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geojlcI am having a love/hate relationship with Sweet Adelines right now. I adore barbershop music. I love singing harmony with my friends. I love the friendships I've made.
I hate the Sweet Adeline take on show biz and decision timeliness.
I'm coming to realize that it's "normal" to make extreme last minute changes and decisions about everything from costuming and choreo to scripts (and one of my chorus mates sounded proud that her old chorus used to do things like tell them a choreo change as they were walking on the stage). And then they say it's because we're a professional group and we're all cool, so just deal.
I'm not dealing well.
First of all, the professionals I know are 1) paid, and 2) spend way more time rehearsing than we do. When you rehearse a lot, it's more ok to throw in a change here and there. Besides if you've taken a paying job as a performer, you know what you are getting yourself into (or at least have an idea). Sweet Adelines advertises them as a singing organization, not a professional show biz organization.
Last year, a week before competition, they took out almost all the choreography a week before we went on stage. This is a problem because I have to work really hard to coordinate myself and learn it in the first place. It's almost as hard to not do learned choreo as it is to learn it in the first place.
This year, the first (and last) time we ran our most recent show start to finish without stopping was in front of an audience. And there were surprise changes from even our tech rehearsal that afternoon. I understood the need for the change after I asked why, but I wish someone had told us before we went on stage. And while I like the costuming decision they finally came to, that decision should have been made several weeks ago instead of being changed over and over and then finalized a week before the show.
I try really hard to be flexible. It doesn't come naturally, though, and my performance anxiety makes last minute changes even worse. They keep telling me that more performing makes the performance anxiety less. It doesn't. It makes me better at putting on the cheese chorus grin and hiding the panic attack going on inside.
I'm kind of panic attacking right now. I just got sent a piece of sheet music this afternoon with a note that makes it sound as if I'm supposed to learn it enough to help teach it tonight. I looked at it, and I can tell you that I won't be helping teach it. And if they try and make me, I might just walk out that door. It's mostly easy, but there are some wierd chords that I'm not getting. And I don't sight read well, and it will sound completely different with the 3 other parts added in. gah. Sometimes I hate being me.
I hate the Sweet Adeline take on show biz and decision timeliness.
I'm coming to realize that it's "normal" to make extreme last minute changes and decisions about everything from costuming and choreo to scripts (and one of my chorus mates sounded proud that her old chorus used to do things like tell them a choreo change as they were walking on the stage). And then they say it's because we're a professional group and we're all cool, so just deal.
I'm not dealing well.
First of all, the professionals I know are 1) paid, and 2) spend way more time rehearsing than we do. When you rehearse a lot, it's more ok to throw in a change here and there. Besides if you've taken a paying job as a performer, you know what you are getting yourself into (or at least have an idea). Sweet Adelines advertises them as a singing organization, not a professional show biz organization.
Last year, a week before competition, they took out almost all the choreography a week before we went on stage. This is a problem because I have to work really hard to coordinate myself and learn it in the first place. It's almost as hard to not do learned choreo as it is to learn it in the first place.
This year, the first (and last) time we ran our most recent show start to finish without stopping was in front of an audience. And there were surprise changes from even our tech rehearsal that afternoon. I understood the need for the change after I asked why, but I wish someone had told us before we went on stage. And while I like the costuming decision they finally came to, that decision should have been made several weeks ago instead of being changed over and over and then finalized a week before the show.
I try really hard to be flexible. It doesn't come naturally, though, and my performance anxiety makes last minute changes even worse. They keep telling me that more performing makes the performance anxiety less. It doesn't. It makes me better at putting on the cheese chorus grin and hiding the panic attack going on inside.
I'm kind of panic attacking right now. I just got sent a piece of sheet music this afternoon with a note that makes it sound as if I'm supposed to learn it enough to help teach it tonight. I looked at it, and I can tell you that I won't be helping teach it. And if they try and make me, I might just walk out that door. It's mostly easy, but there are some wierd chords that I'm not getting. And I don't sight read well, and it will sound completely different with the 3 other parts added in. gah. Sometimes I hate being me.