Wednesday, December 31, 2003

My December

The whole month has gone by. Flurry of activities at the start slowly calming down towards the end. In a few hours time, we'll all be singing Auld Lang Syne as we welcome yet another year into our lives.

Has it really been four years since we frantically clamoured to one destination or another or sat eagerly in front of the television awaiting the chime that will bring in the new millennium? Do you remember where you were? I can't. Vague memories of watching various firework displays on the telly comes to mind but I think that was from watching the news on New Years day and not at midnite itself. Where was I exactly I can't remember. But then ... I've got short term memory anyway, if human memory was possible for upgrade, I think I'm way way WAY overdue.

Anyway, minor comment/journalling about the Turandot experience ...

Up until the last day of the show, there's still segregation among the KL chorus and the Penang chorus. I am unsure why the Penang chorus act so coldly towards us. We have tried on several occasions to be friendly; smiling at them, morning greetings, hellos, asking them to join in our warm-up sessions, everything ... short of extending out hands out and saying "We come in peace". Maybe it's due to our rambunctions nature; we truly are a noisy lot, as room 1916 will attest to (we slipped a "We're sorry" note below their doors before checking out to apologise for making all that noise in the hallway). Maybe it's cause we move in droves; we kinda tend to stick together wherever we go. Maybe that's just how Penangites are? I don't know. Maybe someday one of them will breakdown and finally tell us why to they were as they were. I only hope that they're not thinking the same of us.

Being in the production was really fun. The rehearsals can be taxing at times but when we're not rehearsing, we're usually out binging or lazing at the pool, that when we were in Penang. It was like going on a holiday but you don't have to pay for lodging and food. Ahhhh ... so nice. If only it pays enough to make it a full time profession. If only there's one production right after another. I think I won't mind quitting my day job and become a professional opera chorus member.

Met lots of people. The few stragglers from the Penang chorus that are not part of the high school choir, the Indonesian who joined us (the KL chorus) all the way from Singapore, the KL chorus that are not part of the Selangor Philharmonic Choir, some others that I remembered from Tosca but never talked to, etc ... etc. Quite an achievement for me cause I usually don't know what to talk to people about after the intial exchange of pleasantries.

About the shows? Well, it can really really indeedly doo have been much much better. I thought we kinda sucked actually but the sound that went out to the audience must have been really different cause they liked it. Guess the imperfections could not be heard then, which is good in a way. I still haven't seen any proper reviews of the opera. The media have written about the opera talking about the sets, the costumes, the money involved but no reviews of the show. How well the singers sang, were they good or bad? How the chorus did? How the orchestra sounded. So really, I don't know what a proper opera critic's view on the production had been since it doesn't seem like any critic went. Oh well.

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