EVENT: Orlando Gay Chorus Practice

[This entry is ATF.]
So last night after work I headed to Orlando to sit in on an Orlando Gay Chorus practice. It was held near the Orlando Art Museum over at Loch Raven Park at the Shakespeare Center where the Fringe Festival is usually held each year.

It's been at least a decade since I've sun in an organized group, so there were no expectations for the practice, except "omg, this practice is going to be three-hours long" - but those three hours just flew by.

When I walked upstairs, I found a diverse group of people - quite a change from what I'm used to back in Melbourne. My friend introduced me to Steve ("Stever"), the President of the chorus, and to one of his friends Edd ("Peaches"), the oldest and possibly the fiestiest member of the group... a lot of fun to sit beside.

The practice began with announcements from the president about upcoming performances and other club business. Next, the musical director led us in warm-up scales.

I shared a set of sheet music with my friend, and before I knew it we were singing "You're A Mean One, Mister Grinch". The director resembles a slightly-taller, slightly-more-buff, very charismatic Ted (as in from QE). He gave execellent instructions as we went from piece to piece and kept us very entertained throughout - and it was just his personality to do so. We ran through "Welcome Christmas" (also from Dr. Seuss's Grinch), "Silent Night", "Rudolf Revisited", and a couple other songs for their Christmas performance.

The experience was fun, challenging, and nurturing: to be around a diverse group of gay people who are there on a voluntary basis for a common cause. The club's leadership is strong and charismatic, and the chorus is something that would be good thing for me to get involved in - well worth the weekly mid-week meccas to Orlando.

I'm undecided of whether or not I'll be making the journey again next week - schedule crunch b/c of physical therapy and the fact that I'm worn out by this past work week. I may just wait until OGC have their auditions in January.