Throughout this concert, every piece was accompanied by the same person, Sandy Miller, the assistant director.  She played approximately 35 numbers without a rest, and this had followed rehearsals that had taken up numerous hours previously that day.   And far from perfunctory executions, Sandy's playing showed spirit and wit.  It was impressive.

There was a blond soloist named Claris Weibel who has a lot of talent and style and who sings with a kind of pop sound (like Brittany Spears or Mariah Carey) who did a good number with the chorus.

One of my favorite non-Timmerman numbers was by the freshman choir. Their sopranos are very bold and really put out the melody so it doesn't get too muffled up by the supporting parts.  They sang, "Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing"  . . .etc. . . . "for a sleigh ride together with you."  You could hear every syllable and some of their voices were very sharp and just cut right through.   Then they got to, "friends are calling yoo-hoo" and a couple of the sections bandied the  "yoo hoo" back and forth --  it was quite cute, and the audience laughed.  It was really sweet.   I loved their voices, and the way they did the song.

For the last number right before intermission, the invitation went out: "all choir alumni are invited to join us onstage for the Hallelujah Chorus."

I went up with 15 or 20 others and, as we got on-stage, Steve Popa was there with a big smile and handed us each a copy of the sheet music.  What a class act.  He is on top of everything.

Most of us newcomers stood in the front row.  I'm sure it had been 30 years, and then some, since I had been directed in a choir, but it was surprisingly comfortable and fun.  Steve Popa looked at everyone in an alert, smiling, friendly and energetic way, as if to say, "OK, my friends, we're going to have some fun now."  His directing was very crisp and punctilious, and evocative of pleasure. 

On this familiar number, everybody got up a big steam engine energy, and sped up.  So Popa kept trying to bring us back slower and practically nobody, not in his choir nor any of us new ones, was paying him much heed.  However, Sandy Miller at the keys was following him and, finally, people started listening to her and slowed down, and that put the brakes on and kept us from flying clear off the stage.  I can't wait to sing it again tonight, with my old choir friends, Linda Schiffer and Mark Billingsley, filling in alongside, with their familiar alto and bass voices.

I think this experience is as close as I'll ever get in my lifetime to being in a time machine.  Singing onstage with Senior Choir again?  How was this possible?

At intermission, everyone was asked not to bring concession food back into the auditorium.

The second half of the show opened with original dances, choreographed by Tekla Murphy, to go with Timmerman's songs.

Truly, this was home town entertainment at its finest. 

The first number was a soft shoe dance to "Let's Make the Fireplace Glow."
    Entrance  Second stanza   Near end

The girls all wore pretty little dark frocks covered in sequins.  These were dance dresses with straps at the shoulder, and that were fringed, and that swished around with their movements, as you might see on Paulette Goddard dancing with Fred Astaire.  They were quite lovely.  The guys had on vests and bowties.

The groups were doing fine but I think it merely obvious to say that the audience wouldn't have cared no matter what happened, as the mood and spirit of it all were so charming. 

A little later in the show came some really neat, new Timmerman arrangements I hadn't heard before.  One sounded like "Promises, Promises" or some 60s/70s Dionne Warwick jazz song.  I leaned over to John and Greta and said, "Sounds like Burt Bacharach!"  and they both laughed.

Then a subsequent one sounded like a Ziegfeld Follies number, as though lush sets were rotating in front of you, with the women dressed like queens and the men very dapper with top hats.