Why does everyone want to know how I feel about being an audience member now?

After 16 years singing in Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concerts, this week, I am now officially an audience member! Jane and I attended the Concert on Friday night with Grandma Call, Kim and Brindy, Brindy's sister Brook, and Dave and Sarah with an"h". Now, everywhere I go people want to know how it feels to now be a member of the audience.

Let me just say, "it stinks!" I would much rather be singing!

The choir, bell's, orchestra, dancers, stage crew, camera operators, producers, and the King's Singers did a magnificent job! It was a great evening and I saw many of my old friends. Two numbers stood out..."O, Holy Night"...sung by the men of the choir and the King's Singers (see it on Sunday's Broadcast of M.& S.W.)...and the extravagantly costumed, "12 Days of Christmas"!

So many great memories, so many experiences of joy have erased all the…laborious rehearsals, traveling through the snow, early mornings and mournings, late nights, traffic, missed church meetings, missed family events, crooked bow ties, construction headaches, waiting for the G.A.’s to leave so we could, yielding to carts underground, honking, yielding, uniform fittings, unintentional solos (presented by me and others), last minute Christmas shopping, and memorization standards I have experienced over the past 16 years.

Now, I find myself smiling in the audience wanting to wave like an idiot to all my friends who are still on stage--but remembering how idiotic it looked from my view on the back row of the choir loft when other people did the fractured, enthusiastic wave from the hall. Usually, the people they were waving to were not looking…and could not see them from that distance. Choir members are instructed not to wave from the stage, anyway!

Sure, I have comments I could make about...disjointed rhythm and intonation issues-downward intervals sung wide and upward intervals sung narrow (choir members can relate); the tenor in the last row from the top whose watch gave us an unpleasant, irritating reflection ( I could name names, too); or a number of small, itty bitty picky things…but I won’t!

Let me just say I was edified, enthralled, and totally enjoyed the moment! The choir concert was fantastic and it just was lacking one thing, a very emotional baritone! Oh, by the way, I noticed an empty seat at the top of the loft. I would have been very happy to fill it, and boy, could I fill it!!!! :-)))