Party Hard
When we first moved out here four years ago, I was surprised that Kim didn’t want to engage with some form of singing or musical theater group. It took her a while, but eventually she found a choral group called Encore that she decided to audition to join. As with all things about singing, Kim is very unassuming and she declared after her audition that she was not at all sure that she made the grade. Needless to say, that was ridiculous and they offered her a spot on their team as an alto in an overall chorus of about 50 singers. They were very lucky to get her and I think they began to realize that very quickly. For the very first show (they do two big shows per year), she also tried out for a solo and was chosen without hesitation. She performed very well and since then, for every show, she has been chosen via audition for one of the solo or duet roles. I know I am highly biased, but I think she is one of, if not the best performers in these shows. It is hard to stand out in such a large chorus, but the solo performances really tell the tale in addition to the various singing and dancing numbers that the group performs. Kim will tell you point blank that there are many other members of the chorus that have better voices than hers, but note that I said she is the best performer. The woman does have many many years of on-stage experience and she instinctively knows how to engage the audience and still not oversell it. She is now consistently praised for her work by her fellow performers and whenever I take people to her shows, they tell me that they agree with me that her performances stand out in the crowd.
Those of you who know Kim will not be surprised to learn that she is also very popular among her peers. She is a very pleasant and thoughtful person as a rule and it does not take long for people to realize the value of those qualities. She is slowly making friends throughout the group. This is not a casual singing group. It is actually a very professional chorus, with a musical director who knows what he is doing and many other dedicated members who take their singing very seriously. In a normal run-up to a show, I would guess that the group spends two months planning and arranging the show and then rehearses the show for four months. For most of those four months, they gather weekly for a group rehearsal and for three of those months, the people who have solos gather another night of the week to rehearse those. They do several choreographic rehearsals over the months, and then in the week before the big show, they have rehearsals every night. While they do other minor shows throughout the year, the big shows are only put one for two showings and then its on to the next semiannual cycle. All of the shows are thematic and there is an attempt at costuming, which is coordinated but not strictly mandated. There is always leeway for personal flair and members are responsible for their own wardrobe. Kim, in keeping with her generous approach to life, is forever loaning or giving costuming to other members. Even I contribute to this as there is one young gentleman with a fantastic voice and a somewhat limited wallet to whom I regularly donate apparel. Its actually quite fun to se my old clothes on stage getting a new life.
In the past cycle, Kim has been asked to get involved in the management of the group. This is always a tricky situation in any large organization. She was asked to step in as the Secretary of the organization on a pro-tem basis. She is always willing to pitch in and is often asked to do such administrative tasks, which she does tirelessly and well. But like any large organization, unfortunately, Encore also has its political factions. These things tend to revolve around some serious issues like who is getting chosen for the solos, as well as around some silly issues like how the governance of the organization is taking place. Kim is quick to say that she does this for the joy of the singing and not for the organizational nonsense, but that never stops her from getting caught up in the fracas at times. It seems that now is such a time and there is a group that seems to want to take over the board and the old guard is trying to enlist Kim to their ranks to hold their ground. She is inclined towards the old guard rather than the new renegades, so while she always promises herself that she will not get involved, she also does not seem to be able to avoid it at some point. My guess is that she will end up running for office and being elected for some secondary role like Secretary and will do a fine job.
Usually, these shows and the incumbent rehearsals are held at venues that are more or less in San Diego proper. This cycle, the show is planned for a theater here in North County, specifically in our local town of Escondido. It strikes Kim funny to hear people grousing about the long drive north for weekly rehearsals el al since she usually is among those who have to travel a half hour south each week under most circumstances. Given the venue this time, Kim has done a more than normal amount of shilling for her show among the local community. Given that she is involved in the Women’s Group, the Seller’s Fair and is Co-President of the local Garden Club, she has a growing following and usually is featured in one or two articles in each of the bi-weekly local newspaper. The edition which just arrived yesterday even boasts an article specifically about her role in Encore and the upcoming local show. In fact, guess who wrote that article at her request? Oh yeah, that would be me. So I now have a by-line in the local gazette to add to my clippings that includes a picture of Kim, arms spread expressively wide, singing up a storm. I think its safe to say that the show will be well-attended by many of the local friends we have made over the last few years.
We have a house here on the hilltop, which we call Casa Moonstruck. We love our house and property for many reasons, not the least of which is because it is a very commodious entertaining house. Mostly we use it for gathering our friends and family and it has become the go-to holiday gathering spot for those groups. That does not mean that others do not entertain, quite the contrary, but I would suggest that whenever there is a larger gathering, we tend to default to our place since it generally accommodates more people. For this Encore show cycle, Kim has offered up our house for the after-show cast party. When there was a show of hands for attendance among the group, we found out that 84 people planned to attend. Even by Casa Moonstruck standards, that is twice the normal size of any gathering we have thus far hosted here.
We are blessed with good enough weather here that we can do most of our entertaining on an indoor/outdoor basis. We will block off the driveway and use the area under the shadesail as the main food and beverage repository. I have put up festive party lighting all around the space and as we looked at it last night, we feel very good about the look and feel. We will place votive candles in party bags along the driveway even though the landscape lighting does a reasonable job of defining the drive and its surroundings. We have borrowed every folding chair in the neighborhood and that, with all the folding tables we have, give us seating on the upper parking area, the patio and the deck (not to mention the dining room and living room) for 60-70 people, which should suffice given the cyclic nature of such a gathering. The food is being catered by the local deli, the beverages (soda, beer and wine) is stocked compliments of a CostCo run we made yesterday, and Kim has hired two of our cleaning girls to assist with the whole affair. I think we are ready for the crowd and have thought through everything from biodegradable service wear to trash and recycling bins, so I think we are where we need to be. So, its Party Time!