Tag: performing arts

SubscribeStar Saturday: The 2024 Yulestravaganza Review!

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My buddy John and I played our annual Yulestravaganza the evening of Saturday, 14 December 2024.  We played a couple of one-hour-ish sets, full of classic Christmas carols, standards, and hits.

The only attendees were the barista and Dr. Girlfriend.  One shifty-looking nerd sauntered in halfway through and set at the extreme far end of the coffee shop, apparently putting as much distance between us and our Christmas cheer as possible.

We had a really good time.

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SubscribeStar Saturday: Christmas Concert 2024

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Yesterday my students performed their annual Christmas Concert.  It was a really fabulous concert, and I am super proud of my students.  Other than some very small glitches—for example, the first soloist on “O Holy Night” came in late (no big deal—we just kept vamping a C major chord until he started) and his wireless mic got a little crackly on the first few words—it went very smoothly.

There are essentially two parts to the Christmas Concert.  The first part involves the Foreign Language classes, which perform Christmas songs in their respective languages.  I always say that it’s not really Christmas until the Latin students sing “Rudolphus” (“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in Latin).  That part is fun, but it’s kind of like checking a box to me:  the Foreign Language students get a grade for singing in the concert, and it means a lot to a longtime Latin teacher for the students of the various Foreign Language classes to sing.

The second part is the real concert, when my Middle School and High School Music Ensembles get to play.  Here is the program for that portion of the concert:

Middle School Music Ensemble

  1. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
  2. “Jingle Bell Rock”
  3. “The First Noël” – an instrumental version I arranged that featured our violinist, cellist, and pianists most prominently.
  4. “Silent Night” – first in 3/4 time, then a rocked-up version in 4/4 time.

High School Music Ensemble

  1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
  2. “Hallelujah” – the Leonard Cohen one, not the Handel one!
  3. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” – first in the style of “your grandmother’s overly-long, excessively hot Christmas Eve candlelight service,” then in a swingin’ style a la the Frank Sinatra version.
  4. “Carol of the Bells” – super cool!

Combined Ensembles

  1. “O Holy Night” – with two vocal soloists and a sick guitar solo; there were about thirty-one kids on our tiny stage for this one, and it was awesome.

I didn’t get too crazy with our programming this year, and a few repeats from last year (“Jingle Bell Rock,” “Silent Night,” and “O Holy Night” are always perennial picks).

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SubscribeStar Saturday: Christmas Craziness

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‘Tis the season, dear readers, for yuletide merriment—and all the related craziness that accompanies this jingle-belled time of year.  Yours portly is exactly halfway through the middle of two weeks of arts-based insanity, and all is well.

Last night my school’s Middle School Drama students, as well as students from our Dance and Vocal Ensemble classes, gave their annual Christmas production.  They performed a cute little play called And a Groundhog in a Pear Tree, in which some of the less popular holidays—February 29th, April Fool’s Day, and Groundhog Day—attempt to write a new version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in order to save the big annual Christmas ball (the titular Twelve Days of Christmas have gone on strike).

This coming Friday, 13 December 2024, my Middle School and High School Music Ensemble students will give their annual Christmas Concert.  We have a great program planned.  The Foreign Language classes also get in on the fun, with renditions of various Christmas songs in their respective languages.  I always say that it’s not really Christmas until the Latin students sing “Rudolphus” (“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in Latin).

So, here’s a glimpse into the life of a Technical Director for Performing Arts during Christmas, which is crunch time in the performing arts world.

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Monday Morning Movie Review: Black Swan (2010)

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in their prime, partying in New York City and breaking their toes dancing ballet.  What’s not to love about Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 masterpiece Black Swan?

Well, there’s probably something wrong with it, but I enjoyed this film immensely.  I remember when Black Swan was in the theaters.  The nation was still in the depths of the Great Recession.  The T.E.A. Party was a valid political movement, and hadn’t yet been co-opted by charlatans.  I weighed 290 pounds and worked a job I hated.

Yet I somehow missed it at the time, although it looked like a flick I wanted to see.  I’m not big on ballet, but who wouldn’t want to gawk at Natalie Portman?  There are many arguments against anti-Semitism, but simply saying, “look at Natalie Portman” is probably the strongest expression of pro-Semitic sentiment.

Lustful digressions aside, my girlfriend and I watched Black Swan on our mountain excursion, and it stuck with me for days.  In quiet moments as we hiked or drove throughout the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, I’d think about scenes and ideas from the film, and we’d inevitably discuss them.

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SubscribeStar Saturday: Christmas Mayhem

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It’s Christmastime, which means a mad dash of yuletide craziness for yours portly, followed by a stately glide into New Year’s.  Right now I’m riding the wave of insanity, hoping I don’t wipe out along the way to the crest.

Years ago, I worked for a municipal performing arts center as the Cultural Coordinator—a cool title for a stressful job.  The venue was a beautiful opera house of the kind that graced many mid-sized Southern towns in the late nineteenth century.  We did not host an opera company (as far as I can recall, not a single note of opera was performed in the venue while I was there), so the name is a bit of a misnomer, but we did feature a number of different performances, both those we booked ourselves through the city, and those put on by enterprising residents who rented out our facilities.

The month of December was brutal.  In addition to our own events, we were also slammed with rentals.  Friday and Saturday nights saw me splitting my time between an outdoor musical event and whoever happened to be in the opera house that weekend.  One Christmas, I was so stressed out I starting losing weight without even realizing it, leading to my 2011 weight loss odyssey.

Unfortunately, I was so busy and stressed, I started loathing Christmas—a holiday I love!

Fortunately, while I’m still pretty busy at the holidays, I no longer dread their approach.  That said, I have had quite a week, and have another major one ahead of me.

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TBT: Flashback Friday: Opening Night

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Last night my students had their big Spring Concert, and I am hoping it went well.  I’m writing this post a day before the concert, but barring any wardrobe malfunctions or massive technical failures, it probably went well.  My students are well-rehearsed and know the songs they’re doing, so I think we’re in good shape.

Tonight the Drama students open their two-night run of Twelve Angry Jurors (Twelve Angry Men originally, but we have a mixed male-female cast).  A couple of students had to back out last-minute due to illness, family emergencies, etc., so I have to step in as Juror Ten, the bigoted one—gulp!  Fortunately, I’m not expected to memorize my lines, but I’m going to try to conceal my script in a legal pad so it’s not quite so obvious that I’m reading directly from the script.

Acting is very difficult.  This week’s TBT post looks back to when I played the lead in a play one of my former students wrote, Catching Icarus.  It was easily one of the most difficult and rewarding things I’ve ever done—and I’ve steadfastly avoided acting ever since.

I am somewhat mercenary in my artistic habits; acting is too much of a time (and mental) commitment relative to the gains (both artistic and financial).  I can slap together a good concert in a fraction of the time it takes to write, rehearse, direct, and stage a play.  And if a couple of kids can’t play on a concert, it doesn’t derail (typically) the entire event.

In other words, for me, acting is too much investment for too little return.

That said, it’s also very fun when everything clicks, and I see the appeal for those who are really into drama.

With that, here is “Flashback Friday: Opening Night“:

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Flashback Friday: Opening Night

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The concert was last night and, presumably, it went well.  I’m actually writing this post two days before the concert, so you’ll have to wait until Saturday for a full rundown.

Due to my illness earlier in the week and the hectic nature of the Fine Arts Festival, I’m throwing back to another old post this Friday.  Our High School Drama students will give their performance of their own adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.  The Drama teacher asked me to play the part of Leonato, but once I fell ill, I did something I rarely do—I backed out.  Fortunately, he is a massive Shakespeare buff, so I think he is covering the part… I hope!

Anyway, it seemed like a good time to look back to opening night of my own brief theatrical career, playing “Brett” in Catching Icarus, a two-act play a former student wrote.  The details are below in the original post, but I will add that it was extremely challenging—and rewarding.  It’s also something I have little desire to do again, as the amount of mental and emotional energy acting demands is too much.

With that, here is January 2020’s “Opening Night“:

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SubscribeStar Saturday: The Art of Concert Programming

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Subscribers:  last week’s SSS about Myrtle Beach is up, as is last week’s edition of Sunday Doodles.  My apologies for the delay.  —TPP

Every spring my school sponsors a big fine arts festival, a weekend dedicated to celebrating and showcasing our talented students.  The weekend includes two nights of our drama students performing whatever play or musical they’re presenting that season, as well as an exhibit of student artwork.

The first night, however, is the big Spring Concert.  After the dance students share some pieces, my student-musicians take the stage for their one big night of the semester.

The Spring Concert is like the Super Bowl for these kids:  it’s the biggest stage most of them will take during the academic year (though several of my students gig with bands and ensembles outside of school), and the one time they really get to soak up the spotlight.  The goal of my music classes is to put on good performances, not to seek fame, but the kids deserve some accolades and kudos.  Besides, a big part of music is being able to share it with other people.

With the Spring Concert about six weeks away, my students and I sat down this week to begin programming the concert.  Programming a concert is part science, but also an art; it requires a certain “feel” for the pieces, and how those disparate pieces link together to create a cohesive, exciting whole.

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Lazy Sunday XLIII: Music, Part II – More Music

The Portly Politico32 Comments

Well, it had to come at some point—the end to my glorious Christmas Break.  Sure, sure, summer break is great, but two weeks off at Christmas is just the right amount of time to recharge the batteries.  Plus, it’s not 100 degrees outside, and we get to celebrate the Birth of Jesus!

I wrote a great deal about music in the last quarter of 2019, and I’m kicking off 2020 focused intensely on the performing arts:  I’m going to be in a play this weekend.  That personal detail is somewhat important for the blog, as after today my focus (other than work during the day) will be almost entirely on that production.  As such, posts may be shorter than usual, or a bit delayed in getting up.

Regardless, in keeping with the fine arts, I thought I’d feature three recent pieces I wrote about music.  Enjoy!

  • “Milo on Romantic Music” – Readers are probably exhausted of reading about this post, but Milo’s analysis of Romantic music, while certainly contentious, is fascinating.  He might play the role of a melodramatic, catty queen online, but he possesses deep erudition on a variety of topics.  This post was one of “2019’s Top Five Posts” thanks to Milo’s sharing of it.
  • “A Little Derb’ll Do Ya: Haydn’s ‘Derbyshire Marches’” – Saturday mornings just aren’t the same with Radio Derb‘s opening music, Haydn’s “Derbyshire March No. 2.”  Nothing makes you feel more sophisticated about pouring coffee in your underwear than the strains of Haydn’s jaunty little march.
  • “O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting” – This morning I’ll finally be back to my little Free Will Baptist Church to play piano.  I’m also struggling to remember a huge amount of naturalistic dialogue for the aforementioned play.  The juxtaposition of returning to church piano playing and the pressure of conjuring up untold mental energies in a short span of time made this post a logical choice.  The music for “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was composed in great haste, and completed mere hours before it was performed.  My instincts (and experience) tell me that the play will, much to the director’s chagrin, unfold the same way—incompetence giving way to brilliance the night of the show.

Well, there you have it!  Happy New Year to one and all.  Back to work!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments: