L is for Lagniappe & Other Choir Shenanigans

Watching a performance. I'm on the left.

In high school, I was a choir nerd. One year, I had choir 3 out of 6 hours of my school day. In 1994, we put together a variety show. I remember sitting in the choir room brainstorming what we should call the show (ironically, I would spend hours brainstorming business names not too many years later). We settled on Lagniappe – a word that means (approximately) a little something special. I still have a video around here somewhere (I really need to get that thing transferred to DVD before it dies!). I was in the Chamber Choir that year which was our school’s invite-only choir. As a result, there was some pretty elitist behavior among my peers (that’s right folks, no matter what clique you belong to, there’s always a pecking order and a lot more ego than a bunch of nerds probably have any right to LOL).

We auditioned acts for the show. Everyone in Chamber got a part, even if they stunk to high heaven. And being kids, we didn’t exactly make anyone stick to the original plan so the night of the show we had about a million unexpected changes based on all the usual teenage shenanigans. For instance, one of the senior girls ended up scrapping her audition song and singing a duet with a boyfriend (luckily, they could sing and it was a very good performance). It was all very dramatic.

I used to love watching that tape in fast forward. One of the boys in our group, a guy who’d been chosen because we needed boys rather than on merit alone, got two songs (unbelievably, or many not so unbelievably…he was friends with one of the senior girls). He and two friends sang along to a Stevie Wonder song complete with the actual vocal track so you couldn’t hear a word the boys were singing. I like to fast forward this part because all three boys were doing this weird uncomfortable shuffle back and forth, hands shoved deeply in their pockets, and its hilarious to watch with the speed up.

I sang a Beth Nielsen Chapman song with my parent’s friend Ed accompanying on guitar. I was such a wreck. I love singing and being part of the choir makes me joyful, but solos….I might as well die of a heart attack right there on stage. I’m amazed sometimes that I lived through this performance. Even after years of singing on stage, I still feel the same horrible panic when I get ready to sing to an audience.

As much as I remember all the politicking and stupid teenage moments that happened that year, I have such a soft spot in my heart for all the people I ever sang with. I learned a lot about myself, and about how to overcome my fears in those days. I made some of my very best friends. And I got to sing everyday, which was a blessing. It’s been years since I’ve sung anywhere but behind my computer and I miss it so much.

My 20-year high school reunion is coming up and I find myself reminiscing. To all my choir nerd peeps...I love you all. 

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A page out of the yearbook. Show prep.