Singin' in the Rain

December 15, 2008

It snowed in St. George today – all day. If you are familiar with the weather patterns of St. George, you know how astonishing an entire day of snow is. However, there’s not much to show for it, except for a thin blanket of white covering the vehicles that line the streets – and that will be gone within a day. But the consistent drizzling of the icy wet snow did add an interesting element to my day – or rather, my evening . . .

Tonight was the final performance of the Heritage Choir’s Christmas Concert in the Cox Auditorium on the DSC campus. Just half an hour before the concert was to begin, while we were practicing a few numbers and warming up our voices, I felt a drop of “rain” on my hand. I looked down and saw, very distinctly, a water droplet on my right hand. “It’s raining on me,” I declared to Leann (my dear sis-in-law, whom I love singing beside). “What?” she asked, certain she had misunderstood me. Others around me, who had heard my declaration, assured me I was not being rained upon. “Well,” I explained, “there's moisture on my hand and it’s too cold to be spit.” Then I noticed that my music was a bit spotted from tiny water droplets, as well. Then Leann noticed that my red dress was also developing water spots. I glanced at Eliza, who sits to my left, and she, too, had water droplets on her dress and music – so I pointed it out to her. Then we noticed it was raining on Leann, too. All in all, about a dozen of us appeared to be in some sort of rain zone. We brought it to the attention of the Director, Keith Bradshaw, who found it quite funny and enjoyed a good laugh – at our expense - as did the rest of the choir. Well, there was nothing to be done about it – after all, the show must go on, right? So for the next 1.5 hours we sang – as the melted snow leaked through the auditorium roof and fell lightly (and sometimes not so lightly) through the ceiling - plopping unceremoniously upon our heads, shoulders, laps and music. It made me smile. A LOT.

After the concert, my friend Emily, who had been sitting in the front row of the audience, joined me on the stairway and asked, “Was it raining on you up there?” I laughed, “Yes, could you see it?” She told me that periodically she would glimpse a glistening drop that would catch the light of the spotlights and sparkle as it fell. She assured me that it looked very festive.

Whether anyone else in the audience noticed or not, I must say that it made for an interesting and very entertaining evening for the soprano section.