A Christmas Carol - 3 Performances in One Day

In my quest for the full bass playing experience, I achieved another milestone yesterday. I played for three performances of the 90-minute musical A Christmas Carol --in one day.

The first two shows were at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., for schoolkids. You could hear the high pitched din as they came in and sat and waited for us to start. Of course, in the pit you can't see anything in the building, but we knew we had a full house. We got some visitors peering over the wall, and we did our best to make it an interesting introduction to musical instruments, showing off what they looked and sounded like. From the sound of the applause and cheering at the end, the kids had a great time.

Andrea Gorham, who owns Curtain Call Performing Arts, the company that put the program together, talked with the kids, telling them it was her dream to expose kids to theater. Her outreach program to schoolkids has shown live theater to about 5,000 kids so far. The local girl, who attended the school in which the performances were taking place, thanked two of her former teachers, who were in the audience with their students.

The evening show was for grown-ups. You could tell by how quiet it was. But--there was plenty of applause when we were done--and we had some visitors peeking in too.

The three performances all went well from a musical standpoint. Each time, I played a little better and more completely. Passages that I had just glossed over came into focus and I beat out the rhythm with confidence. It helped to have a fine bunch of fellow player in the pit with me, and a leader like Jon Siapno, who has years of experience in choral conducting, but was working with his first instrumental group.

Two more shows--one tonight and a matinee tomorrow, and then we wrap. Eight performances in two weeks. But so far, no blisters, and my sore feet recover quickly as soon as I sit down for a few minutes.

I'll have to see about doing this again next year. I'm thinking perhaps the Nutcracker!