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The show went well: lots of people, lots of chocolate (I should have
asked someone to bring me some, since I played piano during the
breaks: I missed out on the Joseph Schmidt and a few others. :-) ).
The dancers did a wonderful job; I really liked ![[info]](http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/web.archive.org/web/20050412212616im_/http:/=2fstat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cassidyrose's lyrical solo and costume. The volunteers and
dancers pitched in and made things happen, even while we were running
out of room to put people. (Success is a bitch, hm?) I have to say
that I've enjoyed watching the dances develop for the pieces for which
I'm doing the music: Tara -- working with the dancers, too -- has
created some lovely choreography. I look forward to seeing it on
video, sometime, when I'm not playing, so I can just watch and enjoy.
(Speaking of which, cassidyrose, we should probably record
the music during the two shows on the 18th and 19th, so you'll have
the music available for the future even when I'm not available.)
Well, it had been, I think, over fifteen years since I'd played for an
audience of any size (and over fifteen years since I have played
regularly). I was a little nervous at first, but, after a few bars
into my first improvised ditty, I just lost myself in the enjoyment of
playing. I was happy that my friends got to hear me play, since it's
a side of my life that I haven't, for the most part, been able to
share with people whose acquaintance I've made during the last decade.
Everything I played during the breaks was mine and completely
extemporaneous, with the exception of Saint Luis Blues and a section
from Gary's Waltz (oh, and the first two sections of the Maple Leaf
Rag :-) ). But, of course, I improvised around and through those,
too. There were a few cute little girls standing and sitting next to
me during a few of the breaks, watching the works of the piano move,
and asking me questions while I played. (They also ran around and
danced across the floor.)
The pieces I played for the "Belonging" piece were my own compositions
(containing, still, a lot of improvised content), with some input for
the first piece, the vocal number, from Jackie, the dancer who sang
it. She has such a pretty voice, and there's a quality to it that
lent itself well to that meditative refrain ("Bring the
radi-a-a-ance..."); at some point, after I'd heard her voice in
rehearsal, that little figure popped into my head as something I
wanted to hear her sing.
One man approached me to ask for my card; not having one, I just wrote
my contact info on the face of a paper plate. If I get serious about
this, I'm going to need to -- egads -- practice. :->
It was fun, at the end of the show, playing away, surrounded by a
number of new friends. I played as if I'd been starving for it --
which, I guess, I had. That others were obviously enjoying my
playing, too, made me very happy. Manna for my soul. :-)))
grubbybastard has a lovely voice, and I was tickled that he
liked my playing. I look forward to hearing him sing some more:
perhaps I can convince arkibet and him to sing for me
sometime. :-)
If I do this again, I'll place a tip jar on the piano with a sign that
says "chocolate accepted." Or maybe a sign that says "Please feed the
piano player with chocolate. See below for a list of his preferred
varieties." That way, I'd get all the chocolate I *needed*. ;->
Thank you to all of you who heard my music, enjoyed it, and told me
so. That made me very, very happy.
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satisfied
sick
sad