Sunday, July 19, 2009

Jason and his Fabulous Fosse Chicks rehearsing "Money"

Week Twenty-Eight / Day One

Well, I do believe we did a pretty darn good job of creating an experience that delivered a message in a way that our audience did not expect; and the night was all the more resonant for it. Ironic, that ten or fifteen minutes within a four- or five-hour context can have so much impact; but that is the nature of this sort of experience...to punctuate the arc of the gala experience with one or two moments that stick, that have effect not only at The Moment, but will continue to reverberate in the hearts and minds of those in attendance for some time, beyond Curtain.

As long as the rest of the evening goes smoothly and remains enjoyable, the theatre of the night can take hold and remain present, long after the dancing is done.

The accepted Culture of the Fundraiser, here, leans toward Masters of Ceremony and a great deal of talking and "housekeeping" during an evening. Those who know me know how I feel about speeches being great in number or in length. In my experience, while the concept of an MC is to move the night along; the net effect is most often the opposite - much talking that ends up protracting the night. Audiences get used to this and learn to tune-out the speaker; thus missing much important messaging and often critical information.

Ergo, I'm always looking for other ways to get the message across, such that an audience ultimately learns that if someone is speaking, it's probably worth listening...so y'gotta be very careful of when you ask for their attention and what we do with it when we get it.

We were fortunate, last week, to have a client willing to trust us, and we more or less turned the format on its ear. "Cocktails at 7:00 - Dinner at 7:30" we took very seriously...and set about teaching our audience that we meant what we said... I think the way this year's Ball was experienced may evolve the way this and other balls are presented, in the future. Treat an audience well, and they will return the favor - but first, we do need to get their attention and alert to the fact that things are changing...

The Doors to the Dining Room opened at 7:10. At the same moment, Liam the Destroyer and his phalanx of bagpipers (with Drum) launched into song from a distant corner of the property ... on the same floor as the Ball, but far from view. This did not mean they couldn't be heard, though; far from it. Just as the pipers used to march across the misty moors to instill fear in their foe, these pipers marched down hallways and into the foyer, through the crowd and into the ballroom.

It was pretty clear that something was up.

They played a selection of numbers from the center of the room, as the lights began to slowly dim. By nearly 7:30, the house was quite dark and the pipers played themselves out the rear doorways. Meanwhile, we began to close the doors to the ballroom, with about 30% of the audience remaining in the foyer, evidently assuming they knew what was going to happen first. When they saw the doors closing, they turned from their conversations and picked up the pace, into the ballroom.

The Opening Number launched, right away. Jason Coleman (one of our two Hosts and the Hosting Judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" Australia) performed to a medley of three songs from "Cabaret" with some of his best dancers in an updated, Fosse-esque revue. This was the audience's first surprise; they know Jason as a Judge and Choreographer, few have seen him perform since his name has become Household; and even fewer have ever heard him sing. The songs, "Wilkommen," "Two Ladies" and "Money" were combined to introduce Jason, then Gorgi Quill (Miss Georgina Quill - a stunning soprano with a face and personality to match; our other Host), and to "obliquely" introduce the concept of giving Money.

The audience wasn't expecting "substance" so soon; and the number was planned as such - Gorgi appeared at the end of "Two Ladies," then she and Jason played off the original Liza/Joel interpretation of the song; bringing focus to the center of the room (the stage was a runway to a satellite stage in the center) and introducing the Chair of the event, whose speech was on video. Then, a bit of "don't forget to bid" and the inevitable housekeeping and the evening was off like the proverbial shot.

Midway through the evening was our Act II...the "Heartstrings" moment for which we had been planning for so many weeks...

The house lights faded to a deep, cobalt blue and the main stage began to shimmer with blue and white as Gorgi appeared, wreathed in white that sparkled, billowed and flowed about her gracious form. As the first notes of "Gone Too Soon" sailed from her, a lone mother danced onto the stage, holding an empty picture frame and mourning the loss of her child...

As the song continued, a young family appeared; father, mother, young son and the teddy bear of the missing sibling. As the mother comforted her child, the anguish of the father was articulated on the stage in powerful movements of anguish, rage and pain. Finally comforted by his son and wife, and making contact with the single, grieving mother across the stage, he and the cast faded from view as the notes of the song quieted...

With a gentle shift in the light, the addition of some stars and haze, Gorgi began to walk slowly down the runway while singing "Heal the World." As she reached the center of the room, two of the smallest, most pure and adorable children came down the runway, dressed all in white and walking through the mist to join her. She kneeled next to them as the song continued; then, as she stood, six or eight more children of different ages and colors, all clad in white, came down the runway to join her.

Finally, Gorgi was surrounded by nearly 20 beautiful children and, as she sang the chorus, they joined her...

"...Heal the World

Make it a Better Place

For You and for Me and the Entire Human Race

There Are People Dying

If You Care Enough for the Living

Make a Better Place for You and for Me..."

The sight of those tiny, beautiful children singing with virtually untrained young voices this plea to take care of one another, here on this planet...doing their little choreographed steps was easily enough to bring tears to one's eyes. Mine, certainly (but that pretty much goes without saying...)

So, there they are, onstage; surrounding Gorgi, moving left and right, singing through the key change with excitement and enthusiasm, unrestrained as only the young can be... The chorus comes to a gentle close, the audience is rapt, most every eye is a little misty and hands are clasped to chests at the innocence before us and the need for the plea....

Then, the key changes again, the lights drop lower, all the children pull little flashlight torches from their pockets and turn on the intense whiteness as the doors all around the ballroom open and another 80 white clad young people pour into the room from all sides, singing at full volume and waving their torches in big circles as they envelope and fill every open space in the room and stand there, singing at the top of their lungs...

The invisible gasp, the spiritual jolt this gave the room was virtually palpable.

Before even half of these kids had arrived at their positions, the audience had begun to applaud...what could they do; they were so struck by emotion and surprise...

As this final chorus ended, the children all ran to kneel at the edge of the stage and shine their lights on Gorgi, creating a sparkling, brilliant tableau of happy, smiling, exuberant children and one very misty-eyed Host...

Many eyes were wet at that moment. As you know, I'm not truly happy with my work unless an audience cries, at some point.

I am VERY happy with our work, on Friday night. I love this work at times such as this.

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So, I have some photos, taken with my iPhone during our rehearsals. First is a small group of the kids; having just learned the lyrics we had them sing their own backup. It would be an understatement to say this excited them; bringing them into the studio with our Sound Guy (Yuri Worontschak) to actually tape themselves, singing...

then, check out the looks on their faces as they hear themselves, singing, for the first time ensemble...LOOK AT THOSE FACES! (Were we EVER that cute?!)

...and, Show Day...

I do have some photos of the actual performance -- but I will have to await Official Permission from the Photographer and the P.R. Company to post them. While Australia may have been originally populated by lawbreakers; such is frowned-upon somewhat, these days, with often uncomfortable ramification...

I will let you know when I can post photos and video...

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By the way; I miss-labeled the "J" turn I described in last week's missive. The correct term is "Hook Turn." So noted: see below...