We Can Work it Out

After two days of successful rehearsals, Thursday found us moving our show into the grand Royal Albert Hall! If you took the time to take the virtual tour from an earlier post, you will have a small idea of what it felt like to walk out on that stage. But the feeling is utterly indescribable. The hall is a massive circle with seats extending up to the ceiling, on all sides of the enormous stage. All 110 of us Maltesers were hit with a sudden appreciation for the magnitude of where we were about to be performing. When you walk onto a stage like that, you can't help but think about all the prolific performers who have tread the boards before you, and the list of performers at the RAH is endless!

So we settled into our seats, behind the orchestra and tucked into a fast-paced run-through of the evening. There was sound-checking, and tempo setting and blend adjustments. All the soloists came back and ran through their pieces in the big room, adjusting to the size of the stage and the lights that they would face etc. And then we were ready for showtime...almost.

The energy in the soprano dressing room was deafening! All the ladies were a-buzz with anticipation and couldn't stop talking about it! It turns out, the Maltese are not a quiet/reserved people... so I fit in well. Everyone was frantically doing their hair and painting their faces with the prettiest make-up they could do. We had to look good for our adoring fans after all.

Before we knew it, we were getting our places call and were herded into our seats. We looked impressive; all in black with gold scarves, the men in black suits and gold ties. We filed into the theatre and faced a nearly packed house. Then the evening's host came out and introduced the President of Malta and the Maltese National anthem, which luckily we didn't sing, because I would've looked a bit stupid mouthing the Maltese words! And then our concert officially began.

The orchestra was magnificent, and I had the best seat in the house. Directly behind the rock band that had been brought in to fill in the rhythm section of the famous Beatles tunes. It was a high energy concert and the audience was loving every minute of it. The first act came to a close with Beverly Knight singing 'We Can Work It Out'. She is a bit of a celebrity over here and so deserved! What a great performer! And the audience definitely appreciated her.

During the interval (intermission for my Canadian friends) I chatted with some of the soloists... particularly the British cowboy who was running around. I couldn't quite wrap my head around someone in proper cowboy boots, Levis and a cowboy hat speaking (and singing) in a British accent. Put I guess its this guy's gimmick, and it seems to be working alright for him.

The interval blew by and we were back on stage for act two. Another set of terrific songs and then it was time for the Diva to take the stage. Even before she walked out, the audience was on its feet cheering and screaming, I'm pretty sure there were some tears as well. Her first note brought more screams and then they let her sing. And sing she did. It was really great to hear!

We finished the concert with a fairly boring rendition of 'All You Need Is Love' but it didn't matter, the audience had been won over, they were hooked. And then it was over. Congratulations were passed around and wine glasses were clinked. We were done. My London debut at the Royal Albert Hall was over, and I climbed onto the night bus, just another face in the crowd and headed home. But I know that I shared the stage with greatness, and one day, it will be me the brings the house down.