Pardon me whilst I indulge

Two weekends ago was the choir show, and man, was it ever successful!

We sold out for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's show on the prior Tuesday! People who didn't manage to snag a ticket were invited to come to Thursday's dress rehearsal for free. Bandeen Hall was at least three quarters full, I'd say. The show opened officially with a bang on Friday night, and the bang was far from winding down. Saturday was also extremely energetic, and we even got a standing ovation at intermission. Sunday was the last show, and did we ever blow the audience away! I can't say I have ever been part of a show that has had this much praise before. Not only that, but everyone is so blown away by the show (expectations are always surpassed, I must say), and they simply can't get over the fact that a mere choir is capable of being so dynamic and alive. I tell you now, this ain't no normal choir, and if I ever needed to use a double negative, that was the place.

There has been talk about moving the choir into the larger theatre, Centennial, so more people get the chance to see it. The problem with that is that the choir will lose one of the aspects (of many) that make it so great -- the intimacy. Of course, Bandeen Hall has the best acoustics on campus, but what is so great about it is that it is the perfect size. Everyone in the audience, pretty much no matter where you sit, feels involved in the show.

After Sunday's show, we all squished into cars and made it to our pianist's place in downtown Sherbrooke for our choir after-party. Andrea and I got a ride with an ex-choir member. My jaw dropped when I entered the pianist's loft -- it was one large room with hardwood floor: huge windows overlooked the Granada Theatre directly across, and she has not one but two grand pianos. She also has piano books of all kinds imaginable lying around. One of the pianos was golden and had a (fake) violin lying on top, so I think that one was just for show, but the other piano was a grand Steinway (some of you will understand how very magnificent this is). A grand Steinway piano can cost over $60 000. However, this 27-year old piano player doesn't seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

So, needless to say, I couldn't stray too far from this superb piano, so I stayed near it and danced for the majority of the after-party, save a trip outside and many trips to the food table.

Ah yes, the food table. Not only is she the best piano player around, but our pianist had set up a most amazing feast for almost ninety of us. I had never been to a party with a spread this elaborate before. Just to name a few, there was: at least eight different kinds of cheeses, at least six different types of dips (one was spinach!), various pasta salads, two different kinds of homemade pizzas, crackers, chips, fruit galore, whipped cream, two cheesecakes, chocolate, and two large platters of sushi! Now, at least you can imagine how amazing this was. You know I would have invited you, but Abu Dhabi is too far to come from just for a choir show after-party.

I danced like mad, sung so loudly and passionately that, when 3:30 am rolled around, my voice resembled that of a 50-year old hardcore smoker. Sabrina, this extremely funny, laid-back chick, Andrea, and I all took a taxi back home, all the while Andrea loudly commenting on how badly our taxi driver was tailgating. It was a superb night.

On a completely unrelated note, I find it particularly odd that people who tell me they have only $4.31 in their bank account still manage to go out and drink. And not only girls, either.