I just got off the phone talking with my wonderful young nephew Kaj,  who was telling me about his performances this past weekend as Gaston in his school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.”  In the unbiased opinion of his mother (my sister Randi) Kaj practically stole the show with both lovely singing and remarkably assured stage presence.  And actually, I’m sure she’s right.   I’ve seen Kaj onstage twice now – and in both cases I was really blown away by his abilities as an actor.   Hearing about his latest success, however, left me with a bizarre mix of heartwarming pride and bewildering frustration that my crazy life prevents me from being a truly attentive uncle to Kaj, Anna, Aidan, and Henry.   (I do a bit better with my niece Lorelai, who lives right here-  but I’m not nearly the presence in her life that her Aunt Kathy is.  How I envy the relationship they have.)

If I had to miss Kaj’s triumphant run as Gaston, at least it was because of a weekend that was packed with all kinds of fun and excitement- and more than that,  with experiences that were deeply meaningful in one way or another.   The weekend began with Kathy and I attending the opening night performance of Carthage’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  This is a work that conjures up a host of memories for us, in part because we got to see it on Broadway with a renowned cast that included John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz.  The Racine Theater Guild also undertook this show a few years ago,  and aside from the fine performances of our cast, I mostly remember the sickening realization that its musical score is MUCH harder to play and sing that it seems to be when you’re just listening to it as an audience member.  But we conquered its difficulties one way or another …. and so did the incredibly talented cast at Carthage.   It had been a long and challenging week for both Kathy and me,  and we were so grateful for the chance to just sit in a darkened theater and laugh our heads off.  And we did!   And in the midst of it all, I was so happy to see several of my own voice students up on that stage, including Neil Geistlinger in the very tricky role of Freddy.  In voice lessons,  I typically have Neil singing songs of Robert Schumann or John Dowland, (with one of the loveliest tenor voices I’ve ever heard from a Carthage student) – so to hear him tear into this comedic role with such relish and skill was pretty astonishing.  I couldn’t have been prouder.

I had two important obligations on Saturday.  One of them was the joint voice recital of Steve Hobe and Max Dinan.  Max has been a voice student of mine for quite a long time now (through much of high school and through his almost-three years at Carthage)  and I continue to marvel at the gifts of this young man.   Max sang two opera arias by Mozart and a complicated duet by Purcell – all skillfully and beautifully – but the crowning glory of his performance was a searing rendition of “How Glory Goes” from Adam Guettel’s musical Floyd Collins, based on the true story of a man who is trapped underground and who ends up perishing because there simply isn’t the technology available (this was back in the 1920’s) to rescue him.  In this incredibly moving song,  the somewhat simple-minded Floyd is beginning to realize that he not going to be rescued and he begins to imagine what heaven will be like.  I don’t mind admitting that as Max began singing,  my eyes almost instantly filled with tears – and they remained so for the entire song …. which would not have been a problem except that I was Max’s accompanist. It’s a good thing that I know that piano part as well as I do, because most of what I saw was a blur.   It wasn’t only a matter of an incredibly moving song being sung so incredibly well – but also that Max and I have an exceptionally long history together,  and to think of where he started and of how far he’s come is tremendously moving to me.  By the way,  Max’s recital partner Steve (who’s not my student) sang very impressively as well and would be in the running for the award of Most Improved Singer At Carthage (if we gave such an award.)

My other important obligation Saturday was to drop by on the first meeting of Carthage’s brand new opera club,  DA CAPPO (which stands for Carthage Association of Performers and Producers of Opera) – the brainchild of two more of my long-time voice students,  Nick Huff and Mike Anderle,  to whom I taught voice when they were still high schoolers.   By very happy coincidence,  a former  voice student of mine named Anthony Gullo (but “Chunk” to his friends)  happened to be on campus for the special reunion of his fraternity,  Delta Upsilon.  Anthony was always a singer of great promise but during his time at Carthage his focus was quite patchy at best – and he would be the first to admit it – and he came nowhere near to fulfilling his promise.  But for whatever reason, over the last several years Anthony has fallen in love with singing and with opera and has worked tremendously hard …. and the result is a very impressive bass-baritone voice that sounds very comfortable in the music of Verdi.   So as a fun surprise,  Anthony dropped in on the DA CAPPO meeting and sang “Di Provenza” from La Traviata for the students.   As his big voice rumbled through the room,  I found myself feeling a strange mix of emotions – so proud of Anthony and happy for him,  yet also feeling to some extent as though I had fallen short as his teacher because I never quite managed to get him to buckle down and really work up to his full potential.   The truth is, of course,  that there is no magic formula whatsoever for igniting that spark …. and sometimes the role we play might be to lay the groundwork for whatever teacher comes after us.  Regardless,  the important thing is that Anthony has come to realize how much he loves singing and that he has been blessed with an exceptional gift.   And to see him making the most of it is thrilling for me.

Sunday morning was an incredible day at Holy Communion, as we bade farewell to our senior pastor,  Bill Grimbol.  He actually grew up at Holy Communion,  so his ties to the city of Racine and to this particular community of faith run very deep indeed.  Interestingly,  before he became our senior pastor three years ago,  Bill had served a Presbyterian church out east for a quarter century; needless to say,  Bill is not your run-of-the-mill Lutheran pastor.  That has had its complications,  but plenty of joys as well – and I think no one would disagree that Bill Grimbol has provided a vivid shot of adrenaline into the blood stream of our congregation.  His farewell service was quite an exciting and moving occasion, bulging with original readings and with music of his own choosing:   Climb Every Mountain,  The Impossible Dream, You Raised Me Up, etc.   The service lasted nearly two hours,  but as the saying goes,  time flies when you’re having fun – and that service was incredibly fun.  It was also very poignant, as most farewells are, especially when we’re bidding farewell to someone so dynamic and richly gifted.

Sunday afternoon was another poignant event – a concert at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha to honor their long-time organist,  Bill Roth,  who served them faithfully for half a century before ill health necessitated his retirement. The organizers of the concert were anxious for Carthage to be represented, since Bill is both a Carthage alum and a much beloved former faculty member,  and I was proud to present my Chamber Singers (or at least most of them) to open the concert.  As it turns out, the piece we performed …. Felix Mendelssohn’s “O Come, Let Us Worship” ….  is a piece I actually first encountered over twenty years ago, when Bill let me peruse his church choir’s music library.   So there was something almost poetic about choosing this particular piece to honor Bill and his extraordinary legacy.  What made it an especially joyous occasion was that Bill and his wife Carol were sitting in the front pew, enjoying every moment of the concert, which featured performances by all kinds of different musical friends and former students.   And the students from Carthage outdid themselves with a truly lovely performance of this beautiful piece-  and it was followed by Mike Anderle’s blazing performance of yet another Mendelssohn piece,  “Is not His Word like a fire?” from Elijah.  I bet the walls of that sanctuary are still trembling from his brilliant singing!  But what I will remember most vividly is the look of sheer wonder and delight on Bill’s face as he listened to Mike tear into that amazing aria.

And if all that hadn’t been enough excitement for the day,  I ran from that to a run through of Act One of the Racine Theater Guild’s Les Miserables.  I fear that people may soon grow tired of me talking about this production (if they haven’t already)  but I simply can’t help it.   This is, without a doubt, the most thrilling artistic endeavor I have ever been a part of- and my prediction is that this will be perhaps the single most thrilling musical/theatrical experience to ever grace a stage in Kenosha or Racine.  Those are audacious words, I know-  but it’s the only way I know how to convey how I am feeling about this staggering score and the incredible cast we have gathered to perform it.   But beyond the sheer excellence of what’s happening is the spirit of goodwill and commitment which has graced this undertaking from the start.  We have a cast that is working SO incredibly hard – and who are remarkably supportive of each other in a way that one does not always see.   And it’s particularly remarkable when you know that our ensemble is peppered with all kinds of people who have been and will be lead performers on our stage – people who dreamt of singing one of the leading roles in this production,  but who were willing to be part of the ensemble.  And what an ensemble it is!!! You can’t imagine the glorious sounds they make, as well as the potent theatrical contribution they make to telling this story. Add to that a sterling group of leads – all of whom have been a complete pleasure to work with – and you can well understand why I look forward to every single rehearsal with genuine relish.  And every single time I leave a Les Miserables rehearsal, I say thank you thank you thank you that I have this great privilege.

We are all planted in different places – and I love where I am planted.   Yes, I wish that Decorah, Iowa and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania weren’t quite so far away ….  and even Madison, Wisconsin where my brother Nathan and my dad and Sonja live is just far enough away that frequent trips are tricky to manage.  All of that distance means a painful amount of loss,  collectively, over the years- and the older I get, the more mindful of that loss I become and the more envious I am that Kathy lives right here in her hometown, with immediate family close at hand.   But I do not lament that I live the life I do- not when I think about a weekend like this last one.   My church,  my voice students, my chamber singers,  my Les Miserables cast … they are something like family to me.   So even though a trip to Decorah to see Kaj strut about the stage as Gaston was simply not possible, in a way I still enjoyed a weekend with family.  I’ve quoted her before on this important topic.  As Mary Richards famously uttered at the end of the last episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show:  “What is family? It’s the people in your life who make you feel less alone … and really loved.”

Pictured above:  This hilarious moment came at the end of Pastor Bill Grimbol’s farewell service.  One bone of contention during his time at Holy Communion was that he preferred to wear the robe that he had always worn during his previous (Presbyterian) pastorate – which was perfectly fine for a lot of us at Holy Communion but which struck some parishioners as Just Plain Wrong.   So in a gesture of mock reconciliation,  he offered to switch robes with Pastor Mark Doidge for this one time.  It was hilarious on several levels, including the fact that Pastor Bill is quite a big guy while Pastor Mark is a very trim athlete.  So you can imagine how interesting they each looked in each other’s robes.  It was a great moment.