Thursday, 12/18/08

Thank you for a concert weekend filled with great spirit. The audience response to our annual holiday extravaganza was amazing — a great way to begin the holiday season. Our Saturday and Sunday performances sold out, and sadly, we had to turn some of you away. Don't miss the rest of our season-long celebrations. Mini-subscriptions are available online.

I am terribly jealous that our singers can see the joy on the faces of the audience. But I am truly the lucky one, because I get to see the joy on THEIR faces as they sing — and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

GMCW is about so much more than just excellent singing. GMCW is about sharing our pride as gay people and bringing community together. Our March and June shows are absolutely GMCW mission-focused: we will entertain, we will educate, we will affirm.

We want to celebrate how far we have come in the forty years since the Stonewall riots sparked the gay-rights movement — and how important it is to continue our struggle. Until we have equal rights in this country, our work is not done.

We want to celebrate by giving back to the community. In the months after our March performances at Lisner Auditorium, will will take everything gAy to Z on the road to Maryland, Delaware and Virginia to benefit regional PFLAG and AIDS-services organizations.

We want to celebrate the fun, the quirkiness, and well, the fact that we are just so gay — so gay that it's in our name! We are definitely not a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" chorus!

Our June show celebrates friendship — those who have shared our lives, warts and all. The music in the first half of the June show is alternately and simultaneously eclectic, upbeat, humorous and meaningful. The second half is a staged performance of through a glass, darkly, a theater-piece commissioned by the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus in 2007 about crystal meth addiction. The music sounds a lot like combining the Broadway musical RENT with a traditional choral work. It is written for three singer-actors and chorus. It is edgy, not preachy. Through music, we will entertain and shed light on this devastating problem in our community — and honor the power of friendship.

Have a safe and peaceful holiday season. I'll be back with a new blog after the New Year.

Jeff