Well, I Lied ... We Had Another Big Production To Get Through

The St. Peter's Bazaar wasn't the next thing on our list ... It was the girls' performance in the Andre Rieu concert in Montreal June 25. The "Waltz King" conductor and violinist asked his people to get him a local children's choir to perform a Michale Jackson tribute with the orchestra and soloist Carmen Monarcha. He does this performance of "Earth Song" quite often during his current tour, bringing in a local choir in each city. The local PBS station contacted Margaret's chorus director, Bill Verity, and 35 kids were selected from Oak Street Elementary, the middle and high school choruses. Both Margaret and Patricia were chosen to perform. The kids had to be dressed in white from head to toe -- not uniform but all in white -- for which Rieu would reimburse up to $100 per kid. So we hit TJ Maxx and found appropriate attire for both girls. Each child would get two tickets for family members (which means we got four tickets!) valued at about $100 a pop. And the company would reimburse the district for its traveling expenses. They would also feed the group.

The chorus rehearsed several days over the course of a couple weeks -- rehearsals that included choreography the choir does each performance. I had to get the girls' paperwork together -- they need an official copy of their birth certificates and photo ID to cross the border. Jack and I only just recently received our passports, so we were set. I ended up going to the city clerk's office to get all three girls' birth certificates just to have them in hand, and then DMV to get them non-driver state ID cards. Once I had all the paperwork together, I breathed a sigh of relief that we'd all be able to cross the border and back. Then the whole group went up to Montreal the morning of June 25 for a day of rehearsals before the evening concert.

In the meantime, I was busy getting things ready for the book sale at the bazaar coming up June 27. I put my back out Thursday by lifting boxes of books, so I've been uncomfortable and in pain ever since but it's slowly getting better. Jack suggested we go up to Montreal earlier in the day with Brigid and walk around the old port, maybe go to the Biodome and then have dinner before the concert and stay the night at the Chateau Champlain, which, coincidentally, is right next door to the Bell Centre where the concert was being held. I made reservations and we went up and spent the afternoon in Old Montreal, then hit the pool in the hotel, which Brigid was dying to do. The Biodome, by the way, wasn't open. A labor dispute between the city and its workers forced the facility to close, although we were assured that the animals inside were being well-taken-care of.

We ate dinner at Nickels, a chain diner in Montreal, and then headed over for the concert. It did not disappoint. I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed the concert overall -- and when the kids from PHS came out, our group of parents, friends and teachers went crazy. The song is very emotional anyway, and Carmen is incredible, but the idea that our kids were standing on the stage with this internationally known conductor and orchestra performing in front of 6,000 people was surreal and magical. They performed flawlessly and received a standing ovation from the crowd, with us leading the way. People who sat near us asked if they were our kids and said how proud me must be. That was an understatement.

Brigid managed to hold out until the girls came out and performed, then Jack whisked her away and back to the hotel. During intermission, they led the white-clad singers to a section for the remainder of the concert, and they were enthusiastic audience members. When the concert was done, there was no getting them down from the ceiling for days. But I was right up there with them. We walked back to the hotel -- it was late. This guy Rieu just doesn't know when to stop. He played about a dozen encores. Everyone collapsed in the room soon after. When we got up the next morning and went down to breakfast, the girls saw him walking out of the lobby with Carmen and were so excited, I told them to run out and see if they were on the sidewalk. Both came back in beaming, saying they saw them before the pair climbed on board Rieu's tour buses, which were bound for Saturday night's concert in Toronto. The maestro was so impressed with the group, he asked Bill Verity if they could travel to Toronto to perform again that night. Although it was flattering, logistically it was impossible.

Margaret had to be back in Plattsburgh to perform in the PHS band for graduation, and Patricia and I had our work cut out for us at the book sale preparation, so we were home in time for lunch. A story in the Press the day before alerted everyone that this concert was going on, so many people stopped to talk to Patricia about it over the weekend.

The book sale and bazaar went on without a hitch, except for the hitch in my back, that is. It meant a long end to an even longer weekend, but it was incredibly satisfying and very, very magical.