With all the happy returns we’re having, you’d think it’s our collective birthday: returning to live performance, returning to Shorecrest Performing Arts Center, and returning to the production committee being really, really busy. Let’s check in with the team, and see how they feel about our first produced show since 2019.
What are you most excited to be doing again?
Janet: I am so excited to get my “creative juices” flowing! Being creative is my passion, especially designing and painting sets, so I am excited to be doing that again. The creativity and designing of a produced show is one of my favorite things to do…coming up with ideas for the stage design, getting these ideas down on paper, making the call sheets and risers designs, then watching it all appear right before my eyes is truly amazing and such a joy!
Becca: I am just so excited to be back at the theater with sound, lighting, and sets to enhance our musical performance! Jeremy has picked some amazing repertoire for this show that really spans the breadth of what our choir can do.
Jeff: I truly missed choreographing dances and dancing in the shows, and that is what I am most excited to be doing again!
Jessi: We’re all excited to be back on stage – but maybe a little apprehensive, too.
What did you all miss most during the pandemic?
Becca: I missed the process of creating a visual show and adding in all the “extra” elements that we usually have in a COTS show—-dancing, acting, choir choralography, etc.
Janet: What I missed most was creating and discussing ideas with the team…adding costumes, sets, stage lights, a dance and vignette is wonderful! We will have our full band back and extra percussion, which is so energizing for the choir!
Jeff: For sure, I have missed seeing our collaborative ideas and creations (show flow/sets/props/dances) come together. With all the creative, challenging, and fun work we do, it is such an amazing journey to get to the stage, and then, like Janet said, it’s such a wonderful delight to see, experience, and share the finished product.
Is it all just back to business as usual? Or are there things you are doing differently now, maybe things you learned over the last three years of virtual and socially distanced singing that have affected how you think about performance?
Jessi: We are definitely working on building back up when it comes to a fully produced show. The pandemic has affected people in so many different ways, and we wanted to make sure we are providing a high-quality show without overtaxing our team or our members.
Becca: We are going to be giving singers additional space on the risers and incorporating less movement on and off the risers to avoid too much unnecessary interaction.
Janet: For sure, I’m still feeling a bit hesitant when it comes to putting the choir close together on stage again as I do not want anyone to become sick because of our show. I know we will be taking the right precautions to keep our choir and audience safe, but the experience over these past years has made it somewhat hard to get rid of this feeling.
Thank you for taking care of us so well!
Jessi: But to get back to what I was saying, Our attire is based on things most people should have at home (while still providing a cohesive look) instead of pulling costumes from the unit and scheduling times for people to try them on. We decided to rent backdrops for both halves and include some prop pieces instead of building sets.
Becca: The scenic backdrops we rented will hopefully transport the choir to a different place than standing on risers on a stage. They’re so impressive; I’m really happy with them!
Jessi: And we are having one dance and one vignette instead of several throughout the show.
Becca: Yes, we are relying heavily on visuals instead of having a lot of dancing and vignettes that would require people to spend more time in close proximity, both in rehearsals and on the stage. I think once we have this show successfully under our belts, then we can start to expand again.
Are there things you learned during the pandemic that you are carrying forward now that live shows are back?
Jessi: Looking at it in the other way around, I was very surprised at how much of our process still applied to the virtual shows! We still had sets, but it was figuring out the backgrounds for the different songs and what should be in the singer’s frame. We still had cohesive attire, but it was figuring out what most people would have in their homes instead of fitting people into pieces or shopping for them. We still had staging, but instead of positioning singerson risers or placing them on the stage, it was figuring out where on the screen they would be or what kind of transitions we wanted for each song. Everything we did had to be from a distance, so it was more about giving direction to members than being physically involved.
Becca: There are certainly some advantages to having most of our production meetings on Zoom instead of in person, but our best creativity flows when the team can all be together in a room and toss ideas around.
Janet: The one thing I learned was finding new ways to communicate with everyone. Since we were not meeting in person, we needed to email, post, text, etc. to make sure everyone received the production information. We are continuing with this even though we are now rehearsing in person. I also agree with what Jessi said: we still continued to do the same process as before, but had to think of how to do it on screen.
Becca: I don’t miss any of that. I found it difficult to get excited about visualizing singers in “Hollywood Squares” boxes. It was also challenging to try and come up with consistent backgrounds when everyone was pretty much trapped at home! I think that we are all appreciating some of the things that we took for granted prior to the pandemic like just being able to sing in a room together!
Do you have any favorite songs from the concert lineup?
Becca: It’s so hard to choose! There’s the lush harmonies of “O Magnum Mysterium” and “O Nata Lux,” the simple beauty of “Glow,” fun pop songs like “Marshmallow World”…
Janet: One song that really speaks to me is “Wonder of Winter” – I just love this song and the harmonies, plus the words are so perfect for the first-half set we are creating! I also love “Glow” by Eric Whitacre, but then I love most of his pieces. “Wonderful Christmastime” has been a favorite of mine for years – the title says it all!
With the show getting so close, I know you all have a lot to accomplish. Thank you for taking some time to talk to me, and give us all a look behind the scenes. It’s been a wild ride, but you’ve kept us on track, and steered us back to our happy place: on stage. Like you, I’m looking forward to seeing all of this come together, and sharing it with our audience.
