Canadian Showtime Chorus takes Carnegie Hall

It is the dream of any musician to experience performing on the stage at Carnegie Hall. This dream came true for the vocal musicians of Canadian Showtime Chorus on May 27th, 2011.

The trip to Carnegie Hall was a nine month journey, starting in September last year when the chorus was invited to perform in New York City. Much planning was undertaken, logistics worked out and money set aside to make this experience come true.

The excitement of the trip to New York was captured by our blogger Jeanne d'Arc (JD) Crowe to include the chorus members who were unable to make the trip but who were very much a part of the whole experience. You can read her blog at http://blog.canadianshowtimechorus.com/index.html .

The New York experience spanned 5 days, with two buses full of high spirited chorus members making the trip to the Big Apple. The first treat was New York City traffic, but the Chorus made it to the hotel and had a few hours of exploration time in the evening, being mindful that Thursday morning was the first rehearsal. An impromptu rendition of "Lazy Days" in the hotel lobby was reminiscent of a flash mob and was enjoyed by the hotel patrons. Prize winning Canadian author Margaret Atwood was one of those in the lobby as she was in town promoting her latest book and she came over to talk to the group. She even tweeted about us! What an unexpected surprise and pleasure.

Thursday morning rehearsal meant getting down to the business at hand. All the show material was practiced with the show producer in attendance and the chorus succeeded in delighting this very special audience. A second noon time rehearsal included Oklahoma Chorus and the combined Texas Harmony-Chisholm Chorus who were also part of the Carnegie Sweet Adelines show. The grand finale of New York, New York with the massed choruses was choreographed and rehearsed. This would be a great send off song!

Who would go to New York and miss a tour of the city? Not this chorus. Unique to this city tour was that the chorus director, Sandie Nason was interviewed by phone while on the bus by Alan Neal of All in a Day on CBC Radio. Although excitement was bubbling over on the bus, chorus members were very quiet during this interview. Wonder how that happened?

Friday was show day and started with another rehearsal. After gathering in the lobby for a formal photo and another impromptu performance, it was off to Carnegie Hall for the first time. This stage has seen the likes of Tchaikovsky, Judy Garland, The Beatles and now Canadian Showtime Chorus! What a thrill! Amazing acoustics. Amazing venue. Amazing experience.

In the afterglow of the performance, the chorus took a dinner cruise around Manhattan. With the high spirits of the group who danced up a storm after dinner JD reported "We rocked the place - in fact, the DJ told us the cruise just before us had college students on board and he said we put them all to shame - they weren't anywhere near as lively as us!!!!!"

Saturday was a free day for the chorus members to really explore the city to their heart's content and to shop till they dropped. Many planned to take in Broadway and off Broadway shows such as Billy Elliott, Wicked, Mary Poppins and Priscilla Queen of the Desert! A great day to cap off a great trip.

Canadian Showtime Chorus is based in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.