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Singing Cowboys, Dancing Rhinos
Nov. 18th, 2004 07:41 pmLast Sunday Chris took me out to the Turtle Creek Chorale rehearsal. It's at this Methodist Church in a "transitional" part of town, strangely only a few blocks away from when my sister used to have an apartment and not far from where my grandmother used to be the first female deacon at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, and where I attended her funeral a few years ago. Still, "transitional" means that there's as many old apartments and flophouses here as there are yuppie enclaves in tightly gated condos.
The Methodist church itself is nothing special, in fact, they never are. As I always say, Methodists are the most boring of the protestant religions. Never the Hellfire of the Baptists, not the mass light of the Lutherans or the Episcopals, Methodists are just there.
This, however isn't about that. This is more about the 200 gay men that invade that church on any given Sunday to sing. The past weekend was yet another weekend in preparation for the upcoming Christmas concert (or should I say Holiday concert - so much more PC, but heck, they were practicing in a church). They did have a Chanukah song in the mix, and there's a passing mention of the solstice, too. Got to cover the bases, for the group's pretty diverse, too.
I just think it's mildly humorous that there's a large group of gay men in a church-house. Of course, I know this is complete BS, as there are many men of faith who are gay (including a few reverends on my very own friends list here), but i always get this back of my head feeling that the building should explode due to the perceived "sin". Here's to the progressive nature of whoever allows the chorale to rehearse here
Chris had to come early. He had practice for the BalletRhinos. He and several other guys (I guess about 16) will be doing their best to make their way through the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies. Fairies might be the only thing right about it. It's freaking hilarious, and Chris is one of the smaller guys in the group.
The group practiced their way through several times, and the guys fluttered and tromped and stumbled and leapt. The routine was actually quite a bit longer, and better than the last time I saw it, when Chris had brought me to the first rehearsal. The biggest problem was that they had a very small space to rehearse, and they were crashing into each other. Of course it was told that the stage space might actually be smaller.
Of course waiting to see them in the pink tights, wifebeaters and tutus will be the highlight of the show.
The show is going to be a retrospection of the last 25 years of the Chorale's Christmas shows, so from what I hear, this has been done before...but I guess it's been a long, long time, because it seems new to the people around me.
I sat there watching, quietly. I took a few pictures with Chris' camera that may see the light of day sometime. I stayed out of the way.
I could have stayed at Chris' house and watched football, or I could have left Dallas early, but still, here was a chance to be with Chris just a little bit longer, even though I wasn't really doing anything. We get precious little time together, so you take what you get. One thing I'm learning about relationships in respecting what is important to one another. Since I'm supposed to speak up and not bury my feelings, I need to tell Chris when I'm bothered by something.
Well, going to TCC rehearsal doesn't bother me...sure, it's not thrilling because I'm not participating, but I'm happy to be with Chris to see him do something he enjoys.
So, after the BalletRhinos finish, we have a few minutes to kill as the rest of the Chorus assembles for the singing rehearsal. These people I'm getting to know in the Chorus and as they come and go I say hello. We're outside of the church so I can call my sister about dinner and Chris can cool down from being lord of the dance, and here comes this sturdy man with a cowboy hat, a great goatee and a really nice smile. Chris knows him and I think Chris already knows that I'm bouncing up and down wanting to be introduced.
See, here's that thing from the other night...the rules of attraction...already I want to get into someone's pants. Well, I want to get to know him too, but man, I want to take him back to Chris' place and...well, you know. The thing is, now that I'm out in the open, and I'm finding people who are out in the open, the barriers that kept you going, well, to even think that would be wrong, disappear, so now you build a whole new wall, one that seems to be this little flimsy Japanese paper wall of, do you ask them if they'd be interested, or do you stay away, because you don't want to be humiliated if that say no.
Of course, getting to know them might be a good thing, so we'll wait for a bit longer. I'll go to the December 5th concert, I'll ask then.
The Chorale is filled with some nice eye candy, and some great guys, period. Going to a few social situations with Chris has given me some opportunities to meet some people outside of these rehearsals, and actually meet some people in the Dallas community. It's a fairly nice bunch. Still, they do have their drama at times, and I know it caused Chris to leave the group at one time.
I sat in the sanctuary listening to these guys make music for over two hours, seeing the raw, unvarnished version of much of the upcoming concert. You know that there are things that will be fixed, and energy levels that will be increased when the show hits the stage in a couple of weeks. There's the awkward moments of sitting there knowing people see you not singing, oddly not participating, as other TCC widows sit at home watching - well, I was going to say football, but I don't know what they watch.
I could tell that the director had noticed that I was sitting in the middle of the pews, next to Chris, and was just there. I resisted burying my head in the book I brought with me, and just paid attention to the music. Chris and most of the others were already off-book, so I couldn't follow along with the music.
Still, I was moved by the signing of "You Lift Me Up", the Josh Groban song. I know it, and almost wanted to sing along, but I didn't know what the baritone or bass line was, just the melody as sung in the radio version. It's been years since I sung with a Choir, and I don't know if my somewhat off-key voice is really ready to do it again.
Of course the cute guy with the cowboy hat has a solo. Of course he does.
So when I do move to Dallas, I know Chris would like me to join TCC, but my mind isn't made up on that just yet. I'm not so sure of myself in the singing category, and truth be told, rehearsals do really bore the heck out of me. Performance is a blast, but when I left marching band for the last time, I knew that the best thing was not having to rehearse anymore.
I guess I can't totally use my voice as an excuse, since you can drift off in a group of 200, but I don't have a tux...and that commute...yikes.
Still, it's another opportunity at community and belonging. I'll have to consider it when I move. For now, I'll just have to be the guy who comes occasionally with his partner and sits quietly, thinking of naughty things that can be done, and songs still to be sung, maybe for a more private audience.
For now, I won't get to see another rehearsal, as they won't have one during the Thanksgiving holidays I'm told. I'll see the finished product on the 5th. I think I'll be in the Christmas spirit then.
The Methodist church itself is nothing special, in fact, they never are. As I always say, Methodists are the most boring of the protestant religions. Never the Hellfire of the Baptists, not the mass light of the Lutherans or the Episcopals, Methodists are just there.
This, however isn't about that. This is more about the 200 gay men that invade that church on any given Sunday to sing. The past weekend was yet another weekend in preparation for the upcoming Christmas concert (or should I say Holiday concert - so much more PC, but heck, they were practicing in a church). They did have a Chanukah song in the mix, and there's a passing mention of the solstice, too. Got to cover the bases, for the group's pretty diverse, too.
I just think it's mildly humorous that there's a large group of gay men in a church-house. Of course, I know this is complete BS, as there are many men of faith who are gay (including a few reverends on my very own friends list here), but i always get this back of my head feeling that the building should explode due to the perceived "sin". Here's to the progressive nature of whoever allows the chorale to rehearse here
Chris had to come early. He had practice for the BalletRhinos. He and several other guys (I guess about 16) will be doing their best to make their way through the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies. Fairies might be the only thing right about it. It's freaking hilarious, and Chris is one of the smaller guys in the group.
The group practiced their way through several times, and the guys fluttered and tromped and stumbled and leapt. The routine was actually quite a bit longer, and better than the last time I saw it, when Chris had brought me to the first rehearsal. The biggest problem was that they had a very small space to rehearse, and they were crashing into each other. Of course it was told that the stage space might actually be smaller.
Of course waiting to see them in the pink tights, wifebeaters and tutus will be the highlight of the show.
The show is going to be a retrospection of the last 25 years of the Chorale's Christmas shows, so from what I hear, this has been done before...but I guess it's been a long, long time, because it seems new to the people around me.
I sat there watching, quietly. I took a few pictures with Chris' camera that may see the light of day sometime. I stayed out of the way.
I could have stayed at Chris' house and watched football, or I could have left Dallas early, but still, here was a chance to be with Chris just a little bit longer, even though I wasn't really doing anything. We get precious little time together, so you take what you get. One thing I'm learning about relationships in respecting what is important to one another. Since I'm supposed to speak up and not bury my feelings, I need to tell Chris when I'm bothered by something.
Well, going to TCC rehearsal doesn't bother me...sure, it's not thrilling because I'm not participating, but I'm happy to be with Chris to see him do something he enjoys.
So, after the BalletRhinos finish, we have a few minutes to kill as the rest of the Chorus assembles for the singing rehearsal. These people I'm getting to know in the Chorus and as they come and go I say hello. We're outside of the church so I can call my sister about dinner and Chris can cool down from being lord of the dance, and here comes this sturdy man with a cowboy hat, a great goatee and a really nice smile. Chris knows him and I think Chris already knows that I'm bouncing up and down wanting to be introduced.
See, here's that thing from the other night...the rules of attraction...already I want to get into someone's pants. Well, I want to get to know him too, but man, I want to take him back to Chris' place and...well, you know. The thing is, now that I'm out in the open, and I'm finding people who are out in the open, the barriers that kept you going, well, to even think that would be wrong, disappear, so now you build a whole new wall, one that seems to be this little flimsy Japanese paper wall of, do you ask them if they'd be interested, or do you stay away, because you don't want to be humiliated if that say no.
Of course, getting to know them might be a good thing, so we'll wait for a bit longer. I'll go to the December 5th concert, I'll ask then.
The Chorale is filled with some nice eye candy, and some great guys, period. Going to a few social situations with Chris has given me some opportunities to meet some people outside of these rehearsals, and actually meet some people in the Dallas community. It's a fairly nice bunch. Still, they do have their drama at times, and I know it caused Chris to leave the group at one time.
I sat in the sanctuary listening to these guys make music for over two hours, seeing the raw, unvarnished version of much of the upcoming concert. You know that there are things that will be fixed, and energy levels that will be increased when the show hits the stage in a couple of weeks. There's the awkward moments of sitting there knowing people see you not singing, oddly not participating, as other TCC widows sit at home watching - well, I was going to say football, but I don't know what they watch.
I could tell that the director had noticed that I was sitting in the middle of the pews, next to Chris, and was just there. I resisted burying my head in the book I brought with me, and just paid attention to the music. Chris and most of the others were already off-book, so I couldn't follow along with the music.
Still, I was moved by the signing of "You Lift Me Up", the Josh Groban song. I know it, and almost wanted to sing along, but I didn't know what the baritone or bass line was, just the melody as sung in the radio version. It's been years since I sung with a Choir, and I don't know if my somewhat off-key voice is really ready to do it again.
Of course the cute guy with the cowboy hat has a solo. Of course he does.
So when I do move to Dallas, I know Chris would like me to join TCC, but my mind isn't made up on that just yet. I'm not so sure of myself in the singing category, and truth be told, rehearsals do really bore the heck out of me. Performance is a blast, but when I left marching band for the last time, I knew that the best thing was not having to rehearse anymore.
I guess I can't totally use my voice as an excuse, since you can drift off in a group of 200, but I don't have a tux...and that commute...yikes.
Still, it's another opportunity at community and belonging. I'll have to consider it when I move. For now, I'll just have to be the guy who comes occasionally with his partner and sits quietly, thinking of naughty things that can be done, and songs still to be sung, maybe for a more private audience.
For now, I won't get to see another rehearsal, as they won't have one during the Thanksgiving holidays I'm told. I'll see the finished product on the 5th. I think I'll be in the Christmas spirit then.
