I knew the craziness of the last few days would catch up with me, but I sort of hoped it would happen maybe in the privacy of the bathroom where, in a moment of mental exhaustion, I put shampoo on my toothbrush instead of toothpaste . . . but no, it caught up with me on the stage of the Tremper High School Auditorium last night, playing for my sister-in-law’s choirs for their spring concert. I played fine (I think) but I made at least three really dumb logistical mistakes which left me feeling like I probably had a bolt growing out of my neck and a creator by the name of Frankenstein. My first out-of-it moment came when I was chatting away at 7:30 in the choir room with a student, until Polly ran in with a stricken look on her face to say that the first choir – for which I was playing – was in the middle of filing out onto the stage. Arrrrgh! I got there in time but could not believe my absent-mindedness. There was also the moment when I left after what I thought was the last song of a given set – only to realize that I had left after the SECOND to the last song of that set, and someone had to come backstage and retrieve me. (Good thing I hadn’t gone out in the parking lot for a smoke!) (Kidding, by the way. I’m kidding.) It is really hard to walk out onstage under those circumstances and look like all of this is planned. . . But the best moment of all came when I gave the pitch for the third song of the women’s choir – and sat there as they began singing, only to hear Polly whisper urgently (I wonder if it’s audible on the recording) “you’re supposed to play!” The two songs before it were unaccompanied, so all I had to do was sit there and give the pitch and then enjoy their singing. And what’s really funny is that before that third song, they surprised Polly and me with little gifts, and i remember thinking to myself “i really don’t deserve this, because i’m only playing one of their four songs this year.” Wrong. Anyway, as soon as i realized that the girls needed me, I opened up my folder as nonchalantly as possible, fished out the piece – and by the middle of the second measure was playing. . . all the time feeling like Pee Wee Herman in one of his movies where he’s riding his bike, hits a bump, goes flying over the handle bars and lands in a heap, jumps to his feet, and says to the amused onlookers “I meant to do that.”
Except for my sleep-walking, it was a wonderful concert- one of Polly’s best, in fact. . . and for some reason, I was pretty much clear as a bell as I was playing the piano. But between songs, Holy Moses! Thank goodness both Polly and her singers are solidly grounded and not prone to panic- because a lot of choirs and choir directors would have been scared to death to have a zombie at the keyboard, playing for them.
pictured_ the concert in progress.