2009, Part 1: Love Bites Pop Rocks, LGCSF Sings - Because We Can!, Pride

Hello all, I am back from my trip to Munich and Berlin and ready to get back to our history. One thing I want to mention that in September of 2008 we were grateful to have a new Assistant Artistic Director and Pianist in the person of Daniel Hooper. Now onto 2009.

Love Bites Pop Rocks, February 6, 7 and 13, The Women's Building. We were 25 strong for these shows. The theme of this Love Bites was LGCSF sings Top 40 hits of bitterness and betrayal. The show on Feb. 13 was a special Adults Only show. We opened with "Love Stinks" and the solos, duets and trios sang "Before He Cheats" "Mr. Valentine's Dead", "The More You Ignore Me," and ended the first half with a song by Eric Lane Barnes called "I Do," which was our ode to gay marriage. The big finale for these shows was Desperately Seeking Love Bites: A Madonna Retrospective which was created by Carolyn Eidson and Stephanie better known as Fifi and Fannie. The songs in this medley were "Love Don't Live Here Anymore," "Live to Tell," "Express Yourself" and "Vogue." Carolyn was an excellent Madonna and the chorus wore cone breasts and vogued.  We had lots of fun with this.

LGCSF Sings - Because We Can!, April 3 and 4, Theatre Rhinoceros. This was a concert of the best of our season with some surprises. This was another chance for our soloists, duets and trios to shine along with several full chorus songs. Some of the highlights were two songs from "Wicked," "Popular" and "What is This Feeling?" The first half ended with the chorus singing "Bonse Aba," "Harriet Tubman," and "Such a Nice Brisket" by Jack Curtis Dubowsky. The second half featured several songs by Eric Lane Barnes. They were "Caffeine Overload Polka," "Bittersweet Tango," "Lambscapes: Historical Settings of Mary and Her Lamb," and we finished with "More I Cannot Wish You" with Remy Timbrook soloing. It was good to revisit these songs.

2009 Pride Concert: Let's Get Loud!, June 25 and 26, First Unitarian Church. LGCSF and the Freedom Band were co-hosts for this Pride concert. Our special guests were SFGMC and two of their small ensembles, The Lollipop Guild and Vocal Minority. This was a celebration of SFGMC on their 30 years of singing and sharing their music with the world. It was also the 30th anniversary of The Lollipop Guild making it the longest running small ensemble in GALA Choruses. The concert opened with the Freedom Band playing two songs. Next up was Vocal Minority and then SFGMC and the first half ended with two songs featuring all three ensembles, "Love Has Always Been Our Song," and "The Promise of Living." The second half started with The Lollipop Guild, then more music from the Freedom Band and then we did our set - "Bonse Aba," "Parade," "I Do," and "More I Cannot Wish You." The concert ended with all of us performing "I Am What I Am."  This was another great two nights of shared music and being with our fellow musicians for this Pride concert.