A Puzzlement*

My high school best friend, who currently lives in Maryland, sent me a text at o-dark-thirty this morning asking if I was going to the reunion concerts this weekend.

What reunion concerts?

It seems some of my more intrepid classmates came up with the idea of having a huge reunion concert with our former choir director. As of the information Laura passed on, some 120 former choir members are involved. The concerts - two of them, at 2 and 7 this Saturday - include music from eleven of Mr. Mac's twenty-six years as choir director, including a medley from the stupidest musical ever written (or such is the opinion of the girl sitting as second violinist in the orchestra at the time we performed it), Carousel.

Now that I'm better informed, I feel obligated to make an appearance, if not at the concert, at least at the dress rehearsal (oh, quit your whining - I know it's a benefit, and if I go to the rehearsal I'll make a donation anyway). But I have several things that must get done this weekend, and this is going to make everything more difficult.

My high school career was spent in orchestra, not choir. I would have liked to be in the choir, but the hour set aside for their meeting was the same hour the advanced math classes were held (why the district thought math skills and musical ability were mutually exclusive, I don't know). Still, Mr. Mac conducted the orchestra for the spring musicals (The King and I, Brigadoon and the aforementioned Carousel during my tenure at the school), so I'm at least acquainted with him.

Actually, most of the choir/orchestra/band people hung out together anyway. The girls in the orchestra were drafted as the flag squad for marching band. Some of the band joined the orchestra for full orchestral numbers. Everyone joined forces for the musical. It may be ... entertaining? ...to see people thirty-five years later.

*Name that musical. For bonus points, name the song from Carousel that lives on (and on, and on, and on...) as an end-of-summer staple.