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GALA Festival Trip, Day 8 of 10
Jul. 13th, 2024 11:59 pmSATURDAY
Woke up at seven, took meds, peed, and reset my alarm to 7:45. Gary rolled over on his 7:30 alarm, so I rose for the day on mine and woke Gary when I was done in the bathroom. We left for Orchestra Hall about ten after eight, chatting briefly with a fellow from Dayton and another from Cincinnati in the elevator. Having noticed the moderately heavy rain from our room, we took the Skyway to Orchestra Hall for the first time, which involved walking all the way to the Convention Center and backtracking past the Hilton.
Our first concert of the day was a Coffee Concert, and the irony of coffee being prohibited in the hall at a Coffee Concert was not lost on the ushers. Jim Carroll (the smaller of The Jims, who now live in Portland) came to sit with us. The concert by GMCW (DC) was called Portraits. It featured nine paintings, each with a commissioned choral movement and a ballet matched with the visual work. We were suitably impressed.
After the concert we picked up coffee and breakfast from Dunn Brothers in the MCC lobby. Finding the outdoor seating wet from the morning's rain, we made our way to the Ikea Lounge at the opposite end of the hall by the church. Along the way we chatted briefly with the Davids and Paul from RGMC. As the time approached for the noon concert block, we got in line to enter the auditorium. I pointed out the revolving rooms at the back and Gary got some pictures.
The first group was Austin GMC with a chamber orchestra, who had an ambitious program opening with a Texas medley including Selena's "Como la Flor" and closing with "Never Ever" from Naked Man, with not a moment to spare. [] I had to leave midway through Palm Springs GMC's set to dress for our performance and return for our 2:45 call. I arrived early, waited in the Ikea Lounge, and texted Gary to take my phone for pictures during our set. For most of the two hours remaining till our warm-up room opened, I sat in the lounge and chatted with other chorines. Also said hi to Oblio after he'd had his tarot cards read. As our warm-up time approached, we lined up to file into the room and then had to scramble to get a group picture.
The performance felt good on stage, other than the absence of monitor speakers which left us guessing at balancing between voice parts, but I think we managed well enough without them. After the performance I had a nice chat with Dr. Derek from San Francisco before finding Gary and retrieving my phone. We chatted briefly with Dan and Keith, and said hi to Steve Milloy who was chatting with Steve Wolf. We then made our way back to the hotel to change clothes and make dinner reservations. En route, we chatted with Ken and Jen and noticed how much their two daughters had grown up since we'd seen them last. Austin dude spills the tea in the Skyway. 45 injury in shooting. Bear Soup chat: Manchurian Candidate? Buca di Beppo. Gigi, our French waitress in an Italian restaurant. 4 course meal: Caprese salad, garlic bread with marinara, spinach canneloni with chicken, and tiramisu (🎶 like the deserts miss the rain... 🎶) and cheesecake for dessert. The desserts are also family-sized, so we had plenty to take home after a small slice of each. Dropped off dessert and it fit in the fridge.
Off to Banned blockbuster at MCC auditorium. Sat in the middle revolving room about halfway up. Impressive cast of characters. Nina West and Dick von Dyke co-MCs. Take Note! sang "Fuck You" again to thunderous applause. Trans Festival Chorus (with Mitch) was amazing, as were the Queer Gospel Choir (with Dan) and Columbus GMC (with Brian, led by Brayton). The concert let out right at 11, so we decided to walk at street level in case they decided to close the Skyway on schedule.
We rode the elevator up with three other GALA Festival attendees and two competitors in the ballroom dancing event at the hotel. One of us noted the sharp outfit one of the dancers was wearing and imagined his entire chorus dressed in that outfit. We took some time to wind down from the day and got to bed around quarter to one.
Woke up at seven, took meds, peed, and reset my alarm to 7:45. Gary rolled over on his 7:30 alarm, so I rose for the day on mine and woke Gary when I was done in the bathroom. We left for Orchestra Hall about ten after eight, chatting briefly with a fellow from Dayton and another from Cincinnati in the elevator. Having noticed the moderately heavy rain from our room, we took the Skyway to Orchestra Hall for the first time, which involved walking all the way to the Convention Center and backtracking past the Hilton.
Our first concert of the day was a Coffee Concert, and the irony of coffee being prohibited in the hall at a Coffee Concert was not lost on the ushers. Jim Carroll (the smaller of The Jims, who now live in Portland) came to sit with us. The concert by GMCW (DC) was called Portraits. It featured nine paintings, each with a commissioned choral movement and a ballet matched with the visual work. We were suitably impressed.
After the concert we picked up coffee and breakfast from Dunn Brothers in the MCC lobby. Finding the outdoor seating wet from the morning's rain, we made our way to the Ikea Lounge at the opposite end of the hall by the church. Along the way we chatted briefly with the Davids and Paul from RGMC. As the time approached for the noon concert block, we got in line to enter the auditorium. I pointed out the revolving rooms at the back and Gary got some pictures.
The first group was Austin GMC with a chamber orchestra, who had an ambitious program opening with a Texas medley including Selena's "Como la Flor" and closing with "Never Ever" from Naked Man, with not a moment to spare. [] I had to leave midway through Palm Springs GMC's set to dress for our performance and return for our 2:45 call. I arrived early, waited in the Ikea Lounge, and texted Gary to take my phone for pictures during our set. For most of the two hours remaining till our warm-up room opened, I sat in the lounge and chatted with other chorines. Also said hi to Oblio after he'd had his tarot cards read. As our warm-up time approached, we lined up to file into the room and then had to scramble to get a group picture.
The performance felt good on stage, other than the absence of monitor speakers which left us guessing at balancing between voice parts, but I think we managed well enough without them. After the performance I had a nice chat with Dr. Derek from San Francisco before finding Gary and retrieving my phone. We chatted briefly with Dan and Keith, and said hi to Steve Milloy who was chatting with Steve Wolf. We then made our way back to the hotel to change clothes and make dinner reservations. En route, we chatted with Ken and Jen and noticed how much their two daughters had grown up since we'd seen them last. Austin dude spills the tea in the Skyway. 45 injury in shooting. Bear Soup chat: Manchurian Candidate? Buca di Beppo. Gigi, our French waitress in an Italian restaurant. 4 course meal: Caprese salad, garlic bread with marinara, spinach canneloni with chicken, and tiramisu (🎶 like the deserts miss the rain... 🎶) and cheesecake for dessert. The desserts are also family-sized, so we had plenty to take home after a small slice of each. Dropped off dessert and it fit in the fridge.
Off to Banned blockbuster at MCC auditorium. Sat in the middle revolving room about halfway up. Impressive cast of characters. Nina West and Dick von Dyke co-MCs. Take Note! sang "Fuck You" again to thunderous applause. Trans Festival Chorus (with Mitch) was amazing, as were the Queer Gospel Choir (with Dan) and Columbus GMC (with Brian, led by Brayton). The concert let out right at 11, so we decided to walk at street level in case they decided to close the Skyway on schedule.
We rode the elevator up with three other GALA Festival attendees and two competitors in the ballroom dancing event at the hotel. One of us noted the sharp outfit one of the dancers was wearing and imagined his entire chorus dressed in that outfit. We took some time to wind down from the day and got to bed around quarter to one.