You said you could roller skate!
I didn’t know I couldn’t!
Way back in February my boss asked me to put together a list of the top five vocal charts in my repertoire and pass it on to him at my leisure. Since he specifically asked for love songs I figured it was for Valentine’s Day and managed to get said list put together in time with the assistance of some of the amazing musicians on board. But the day of Hearts and Flowers came and went and I heard nothing more about it, so I figured that whatever idea he might have had had fallen by the wayside in the hustle and bustle of general life on the flagship and I didn’t really think anything else of it.
A note here: it is has been a long long time since I travelled with my charts and I’ve yet to convert my rather massive library into electronic files. After this cruise? I’ll definitely be doing that. The charts I submitted to my boss were a combination of ones that I’ve had in my repertoire for so long I can do them in my sleep (Orange Coloured Sky anyone?) or they were transcriptions – brand new transcriptions – of charts that previous to this I have done many times but only with a backing track. I know this stuff like the back of my hand, know it down to the last note and key change, but I’ve never performed any of it with a live accompaniment.
Fast-forward to a few weeks later, my boss approaches me again and tells me that he wants to go over said list, and that it’s for a surprise concert ‘near the end of the cruise’ and he would like me to perform with him (he’s a seriously amazing pianist), and that I am not to tell anyone because well it’s supposed to be a surprise.
Slight nerves came up at this point, but I figured we still had plenty of time. I went over the list with him and he told me which two he’d like to look at, one was no problem (see previous comment about some charts I could do in my sleep…possibly backwards), the other? Gladys Knight’s You and Me Against the World…this causes my heart to rise somewhat into my throat, as this isn’t an easy piece, but in for a penny in for a pound so I accept and for the next few weeks I run through the chart with the backing track once an evening so that it stays in my head.
But again, nothing is said for weeks on end, and again I figure that the whole thing has kind of fallen by the wayside, because by now we are into the last week of the cruise and when on earth is there going to be time?
Then yesterday he stops me when I come into the office to get supplies for one of the sporting activities and asks me to pop by after I’ve finished so we can run through said chart.
Gah! So here’s me, who has never run this chart with piano before, in fact, has never performed this chart before ever, being thrown into a last minute rehearsal with a man who seriously expects you to know what you’re doing when you say you can do it. I was literally shaking as I climbed the stairs to the theatre.
You do know it don’t you?
Of course. It’s just, been a while since I performed it with anyone…
Which is a rather blatent lie, as I have never performed it.
Hey Ms Bryce, can you roller-skate?
Of course!
Thankfully though, the rehearsal went well, there were only a few stumbles which could be put down to the fact that it was the first time I’d sung with him and it always takes some getting used to when you’re adjusting to a new pianist.
So, now I just have to make it through the concert. To clarify: scripted readings and karaoke nights aside it has been three very long years since I set foot on a stage and sang a solo in front of an audience. It has been three years since I set foot in a theatre for anything other than seeing a show. As a very dear friend of mine reminded me this afternoon when I told him I was both excited and scared to bloody death at the same time:
That’s the drug my friend…
Yeah, I know, but it’s been a really long time since I had a dose. Forgot what it felt like.
You’ll remember…
Muscle memory…please don’t fail me now.