Yesterday’s Carthage Choir rehearsal was graced by the presence of some very special guests. . . Elvis Presley being the most notable. It was most certainly late career Elvis, judging by his bulk and the number of rhinestones adorning his outfit – but fortunately he wasn’t asked to sing any solos. (We all know what late-career Elvis sounded like.)
Elvis was just one of about a dozen surprising visitors to rehearsal Wednesday. . . and Mr. Noble took it all in stride. In fact, he invited everybody in costume to stand and be recognized- and then organized a competition to see whose costume inspired the most vociferous applause. It was close but I’m pretty sure the Cat in the Hat edged Elvis, with Minnie Mouse and others not far behind. I think the choir was probably pleasantly surprised that their venerable 85-year-old director enjoyed the fun as much as they did. And I must say that it was really interesting to look out at the choir during that rehearsal and see the Cat in the Hat sitting up straight and forming textbook-perfect “oo” vowels while singing Lo, How a Rose ere Blooming. I had to pinch myself a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
By the way, Elvis is also known as Matt Brosseau, a favorite former voice student of mine- and next to him is a freshman voice student of mine, Justin Pratt. Justin is going to be a pastor someday; I wonder if he’ll be wearing that get-up in the pulpit. (I think not.)