In Which I Consume Mama’s
November 16, 2014
Sunday was another chance to spend more time with dad. After a bit of a sleep in we set out together and headed in to center city. First stop was Macy’s, to find a suit and a few other assorted odds and ends needed for Glee. After that I walked him back up to 17th street for lunch at Mama’s Felafel, which was delicious, filling and as a bonus fairly cheap. Following that, a little more shopping at Marshall’s, another stop back at Macy’s to pick up what we had left behind and then a taxi back to campus. After a very short nap, I convened with the Penn Pipers at the glouse for rehearsal. Once that was through, dinner was with Dad and Luke which was nice, but soon the two of us had to return to our lab to and get some work done. Luke and I were fairly productive together and worked until around 10PM at which point I walked home and went to sleep, trying to regain my health.
Monday was fairly standard, the usual run of classes, nothing spectacular. Rehearsals of preparing for our upcoming Glee tour to Yale continued, as did the choral society’s work on the Handel, Dixit Dominus. I had dinner with Dad and he managed to find a place with good gluten free options (he has coeliac disease) so I was pleased that he wasn’t the only one getting fed!
Tuesday was less productive than I needed it to be. Physics was still interesting (learning about the effects of geometry of the universe of the way rotations work). Security reading group was on a paper that I really enjoyed with a great title: “The geometry of flesh on the bone” by Hovav Shacham, an academic who I admired a lot. Following that I had a meeting, and then an appointment with the dietitian (thankfully gaining a little weight since my last visit). Tuesday night I was again with Dad which was still as wonderful as the first night and we had a delicious dinner together before I raced back to Penn just in time for a late night Glee rehearsal that ran till just after 11. Following rehearsal, I worked alongside Pearl for a time, collapsing when the hour got to lap and dragging myself back to my room.
In Which I Am In A Professional Play
October 20, 2014
One of the highlights of semester thus far was this week’s rehearsals for “The Events”. A play being put on at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. We weren’t told in advance the contents of the play, other than that it revolved around a choirmaster dealing with the aftermath of a mass shooting. We were to play the part of the choir on opening night and sing the backing music for the show.
I really enjoyed learning the music, some of it was really beautiful and also featured a strong baritone line.
The week also featured two midterms that I studied for on Sunday before the play and rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday night.
The play itself on Tuesday night was really enjoyable and interesting, touching on themes of guilty, forgiveness and trauma. It involved the choir in really interesting ways and I think even had I not been a part of it I really would’ve enjoyed going to see it!
In Which I Sing For My Cake
September 1, 2014
The jet lag was starting to wear off. Finally. However waking up early was useful as I had need to be at J. M. Huntsman Hall at 9AM. We were to be performing at a welcome gig for freshman students at the Wharton School. After a little rehearsal and some hanging around, the students filed in and we begun to sing. This was quite possibly the worst gig I have ever been a part of. The students were loud and raucous and paid us little to no attention. I don’t begrudge them in the least, but it wasn’t the best of choices to have us perform in that venue. I could hardly hear any of us singing, except a booming in my left ear from the bass, Matt Howard.
My uniform was a little outdated by this point and needed some revisions, thus my next stop was to Macy’s in ‘Center City’ (the central business district of Philadelphia). The actual shopping part took relatively little time, and I found suitable ‘chocolate brown’ shoes without too much fuss. However, when I attempted to pay for my items, the cashier was put through on the phone to card security and I had to go through a relatively arduous process to verify my identity. Despite my best efforts the payment didn’t go through in the end, so after fifteen-minutes of verifying, I ended up just putting the amount on a different card.
With a significant delay from Macy’s, I raced back to Penn for continued rehearsals. The afternoon was dance numbers with the band and I struggled through them, not having the experience of the other members.
That evening was one of our bigger regularly scheduled gigs: convocation, the formal opening of the academic year by the university dignitaries. After the opening of ceremonies we performed ‘Go The Distance’ as a musical interlude and then to close the ceremony was ‘The Red and the Blue’, the official school song. However the best element of singing for convocation was our early access to the dessert reception immediately following. After consuming a good deal of cake and cookies, Sam Soik (a fellow Baritone) and I sought after the mythical President Amy Guttman for a photo opportunity. After some searching we had our pictures taken and were then both satisfied enough to grab some final food before returning to our dorms for the night.