The quartet Guys and Dolls who were supposed to lead off were sick. So the music director formed an Ad Hoc Quartet to perform in their place and I really enjoyed their songs which included Gospel, jazz, Mozart, and traditional Irish and Scottish music much like our repertoire does.
The acoustics were good, we had a fine audience, and they seemed to really enjoy our show (gave us a standing O!)
My first concert in Europe and I’ll never forget their faces after Linda introduced her husband the tenor and Neil sang Danny Boy - even some of the men had tears in their eyes and so did I. Another couple mouthed the words to The Parting Glass when we sang it. But I think Battle of Jericho was their favorite. One woman said if we’d had twice as many singers like we do at home, we would’ve blown the windows out.
I got to stand right next to Alex Thio as he accompanied us on his electric keyboard. Songs like Mark Hayes’ Grace and Mack Wilberg’s Shenandoah sounded as beautiful to me as they do when he plays the Steinway and I think the audience loved hearing him play. He does it so well I sometimes forget to sing!
The two buses with curtains drawn served as our dressing rooms: one for the gentlemen and the others for the ladies
We sure were glad to climb on the bus and have Adrian drive us home afterwards. He and our guide Liam are the absolute best and they are knocking themselves out to make sure we have a great trip. Wonderful first impression of Bob Rogers Group Travel. I already feel like I’ve gotten my $ worth and it’s only the 3rd of our 10 days!
No comments:
Post a Comment