I hope everyone is enjoying the start of the new year... a time for new beginnings... and some endings, as well. This year, 2012, will be my TENTH year playing in the pit for the Monsignor Bonner ("Bonner") and Archbishop Prendergast ("Prendie") High School musicals... and quite probably my last. It's hard for me to believe I've been playing for these schools, with the same group of wonderful musicians and even better people, for this long... but harder to believe there almost certainly won't be any more Bonner or Prendie musicals after the spring of 2012.
Why no more musicals? Well, no more schools, that's why. The Philadelphia Archdiocese recently made the decision to close several schools in the region, and unfortunately Bonner and Prendie were among the schools chosen to be closed after the end of this school year. Naturally, the kids currently attending the schools are devastated, as are the families and surrounding communities. The schools are currently going through an appeal process, and Archbishop Chaput will then make a final decision which is expected to be made public in mid-February. My hopes aren't too high that the appeal will be successful, but lots of prayers are being said in the community for a positive outcome.
I didn't personally attend Prendie, but my dad, his brothers and sisters, as well as several friends and friends' parents did. And I have close ties to the school, having been involved with the musicals for the past ten years. Ten. Years. Almost one-third of my life.
Playing in the pit orchestra for the Bonner and Prendie musicals introduced me to so many great musicians who became close friends, and opened so many other musical opportunities for me. Thanks to my involvement in the musicals there, I have had the opportunity to play for other high schools, for community theaters, in community orchestras, in local big bands. The friendships I have built and the experience I have gained have been invaluable. These experiences have made me a better musician over the years, and a better person. To be a musician in a pit orchestra is quite the experience. You have to be "on" and ready for things to change at any moment... ready for the kids to come in early... or not come in at all... ready to vamp a four-bar phrase 100 times... ready to switch instruments mid-measure... ready to discretely launch into the circus theme song at just the right moment during a tune just so the closest pit members around you can hear... (Matt M. you know what I'm talking about ;)
Sure, some people think I'm a total nut for playing in these musicals every spring and fall, religiously (pun intended), for let's face it, not the greatest pay, at the end of the day. But most who know me know I don't play for the money, but for the experience. At the risk of sounding totally cheesy, there is something I get out of playing in the pit with the same group season after season that I cannot put into words. Get me in that pit and I am totally in my element, doing what I love to do. I'm in the zone. I feel alive! I'm not thinking about anything else but the music... okay goofing off a little, too. It's just true joy that I get out of it and that's what life is all about.
Regardless of the impending closing of the schools, there will be at least one more musical this spring. Bonner will present "Les Miserables", which feels fitting for me, in many ways. "Les Miserables" was the first musical I saw at Prendie back in 2002. I played my first show, "Guys and Dolls", at Bonner the following spring. "Les Mis" also happens to be one of my favorite shows. And last spring I played "Les Mis" at Pope John Paul II H.S., which was around the time of some new beginnings for me... now I'll play it this spring at a time where I'm facing some endings... this show will be the book-ends for a period of my life and experiences I will never forget. And then it will be time for a new chapter to begin...
The shows dates and times for "Les Miserables" at Bonner are as follows:
Friday, March 16th - 8 pm
Saturday, March 17th - 8 pm
Sunday, March 18th - 2 pm
Friday, March 23rd - 8 pm
Saturday, March 24th - 8 pm
Sunday, March 25th - 2 pm
Friday, March 30th - 8 pm
Saturday, March 31st - 8 pm
I will be playing one of the reed books on sax/flute/clarinet and I plan to be at every show. I truly hope for an overwhelming turnout for these final shows, and would love to see familiar faces in the audience. If you can make it to a show, and are interested in purchasing tickets, please let me know. As always, tickets are $10, in advance or at the door.
I look forward to seeing many familiar faces and to a very emotional, possibly final musical at Bonner.
Musically yours,
Tina
