my room to the auditorium and finally calling on custodial help, only to find out that everyone has left (it is friday afternoon, after all). So when we finally get it all down there, our stage OBVIOUSLY has no ramp to wheel things on so you have to physically lift these things up! So they send me off to gather more help in the form of teachers and students. Well every time i ask teachers for help, they radio the custodians who are ALREADY there in the auditorium, and they just keep getting more and more frustrated by being told to go to help and they already are. That happened like three times. I walked around and around the building, asking teachers for help only to hear that they were, understandably, busy grading tests and all. Anyway, we finally get them up and put together, again only to find that they are out of order and we must start all over again. Of course. My shoulders are bruised but i'm not worse for the wear :)
Oh, and the music- luckily it was music they all enjoyed; The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Let me Be Your Teddy Bear, I'm Walkin' on Sunshine, Cinderella songs, Kiss the Girl, The Way you Look Tonight, You Can't Stop the Beat, and a few more. Those of you who know anything about me will be surprised to know that yours truly came up with some of the choreography for my groups. I would have despised it if i were one of them, just cuz i hated that stuff in HS but it's amazing how much the audience eats it up and most of the kids really do enjoy it. And it at least gets them smiling which is near impossible any other time. they sounded good too, i got some wonderful compliments and it made me feel like i'm actually having some success. It's kinda nice.
The most depressing thing i guess is that when it's all said and done, i spend a total of maybe 7 hours at my house a day, 6.5 of which i'm sleeping. I'm up at 5:15, out the door by 5:30, and then i walk in at 10:30pm, go to my room, change my clothes, and jump in bed. My toothbrush, extra clothes, they all end up at school. I didn't even realize that till i spent the night in arlington after the show and realized i had everything i needed to get ready for the day with me. So it's true, i live at school. but it's over in a week so i don't feel so bad. Things have taken a turn for the better.
For those of you wondering, i'll be back here in the fall for another year in maryland. Crazy, perhaps. But we expect nothing less.
ONE MORE WEEK!!!!!!!
As is tradition I'll post my summer schedule, that way you don't have to ask where i am cuz i usually don't even know. This one's gonna be pretty typical, on the road lots. But good things are happening and i cant wait to get with the youth!
I was sitting in my office last week, thinking to myself how i had no idea what i was getting myself into in this profession. I had 30 days to put this concert together, not knowing at all what i was doing or what it was supposed to be like. The list of things to think about is astounding and as i looked back at it last week i have to admit i was kinda proud of myself for not forgetting anything too major. Okay, there were MANY mistakes made, like the curtain wasn't closed and the concert was anything but professional, but all in all, i think i'm getting the hang of things. Things like:
Auditions: Lesson learned: be specific. no, you can't curse. No, you can't sing along with Justin Timberlake while he sings on the CD. Yes, you must find an accompanist. Yes, he can play the violin and drums. Yes, i need a copy of the lyrics. No, you can't wear that. Yes, i need to actually hear you sing the song in order for you to be in the show. No, you can't be in 10 acts. Yes, we can certainly work on your song. Sign up on the "Meet with Ms. Clark" board. No, I can't play the piano for everyone. Yes, you're in!
Uniforms- What to wear and when to wear it. You have to be super specific if you don't want to see too much skin, sneakers, green hair, logos on t-shirts, ect. This concert I had each choir wear all black and then an "accent" color of some kind- men wore red, women wore yellow and green, chamber wore blue. It looked so cool when they were all up there together :)
Programs- My dear mother helped me out big time. I emailed her the list of singers/songs (by the way there were 32 acts!) and she put together the cutest program ever. But getting that all correct was hard work and i spelled at least 3 kid's names wrong... Then running them off, folding, making sure you thank enough people, have all the accompanists...
Lighting- Thankfully we have students who know what they're doing but our acts were all over the stage and the spotlighting couldn't have been easy. Luckily i had an excel spreadsheet put together of who would be where, when, so it wasn't as difficult (hopefully) when it was all said and done. But even down to making sure there's enough light for the piano players... it's just more than i thought I'd ever be in charge of. But i must say, working on the talent show crew for EFY the past couple years was seriously the biggest help EVER for this, I knew how to put a show together really quickly as we do every single week in the summer, and what the kids need to know and what they don't. Thank heaven.
Admission- charging admission kinda takes some work.... finding reliable people to take the money, where to put it, how much to charge so that people will come... I am SO grateful for willing parents!!!
Advertising- Making and putting out fliers, getting announcements, getting things on the website, knowing who to talk to. I'm learning.
Sound- We were blessed with the most incredible student's father we could ever have. he does all the sound and he is so good at it. He's patient with the kids and makes every single number sound good. Best thing of all, he records it all, for free, so that we can have archival cds. But going through every single number to make sure the mics are in the right places and people can hear themselves was rather eventful.
Food!/Party- So i ordered 37 pizzas for our end of the year party afterward for the audience. Only thing is, i had no idea how many people to expect or how to get 37 pizzas from the pizza place to the school while i was conducting the choir. 14 calls from Little Caesars later, we got our pizzas. All had a good time.
Senior Recognition- Had to go get roses from Safeway, fill the little water tubes and employ some help getting them on, print out certificates, make sure the principal signed them, make sure they're all spelled correctly, and make sure we have an appropriate song to end on. They sang "Things that Never Die," a piece that I have sung with two different groups, both my own high school's choir and BYU Women's Chorus. It is a song I have very deep feelings about, based on a poem by Charles Dickens. In it it holds the line, "Let nothing pass, for every hand must find some work to do. Lose not a chance to waken love." Those words hit me to the very core, the idea that we have a duty, just by the mere fact that we are human and we live in this world, to better ourselves and the people around us. No one is exempt. We can make a difference by "wakening" the love that people have inside them; the lonely, the heartbroken, the curious, the kind, the angry, everyone. It is a phrase that drives me to action, one that really makes me want to go out and make a difference. Now.
Dress Rehearsal-Ha, can you say stress?? We couldn't hold our day-before-the-concert dress rehearsal in the auditorium because the seniors had their awards assembly in there that night (which we sang at as well) so we had to walk through the concert in our minds. RIIIGHT. we all know how that goes over. It ended in a pretty big disaster last concert. So i learned my lesson and had them arrive 2 hours early for the concert and ran through the whole thing without the songs. And you know what? not a single glitch. okay, maybe one or two. But nothing devastating.
Risers!!-Ahh, how i hate the risers :) as i type i can't help but laugh thinking about trying to wheel 5 huge riser sets from my room to the auditorium and finally calling on custodial help, only to find out that everyone has left (it is friday afternoon, after all). So when we finally get it all down there, our stage OBVIOUSLY has no ramp to wheel things on so you have to physically lift these things up! So they send me off to gather more help in the form of teachers and students. Well every time i ask teachers for help, they radio the custodians who are ALREADY there in the auditorium, and they just keep getting more and more frustrated by being told to go to help and they already are. That happened like three times. I walked around and around the building, asking teachers for help only to hear that they were, understandably, busy grading tests and all. Anyway, we finally get them up and put together, again only to find that they are out of order and we must start all over again. Of course. My shoulders are bruised but i'm not worse for the wear :)
Oh, and the music- luckily it was music they all enjoyed; The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Let me Be Your Teddy Bear, I'm Walkin' on Sunshine, Cinderella songs, Kiss the Girl, The Way you Look Tonight, You Can't Stop the Beat, and a few more. Those of you who know anything about me will be surprised to know that yours truly came up with some of the choreography for my groups. I would have despised it if i were one of them, just cuz i hated that stuff in HS but it's amazing how much the audience eats it up and most of the kids really do enjoy it. And it at least gets them smiling which is near impossible any other time. they sounded good too, i got some wonderful compliments and it made me feel like i'm actually having some success. It's kinda nice.
The most depressing thing i guess is that when it's all said and done, i spend a total of maybe 7 hours at my house a day, 6.5 of which i'm sleeping. I'm up at 5:15, out the door by 5:30, and then i walk in at 10:30pm, go to my room, change my clothes, and jump in bed. My toothbrush, extra clothes, they all end up at school. I didn't even realize that till i spent the night in arlington after the show and realized i had everything i needed to get ready for the day with me. So it's true, i live at school. but it's over in a week so i don't feel so bad. Things have taken a turn for the better.
For those of you wondering, i'll be back here in the fall for another year in maryland. Crazy, perhaps. But we expect nothing less.
ONE MORE WEEK!!!!!!!
As is tradition I'll post my summer schedule, that way you don't have to ask where i am cuz i usually don't even know. This one's gonna be pretty typical, on the road lots. But good things are happening and i cant wait to get with the youth!
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