About 3 months ago, I got an email from Merrilee Webb letting me know she had been asked to do a concert on Temple Square on Thanksgiving weekend. I thought that sounded fun so I signed up for it. I checked with Colleen to see if she wanted to do it too, but she said she was going to be out of town for a lot of the practices so she didn't think she could. I sure missed going to the practices with her like we had done before in the other choirs we've been in, but it was fun to make some new friends too.
I had to miss a few of the practices too ...one because I was at Camilles' and then another night we had YWIE. Each of these practices is pretty intense so it's hard to catch up if you miss. They gave us a cd with our part on it for each song so that helped.
Merrilee is just a special lady...totally crazy and hilarious to watch, but she knows how to get the very best out of the people she has to work with. She makes each time we are together a spiritual experience. Even though she is trying to pack so much into the two hours we have to practice, she takes time to talk about the songs and lets people share their own stories of how the songs and singing in this choir has uplifted them. People really bare their souls. Once again, hearing some of these ladies stories makes me so grateful for my own little drama free life. I think some of these ladies kind of thrive on the drama and create it their selves...but some have real legitimate trials and hard things in their lives...things I can't even imagine going through.
Merrilee is always encouraging us to be positive and try to lift those around us with kindness. We always leave the practice feeling better than when we came.
Every time we do a concert, the gals that help run the show, put together a gift we can all go in on to give to Merrilee. This year, they decided to give her a big jar filled with notes from all of us about a kindness or act of service we had done during that time. It was a pretty cool idea and got us all a little more motivated to do some good in the world.
When they presented it to her at the dress rehearsal, she was pretty overwhelmed and I think pleased.
We were supposed to be at the tabernacle for the dress rehearsal at two so I left the house at about 1:15...knowing it was probably not going to be easy to find a parking place. They said we could park in the conference center for free, so I pulled down in there. I couldn't believe how many people there were in there driving around looking for a empty space! I drove through the whole parking lot and there was not one open space. Cars were just going around and around waiting for someone to leave. By this time, it was after two and I was sure having a full on panic attack. To top it off, this lady in front of me driving this big white van was really struggling to make the turns and ran right into a big pole. Then she just sat there... I mean I felt so bad for her, but that made it so no one could move. Finally, she pulled herself together and tried to back off of the pole. It made a terrible screeching noise and left a big scrape and dent down the side of her van. Oh man, I felt bad for her! After she moved and I could get past, I decided to go around one more time, then if there wasn't anything, I would have to go outside to try to find a parking spot. I pulled around the corner and there right next to the elevator, a car was getting ready to pull out! Oh I was so happy! I wanted to go kiss those two ladies in that car! I hurried and parked and hustled over to the tabernacle. I sit down next to another lady who had also had a stressful parking experience. She mentioned that she was in such a hurry that she had forgotten her water bottle. It was then that I realized that I had not only forgotten my water bottle, but my music as well! So I took off and ran back to the conference center parking...(luckily I was in that fabulous parking spot right next to the elevator) grabbed my music and water and ran back to the tabernacle. When I got back, they were just moving up into the choir seats.
I sat next to a gal that looked just like my old friend Shiree Parker. In fact, I thought it was her till I started talking to her. She was a real nice lady though and it was fun to get to know her. We had a three hour practice that just flew by. It was interesting watching Merrilee manage all the different problems that arose. She doesn't get flustered or upset or even stop smiling. She just deals with it, works out a solution and moves on. I am sure I would have curled up in a ball and cried during some of these situations. At one point, the organ, the choir and the drums were all supposed to be moving along together in a marching kind of a beat. The men were supposed to be coming onto the stage at this point and begin singing with the women in the middle of this grand marching song. Well the men came in way too slow so they weren't even close to being on the stage when they were supposed to start singing, the organ was a beat behind us and the choir wasn't even all singing together. If you just listened to what was going on around you, it was really easy to get off the tempo...you had to watch Merrilee direct us to stay on beat. She tried having the men file in three times and still they were too slow. So we just left that song with her saying "It will all work out" Ha! But it actually did...the men hurried in as fast as they could and they just started singing before they got to the spot where they were going to stand. I just really admire the way she holds it together under super stressful circumstances.
We had planned for Kelley, Katie and KC to meet up with me after my practice at 5 and we would go to dinner before the concert at 7:30. I felt bad Candice couldn't make it. I had told her the concert was on Friday cause that's when I thought it was, and she had made other plans for Saturday by the time I told her that's when it was. I know she really wanted to be there and would have been if she could. Anyway, Kelley was there waiting for for me when we finished the practice and we walked over to City Creek to meet up with KC and Katie. It took us a while to find each other...there were sooooo many people there! When we finally met up, we tried to find a restaurant, but every single place had lines going clear down the sidewalk just to get in! We were about ready to give up and Kate spotted Jimmy Johns that was kind of out of the way so not as many people were there. We were able to get in fairly quick and even found a table to sit at! (people were sitting everywhere...on the floor, on the steps, some were just standing eating their food... this place was just packed!)
I had to be back over to the tabernacle by 6:30, so I barely had time to shovel in my sandwich.
Kelley walked me back over to the Temple grounds which by the way were amazing! It was a wonderfully warm evening...I bet it was close to 60 degrees so there were a million people down there to see the lights. Can I just say how grateful I am for Kelley and the way he watches out for me and just pretty much treats me like a queen. I was just thinking how glad I am that he is mine as he walked me to the doors of the Tabernacle, gave m a kiss and wished me good luck.
We all met in the lower room of the tabernacle and Merrilee and the other gal in charge talked to us for a bit before we went up to our choir seats. It was pretty moving when she asked our pianist who, by the way is amazing, if she would share her story with us. She proceeded to tell us that she had been diaganosed with breast cancer in February. She had a double mastectomy and was still going through treatments and some reconstructive surgery. She told us how her mother had died at the age of 46 from breast cancer and Carolyn had just turned 45. She had worried that she wouldn't be able to be prepared to play because of the surgery's but felt blessed that she was being helped from a higher source as she played. The music she had to play was incredibly hard and she played it flawlessly....seriously not one mistake.
The tabernacle was packed. It sold out the first day the tickets were available. I felt bad because Leslie and Alan were going to come but couldn't get tickets. I tried to get some extra tickets but there were none to be had.
The Tabernacle is kind of a magical place to get to sing and I sure felt honored to be sitting in those historic choir seats. The music sounds especially beautiful because of the way the dome of the building was constructed. It makes the sound so clear and loud...well, you can hear a pin drop.
The songs went off without a hitch...except one that would have also made me cry if I was trying to direct it. In this song, Merrilee goes out into the audience and asks people to come up with a one syllable word that reminds them of Christmas. Then we put those words into our music. I don't know if people don't know what one syllable means but they were coming up with words like solitude and cookies and santa! Ha! She didn't get flustered though and just laughed about it as we tried to fit solitude into a one syllable slot. Ha! It made the song really weird but I guess no one knew any different but us how it was supposed to sound.
It really was just a great experience and I'm so glad I got a chance to be a part of it. I love music and the way it makes me feel. Something hard to describe, but at times so moving that I have to stop singing (mostly because I have a big lump in my throat) and just take it all in. I didn't inherit mum's beautiful singing voice, mine is ordinary and choir-ish, but she instilled in me a love for music and beautiful harmony that I will be eternally grateful for.
