bigmacbear (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bigmacbear) wrote2002-07-12 08:58 pm
bigmacbear) wrote2002-07-12 08:58 pm
GALA and further festivities
OK folks, I suppose I should have done this as soon as I returned from the festival last Monday while the events were fresh in my mind, but since I only got back from Cincinnati about 1:30 Monday morning I was in no shape to do so. So here goes...
Dennis (a fellow Chorine) and I left about 7 AM on Wednesday (7/3) for Cincinnati, stopping for lunch and gas in Cleveland (where we had been traveling the past two weekends in preparation for this event) and making a quick drive-by tour of the Ohio State campus as we passed through Columbus.
We arrived at my folks' place in Springdale (20 miles or so north-northwest of downtown) about 5:30 PM, stopped long enough to deposit my bags and have a quick bite to eat, and got Dennis checked in at the hotel downtown about 6:30, where we met Dennis's roommate for the festival, Bill.
At 7:30 we trooped off to the Aronoff Center (the venue for the whole festival's concerts) to attend the first concert, which featured the local host choruses, MUSE (the Cincinnati Women's Chorus) and the Cincinnati Men's Chorus. Afterward we went to dinner with Dennis' bear friend Michael from Louisville. On the way to dinner we met a couple, Steve and David, who are the musical director and the accompanist respectively for VocalPoint, a small ensemble of the CMC. We had a very pleasant conversation over dinner and then went our separate ways, which for me meant a 20-minute drive back to Springdale each evening/early morning. Fortunately my folks are of an age where waiting up all night for me to return is really not an option, a fact for which I was most grateful this particular trip. ;-)
Thursday was a late day for me since the first festival event I planned to attend was the 3 PM Mass Choir rehearsal. So I had time to chat, share pictures, and have lunch with my folks before returning downtown.
The Mass Choir rehearsal went fairly well, followed by the next concert block which featured the Coastliners (small ensemble of the North Coast Men's Chorus from Cleveland) and the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus which did a 1960's set featuring a Laugh-In segment. (Most memorable was them turning Arte Johnson's old joke "Do you believe in the hereafter? -- Well, you know what I'm here after." into a comment on modern times, by simply dressing the funny man as a priest and having him addressing a much younger man rather than Ruth Buzzi. ;-)
We chose to forgo the July 4th fireworks festivities on the river; Cincinnati is better known for their Labor Day blowout anyway. I had a sneaking suspicion that Columbus' new director was someone I knew rather well from my tenure at Ohio State, and sure enough it was confirmed when we bumped into one another later that evening in the hotel elevator. We didn't have much of a chance to catch up, but it was good seeing him after all these years. After an excellent late dinner at the hotel with Dennis and Bill, it was time to head for Springdale and bed.
Friday was Mass Choir day, with a noon performance on Fountain Square. (We were unable to participate in the follow-up performance on Saturday at Findlay Market because of a conflict with our technical rehearsal. Probably just as well.) My folks decided to see this performance, with my sister and her daughter and son, since this particular niece was expecting a child at any moment and it would be highly improbable they would be able to attend our performance with North Coast the next day. So Mom managed to get some pictures for me while I was singing with the Mass Choir. Although sparsely attended by anyone else not involved with the festival (perhaps because most businesspeople were taking the day off as part of the holiday) the concert was covered well by the local media.
The concert block for the day was in the afternoon, featuring several choruses from North Carolina as well as the Indianapolis Men's Chorus, and closing with the GLASS Youth Choir from British Columbia. Since an evening banquet was scheduled (which we chose not to attend), there was no evening concert block, and Dennis and I joined Bill and some of his friends for an excellent, leisurely, and only moderately expensive meal at a fine restaurant on the Skywalk.
Saturday morning my folks greeted me with the news that my niece was in the hospital in labor (which seemed impossible looking at her the previous afternoon...) and this being her first child would probably take a while, and so they would likely not be able to come hear us that evening which was pretty much to be expected. I'm glad they at least got to hear the Mass Choir.
The morning was a rather hectic one since we had to fit a technical rehearsal and a regular rehearsal in before the first of two concert blocks at 2 PM, which left no time for lunch. At the technical rehearsal we met "Huggybear" (yet another Michael) from Detroit, since they were performing directly before us on that evening's program. As it happened we managed to grab some hot dogs from a vendor on the street, which sufficed for lunch.
The first concert block of the day featured our own Rochester Women's Community Chorus, as well as both Renaissance City choirs from Pittsburgh. One of the Rochester women's pieces referred to big dogs, and sure enough, one of the women (who by her own admission "has no shame") got down on all fours at the end and began to howl, which got much of the audience woofing and barking during the applause -- all we needed was someone to start up a chorus of "Who Let The Dogs Out?" ;-) Also, the men from Pittsburgh did a piece called "Drama Queen" by Eric Lane Barnes (whom I also got the opportunity to meet when Dennis introduced us earlier in the week) with each chorine in a tiara. ;-) After the concert I got to see a fellow named Brian from Columbus whom![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gmjambear and I had met at Bear Soup in San Jose two summers ago. He told me he was going to be a judge for the River Bears' contest later that evening.
Between concerts we had dinner at Pizzeria Uno across from the Aronoff Center, during which we chatted with the women at the next table who were from Albany's mixed chorus. Then we spent an hour or so relaxing at the hotel before changing into concertdrag garb and returning to the Aronoff for our performance.
We were able to see the small groups on the evening's program (VocalPoint and Sotto Voce) before we had to leave the audience to go backstage. As a result we missed two choruses, one of which was Detroit's rendition of selections from Die Walküre (also known by Bugs Bunny fans as "Kill Da Wabbit") in which "Huggybear" got to wear the "brass tits". I think our performance with North Coast went very well, considering the reaction from the audience -- as well as the sentiments of the North Coast members themselves expressing how glad they were we could "sit in" with them.
That evening Dennis, Bill, Michael from Louisville and I went to the River Bears' 2002 Mr. River Bear contest. Although I was born and raised in Cincinnati it was the first time I've ever attended a bear event there. We could not see much of the contest (nor Brian for that matter) due to the crowd, but we had fun and met several other GALA bears -- including Craig from Washington, DC, who knew Bill from when he used to sing with them. All in all it was a fun evening, and unfortunately ended way too soon.
Sunday morning was my other "designated family time" of the trip. I found out my niece had had her baby daughter at about 10 PM on Saturday and mother and child were doing fine. After Mass there was just sufficient time to pack and say goodbye to the folks before I had to get downtown for a quick lunch and the final concert block at the Aronoff. We got to see Craig again, and on the way to the car met a couple of bears from Pittsburgh and had a nice chat. From there it was back to the car for the long ride back. We arrived in Rochester about 1:30 Monday morning, just in time to wake Gary for work. ;-(
In sum, a very interesting way to spend a GALA weekend. Next post: the weekend to come -- an embarassment of riches.
Dennis (a fellow Chorine) and I left about 7 AM on Wednesday (7/3) for Cincinnati, stopping for lunch and gas in Cleveland (where we had been traveling the past two weekends in preparation for this event) and making a quick drive-by tour of the Ohio State campus as we passed through Columbus.
We arrived at my folks' place in Springdale (20 miles or so north-northwest of downtown) about 5:30 PM, stopped long enough to deposit my bags and have a quick bite to eat, and got Dennis checked in at the hotel downtown about 6:30, where we met Dennis's roommate for the festival, Bill.
At 7:30 we trooped off to the Aronoff Center (the venue for the whole festival's concerts) to attend the first concert, which featured the local host choruses, MUSE (the Cincinnati Women's Chorus) and the Cincinnati Men's Chorus. Afterward we went to dinner with Dennis' bear friend Michael from Louisville. On the way to dinner we met a couple, Steve and David, who are the musical director and the accompanist respectively for VocalPoint, a small ensemble of the CMC. We had a very pleasant conversation over dinner and then went our separate ways, which for me meant a 20-minute drive back to Springdale each evening/early morning. Fortunately my folks are of an age where waiting up all night for me to return is really not an option, a fact for which I was most grateful this particular trip. ;-)
Thursday was a late day for me since the first festival event I planned to attend was the 3 PM Mass Choir rehearsal. So I had time to chat, share pictures, and have lunch with my folks before returning downtown.
The Mass Choir rehearsal went fairly well, followed by the next concert block which featured the Coastliners (small ensemble of the North Coast Men's Chorus from Cleveland) and the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus which did a 1960's set featuring a Laugh-In segment. (Most memorable was them turning Arte Johnson's old joke "Do you believe in the hereafter? -- Well, you know what I'm here after." into a comment on modern times, by simply dressing the funny man as a priest and having him addressing a much younger man rather than Ruth Buzzi. ;-)
We chose to forgo the July 4th fireworks festivities on the river; Cincinnati is better known for their Labor Day blowout anyway. I had a sneaking suspicion that Columbus' new director was someone I knew rather well from my tenure at Ohio State, and sure enough it was confirmed when we bumped into one another later that evening in the hotel elevator. We didn't have much of a chance to catch up, but it was good seeing him after all these years. After an excellent late dinner at the hotel with Dennis and Bill, it was time to head for Springdale and bed.
Friday was Mass Choir day, with a noon performance on Fountain Square. (We were unable to participate in the follow-up performance on Saturday at Findlay Market because of a conflict with our technical rehearsal. Probably just as well.) My folks decided to see this performance, with my sister and her daughter and son, since this particular niece was expecting a child at any moment and it would be highly improbable they would be able to attend our performance with North Coast the next day. So Mom managed to get some pictures for me while I was singing with the Mass Choir. Although sparsely attended by anyone else not involved with the festival (perhaps because most businesspeople were taking the day off as part of the holiday) the concert was covered well by the local media.
The concert block for the day was in the afternoon, featuring several choruses from North Carolina as well as the Indianapolis Men's Chorus, and closing with the GLASS Youth Choir from British Columbia. Since an evening banquet was scheduled (which we chose not to attend), there was no evening concert block, and Dennis and I joined Bill and some of his friends for an excellent, leisurely, and only moderately expensive meal at a fine restaurant on the Skywalk.
Saturday morning my folks greeted me with the news that my niece was in the hospital in labor (which seemed impossible looking at her the previous afternoon...) and this being her first child would probably take a while, and so they would likely not be able to come hear us that evening which was pretty much to be expected. I'm glad they at least got to hear the Mass Choir.
The morning was a rather hectic one since we had to fit a technical rehearsal and a regular rehearsal in before the first of two concert blocks at 2 PM, which left no time for lunch. At the technical rehearsal we met "Huggybear" (yet another Michael) from Detroit, since they were performing directly before us on that evening's program. As it happened we managed to grab some hot dogs from a vendor on the street, which sufficed for lunch.
The first concert block of the day featured our own Rochester Women's Community Chorus, as well as both Renaissance City choirs from Pittsburgh. One of the Rochester women's pieces referred to big dogs, and sure enough, one of the women (who by her own admission "has no shame") got down on all fours at the end and began to howl, which got much of the audience woofing and barking during the applause -- all we needed was someone to start up a chorus of "Who Let The Dogs Out?" ;-) Also, the men from Pittsburgh did a piece called "Drama Queen" by Eric Lane Barnes (whom I also got the opportunity to meet when Dennis introduced us earlier in the week) with each chorine in a tiara. ;-) After the concert I got to see a fellow named Brian from Columbus whom
gmjambear and I had met at Bear Soup in San Jose two summers ago. He told me he was going to be a judge for the River Bears' contest later that evening.Between concerts we had dinner at Pizzeria Uno across from the Aronoff Center, during which we chatted with the women at the next table who were from Albany's mixed chorus. Then we spent an hour or so relaxing at the hotel before changing into concert
We were able to see the small groups on the evening's program (VocalPoint and Sotto Voce) before we had to leave the audience to go backstage. As a result we missed two choruses, one of which was Detroit's rendition of selections from Die Walküre (also known by Bugs Bunny fans as "Kill Da Wabbit") in which "Huggybear" got to wear the "brass tits". I think our performance with North Coast went very well, considering the reaction from the audience -- as well as the sentiments of the North Coast members themselves expressing how glad they were we could "sit in" with them.
That evening Dennis, Bill, Michael from Louisville and I went to the River Bears' 2002 Mr. River Bear contest. Although I was born and raised in Cincinnati it was the first time I've ever attended a bear event there. We could not see much of the contest (nor Brian for that matter) due to the crowd, but we had fun and met several other GALA bears -- including Craig from Washington, DC, who knew Bill from when he used to sing with them. All in all it was a fun evening, and unfortunately ended way too soon.
Sunday morning was my other "designated family time" of the trip. I found out my niece had had her baby daughter at about 10 PM on Saturday and mother and child were doing fine. After Mass there was just sufficient time to pack and say goodbye to the folks before I had to get downtown for a quick lunch and the final concert block at the Aronoff. We got to see Craig again, and on the way to the car met a couple of bears from Pittsburgh and had a nice chat. From there it was back to the car for the long ride back. We arrived in Rochester about 1:30 Monday morning, just in time to wake Gary for work. ;-(
In sum, a very interesting way to spend a GALA weekend. Next post: the weekend to come -- an embarassment of riches.
A couple of interesting facts....
1. The conservative nature of the tri-state area (Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana).
2. Several newsworthy events that have occurred in the past 20 years in the city involving censorship which include:
a. Larry Flynt's pornography trial.
b. The infamous Robert Mapplethorpe photo exhibit in which the curator was arrested, tried and acquitted for displaying "offensive material" at the Contrmporary Arts Center.
3. The weekend before GALA, the Rev. Billy Graham Crusade came to town and in a 4 night period, over 188,000 people attended.
4. The economic boycott started by local African American leaders was still in effect over a year after the death of a black man by white police officers.
If I'm not mistaken, GALA decided to still have their event.
And just the sight of openly gay people singing in public
in a rather conservative area is a statement in and of itself.
...sigh....