"It will fill people's souls every time."

As I got to bed somewhere in the silly hours of the morning, this is last night's blog :)

 

Waiting. Standing. Waiting. Sitting. Waiting some more. That about summarised today for the members of the choir. It’s surprisingly tiring to wait around for so many hours – I even resorted to lying down on the bridge in an attempt to nap at one point! But this waiting afforded me the chance to reflect on the effort that has gone and is still going into pageant. And I realised just how much effort is going into this behind the scenes. The lighting, the stage crew, the directors and their assistants (including Beth, our wonderful choir director).

This evening we had our dress rehearsal, which was performed to an audience comprised of those living locally and some from Liverpool. It was a great experience to see it all come together – considering we had only done one full run through previously, it was incredible! The audience were fantastic, speaking to them before and after I know that they had a wonderful experience. As we were greeting them afterwards, I overheard a comment that really sums up pageant; “It will fill people’s souls every time.” That is our goal for pageant, to fill people’s souls, to help them to feel what we feel, and what the early saints must have felt, hearing the gospel for the first time, recognising its truthfulness, and leaving their homes – and in some cases their families.

There is a lot of standing involved for members of the choir, and after awhile you start to ache. But what was great was when we put an arm around each other, without even leaning on each other, somehow the weight lifts. We are all united in this and (without being too cheesy!) we truly are in it together and helping to lift each other.

Tonight the technical guys are staying hours after the cast and choir have gone to bed, to block scenes ready for the first performance tomorrow. Those of us lacking in sense are staying to help out by standing on the stage. Of course it’s late and we’re tired, so the silliness has begun. What is great is the attitude of those here; talking, laughing, joking, and just generally in good spirits. We’ve even been brought sustenance in the form of crisps, apples and chocolates by a lovely lady. The amazing thing is the youth - knowing that they have to get up at 8:30am to continue rehearsing, they willingly volunteered to stay and are in high spirits. What an example to us all!

Having fun with 'Santa' - can you name that tune?!

Oh, and as we were leaving the accommodation centre to head over here, we discovered that someone had left their things behind in the lift. Look familiar anyone?