Sleepless in Ottawa - À La Sweet Adelines Style!!

September 16, 2014 at 6:56am

It happens all over the Sweet Adeline World! Chorus members
are plagued by it weekly following regular rehearsals – imagine the impact following
a coaching weekend!! You show up after a long day of regular life; drained,
with a brain full of clutter – stuff – stuff that makes you want to curl up in
a ball and sleep for a week! Our fabulous Master Director 700 (and 1!!) Sandie
Nason’s Facebook status on September 12th said it all:

“Ok, so Joe Connelly coming tonight to CSC.....equals too
excited to sleep last night. Tonight will be awesome as usual; with energy
flying around the room ... equals won't sleep tonight. Tomorrow ... all day
with the music all around us ... won't sleep tomorrow night.”

First things first! The night starts off with a physical
warm-up to Viva Las Vegas. That gets the blood flowing and heats up the room on
this cold fall night! The energy abounds and the rehearsal hall is alive!
Follow that with a targeted and well planned vocal warm-up and you have
yourself a chorus ready for coaching. One with a a winning attitude! The first
word – the first chord out of our mouths sets the level for coaching – and I’m
telling you friends – we coached at the A level – cause that’s where we belong!


We worked the ballad on Friday night. Goose bump over
goose bump! Joe’s masterful tweaking gave this already gorgeous ballad new
life. It is gorgeous – fits us like a glove! We left the rehearsal hall at 10
pm – not because we wanted to but because we had too! It’s part of our contract
with the NCAC (Nepean Creative Arts Centre). We are engaged – we were all in –
we didn’t want to stop! But tomorrow is another day!
Saturday brought overcast skies and rain but that didn’t
dampen the spirits in the rehearsal hall. The room was buzzing by 9 as we
launched into another fun filled day with Joe and Sandie! What a remarkable
team they make! The uptune was up on the blocks today and it got a mini overhaul.
It is new for us still but you’d never know it. Erin Howden helped us bring
this character to life a month ago with choreo filled with fun and sass! With
Joe’s embellishments and Sandie’s quick wit, this character has grown and taken
on a new life. Let’s call it rabbit stew and leave it at that!!! We can’t wait
for you to meet this girl!

Canadian Showtime’s quartets remained sleepless on Sunday
– in fact one quartet set the tone for us all on Thursday night as they coached
early. All spent between 2 and 3 hours each with Joe. What an opportunity for
them all!

And tonight we reconvene to review the changes – learn the
new intro to the ballad that Joe and VQA worked on Sunday afternoon – and continue
our journey to the International stage in Las Vegas in October of 2015. As if
that wasn’t exciting enough, tonight is New Member night. We can’t wait to meet
them all. Thanks to Karen Frost – Den Mom – and her team for making our new
members feel welcome – for encouraging them – and ensuring they don’t get
overwhelmed! Shuffle over CSC ladies and make room for them on the risers. Join
our journey ladies – you are going to love it! Viva Las Vegas!!!!

How do I love thee hobby – let me count the ways!!


JD Crowe