Dress rehearsal / November 28

"Here we are in the town!" (Martha's translation of the song title "Nous Voici Dans La Ville," which became our rallying cry during rehearsals.)

And here we gathered at First Presbyterian Church for our dress rehearsal. I love dress rehearsals. We give the music its final touches, we laugh, I freak out about wearing a microphone, I step dance along with Megan (sorry — for some reason there are no photos of THAT...).

The band gets all set up and waits patiently for me to settle down.

Megan gets her gillies strapped on.
Her Dad, Tom, comes along to every
dress rehearsal just for the fun of it
and gets put to work as roadie, sound checker,
joke teller, door holder and light switch finder.

And we start in on the rehearsing.
The sound in First Presbyterian is so present, so intimate.
It's as close as playing in the living room, but better.
And of course there's more room in the church for Megan to dance!

After the band packed up and left, and Tom took Megan home, I had the whole church to myself. It was quiet and dimly lit and felt sparkly with anticipation. I played through my solo harp pieces. Sang through the vocal selections one more time. With abandon. Figured out a better ending for "Baloo Lammy."

And then I sat in one of the curved, wooden pews just listening. To my own voices of inspiration. To the clicking, creaking sounds of an empty church. To the echoes of the music we'd made, still alive in the rounded ceiling.

Ready.