Monday, April 27 - Walking down the hall in the Unitarian Church basement was a bit of a flashback. I had begun singing again - five years ago, with this group and my sister. At first it was just a lark, singing show tunes with a great bunch of people for the joy of singing, but with their encouragement, I rediscovered how much it meant to me. And now, here I am singing with the EYBS, enjoying the camaraderie and learning more about technique and performance. Well, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.
The EYBS members who had volunteered to join me in this flash mob didn’t know what to expect. The folks in the class welcomed us with open arms sharing memories of their experiences of barbershopping and thanked us for visiting. Even before we sang a note! I guess they knew what to expect.
We warmed up with the 20 singers of the Avenue Road for the Arts show tune chorus. And then into a few of their favourites. Pat Rose is an enthusiastic leader and the band, David Warrack on piano, is worth the price of admission alone with his virtuoso renditions of great songs.
The moment of truth arrived. I introduced the VLQ, why were there and a brief history of the chorus and the charities we support. The plan was to sing some songs, sell some tickets for our show and bring some new folks out to the auction. With a sold-out show, it became an opportunity to expose the show tunes group (after all, it was a flash mob) to our style of singing.
Led by Pat, George, Geoff, Opie, Eddie, Jason, Bob, Terry, Gerry S., and I began with On A Wonderful Day. And it certainly was! They were captured by our singing and performance. The second number, Live ‘Til I Die was greeted with more applause. Then Pat encouraged them to join us by teaching the tag for our finale. Even without the SP, Do You Hear The People Sing rocked the house as everyone joined in.
All of the comments at the break and afterwards were extremely positive. George, Opie and Pat were fan favourites and Pattie is looking for a date with Jason. Three of the men said that they would like to visit the chapter; one of ladies enthused, saying that she had never heard anything so wonderful; and a gentleman gave me some money for the auction, even though he couldn’t attend. I stayed until the end of the class and have never heard them sing so well.
A total success and a big shout out to all who participated. We shared our music and made some new friends. And that’s what it’s all about!