The good, the bad…

…and the Scrooges.

Take a hundred-fifty 10- through 14-year-olds and put on a fun, uplifting and (if I do say so myself) quite musical performance, and all some folks can do is complain.

I felt bad for my superintendent last night. He couldn’t even watch the first choir because he was trapped out in the hallway, cornered by people who thought 7 p.m. was a great time to jaw about the lack of seating space in our phony little excuse for a theater. (Look up the word “cafetorium” or “auditeria.”)

“Why can’t she do concerts in the gym?”

Because, dear fiends, of little things like the repeated schlepping of sound and lighting equipment, the need for an acoustical shell to be set up/torn down every time, scheduling conflicts with athletics (because I’m not allowed to do concerts on Sundays), and a couple of other reasons. Ain’t nobody gettin’ paid enough for that noise. So there you have it. I’m going all diva and saying the unsayable: My students deserve better, and until they get it, we can just deal with things the way they are. I’m not above adjusting concert times and the like (though I am convinced you cannot please everyone, and the super will get even more phone calls and impromptu meetings in the hallway), but moving the venue? Uh-uh.

Of course, the opinions expressed above are that of Rat Fink, and not necessarily of anyone in my school district. So, um…please don’t call my superintendent. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to hear about the choirs for awhile.

But here’s a fun thing: the concerts went well and I’m DONE for another Christmas. Today, we start on spring music.

They love me, hahahaha

FO

14 thoughts on “The good, the bad…

  1. Mavis

    Exactly!!! If they don’t like it – build you a theater! I have never seen (or heard) talent like the students you have in that little podunk town! The musicals, concerts and Dinner Theater you put on, deserve to have the best arena possible. Nobody packs a house like Jax and her players!

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      Well thank you, Mavis! I don’t know how they do it, but they keep pulling it off. (Knocking on wood.) And surely, couldn’t the powers find an extra 3 mil lying about? What’s all this spend-money-on-textbooks nonsense?

      :P

      Reply
  2. Rae

    Um.. grr? I got chills up my spine reading that. Annnngry chills. They should be rejoicing that it’s packed. But people can’t seem to rejoice about anything these days. Get there early, folks!

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      I hear ya Rae. For some reason, humans just don’t want to find joy. It’s a great problem to have, this overcrowding. The sad part is that no one will ever do anything about it, unless that someone is a wealthy benefactor with money to burn!

      Reply
  3. Greg

    We’ve been through all this before–and we tried to do something about it a few years ago and the voters didn’t want it. So we work with what we have. The only other this is “free-ticketing” where each choir members gets a few free tickets to distribute to family. If great-aunt Tilly doesn’t get a ticket, she’ll have to stay home and watch Lawrence Welk reruns. I agree—NO gym performances—we’ve been there and done that before the new building was constructed and it wasn’t the best experience for the music/drama departments with all the stress of trying to schedule space, rehearse, hang portable lighting etc.

    Reply
  4. Bando

    Hey – am I allowed to call your super and ask to move my concerts out of the gym at my school and into the cafetorium??? And I’ll vouch for all those reasons not to have gym concerts…..

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      Sure — maybe your super could talk to my super…and they could both laugh at us. Sheesh — I can’t believe you’re stuck in a gym…

      Reply
  5. RD

    Throughout the years your concerts have demonstrated excellence, and, as a result, more people want to hear and see them than the facility can accommodate. That’s a huge complement to you. But, instead of complaining about lack of seating they should do something positive — come up with the $$$ to build a state of the art performance theater. I’m a rank amateur, but even I know that a gymnasium is no venue for vocal musical performances.

    Reply
    1. Rat Fink Post author

      Thanks, fiend. At this point, I’d take a big boxy room with theater lights installed and nothing else. Stuff could be added as money dictated. Sure wish that levy’d passed 5 years ago… I took that personally. :-(

      Reply

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