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NOOK CHRONICLES

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And It's A Wrap Folks

People power, observations and musings from MMM3

[Editor's Note: Last weekend, Brenda, as a member of the Choir of The Philharmonic Society of Selangor (The Phil), a non-profit organisation and one of the oldest and most established music societies in Malaysia, sang in a wonderful show. Here's her account of what happened.]

People have amazing capacity and sometimes all it takes is the right opportunity and guidance for this to come through. Over the weekend, Music from Movies and Musicals 3 (MMM3) had two sold out shows and it was a ride for us all! It’s Monday morning and I know the week is starting on a slightly different note for the 60 odd eclectic characters who make up the choir of the Philharmonic Society of Selangor. Let’s just call it the ‘morning after’ effect, shall we? People would wake up and head to work or start their day still tapping their feet to the music in their heads, humming the now oh-so-familiar tunes ...the reminiscing begins.

What started as a nucleus in Cheryl Teh’s (The Phil's Chairperson and Conductor) mind, took flesh and slowly formed into the framework for a concert. The Phil choir took in new members, we grew in numbers, rehearsals commenced and voila on July 10 and 11th, we staged our show. But of course, everyone who was involved knows it wasn’t all that easy nor simple. What the audience saw was the finished product, complete with glitz and colour and light and sound... but not the human relations that took place off-stage and behind the scenes.

Rehearsals (especially towards the end) were tiring and everyone had to draw on reserve levels of energy to up-the-ante. On the organising front, a dozen last minute things were popping up and everything was either important or urgent. So much to do so little time... sleep was a casualty especially for Cheryl.

But when we are asked how did you guys manage to pull it off? – our reply should be because we are a collective and the sums of many individual parts make up a whole. While it’s true that lots of folks had official responsibilities for the show (kudos to the Committee) but then there were many others who unofficially just stepped in filled the gaps. Take for example, Lynette who keeps us fed; I love the way she turns up with large tupperwares filled with sandwiches and in typical style calls out to us one by one to come and eat something, “otherwise you’ll be hungry”. On Sunday, somewhere between Act 1 or 2, I was famished, so with puppy eyes I told Lynette “I’m hungry” and she whipped out chocolate chip cookies, then Jessie overheard and out came steamed pandan buns, with a stern warning, “You’d better eat. You need the energy, you part’s coming up” Bless you ladies. Needless to say I was sated (and smiling) by the time we went back on stage.

I’m sure you guys also noticed Wen Li who’s been lugging around bottles of chlorophyll to soothe the sore throats of fellow singers. Then there’s Kok Wing who spent hours at end working on backing tracks and giving tutorials on demystifying the note reading process, which has been a boon for many of our members who can’t read music scores. Throw into this mix the ever animated Charlie or Adam (whichever name he’s going by for the week!) who steps in and leads us for touch-up practices. Not to forget, Victoria, our resident cheerleader – only thing missing is the pom poms! And when extra rehearsals are required, Ivy is the first to open up her home. Then there’s the ever encouraging Lucy who always, always has a kind word and a hug to offer.

We have a super group of guys making up the basses and tenors – not just in harmony BUT ready to lend a hand to lift boxes, draw maps, carry chairs and open the stubborn caps on bottles of water. The labels on all the chairs in the auditorium didn’t get on by magic either, our super troopers made this happen. Incidentally, for all you folks who said nice things about my sassy rendition, it was Ian Homer who helped me work out the moves, hip swing too y’all (and he still does it better than me).

Then there’s John and Jackie who stepped up to help with front of house and face the chaos that came with it. Leading up to the show, we had great coverage and it’s nice to know we’re in good hands with the effervescent Swee Chin who get’s the message on what we do across to the media.

Rehearsals have also become family time and some members volunteer their entire brood to help out – we have become much better acquainted with Andrea and Victoria’s families. I kept hearing this phrase ‘sunshine ladies’ and remember thinking what a great way to describe someone. Later one when I met some of these ladies, who kept front of house and cordial relations going, I realised it was a fitting moniker indeed. Then there were those chaps whose names I don’t know who ushered and greeted and ran up and down the Civic Centre stairs – like I said, all individual parts in a big jigsaw.

It was also a sad week for some of us, Suzan lost a dear friend and Hui Lee said goodbye to her grandmother but these ladies were the first to say, the show must go on! Exemplary indeed.

There’s a para in Cheryl’s speech which I hope everyone takes to heart because it’s about us; she said, “In a community choir, it’s also about support. Don’t worry if you sing timidly or off key because we know that in close proximity to stronger voices, a novice voice naturally grows in strength and beauty. A new singer may struggle to carry a tune alone, but when other singers are helping to carry it, he or she can sing magnificently. We are a collective voice and we are a community choir.”

These are just some of my observations and things that have touched me and it’s not meant to be exhaustive. That’s where you all come in. Just like me, I’m sure many of you will be able to add on to this with your own musings on our fellow singing mates, I’m certain it’s going to be a long, long list.

P/s: I cannot help but smile to myself when I looked at my Facebook homepage today and read line after line of “so-and-so is now friends with so-and-so”... and thus friendships are formed or reaffirmed and our singing community grows further.

Further information on the The Phil, can be found at http://thephil.org.my/

July 2010

Brenda James is a 'florista' who runs 'Nook Flowers'. To view some of her beautiful creations, please visit her website at www.nookflowers.com. You can also the "Nook Flowers' fan page Facebook.

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