Thursday, June 26, 2025
We got up a little earlier to get to the airport on time, and there we met up with others in our group. We flew to LaGuardia on a small Embraer jet, and the flight was uneventful. From there we had a coach that took us to the hotel, which was the Sheraton near to Central Park. We got settled in our room, and met up with Don and Maureen to plan the rest of the day. The chorus has nothing scheduled until the morning. Cheryl went out to check on the market nearby since there is no refrigerator in the room, so she will be shopping every day.
Our plan for the evening is to grab a bite to eat, then meet Don and Maureen for a night at the theater. Because what else do you do when you have a free night in New York City! We got to the Lyceum Theater for the show, which was…interesting. The play was called Oh, Mary, and it centered around Mary Todd Lincoln, but as a complete fantasy. Mary had been a cabaret performer, but Abraham made her give it up because it did not fit his political career. She becomes a raging drunk as a result. The actor playing her was a black man, which made an interesting choice. And Abraham was gay man who was having an affair with John Wilkes Booth. I’m guessing that a fairly high percentage of the audience were gays, and there were in-jokes that I didn’t get. So it was not exactly like seeing Hamilton, if you know what I mean.
After the show, the four of us walked through Times Square to get back to the hotel, but we stopped at a cafe so Don could get something to eat, and the rest of us had sodas. Finally we made it back to the hotel to turn in.
Friday, June 27, 2025
We were up early, and by 7 we were out hunting for breakfast. We found a good one at Carnegie Diner just a couple of blocks from the hotel. After that was back to the hotel, where I had a 3 hour rehearsal scheduled in one of the hotel ballrooms. All of this was set up by Mid-America Productions, and they organized us for how we would be on stage before turning it over the two conductors, Matt Packer and Michael Martin. Matt has been our conductor for UniSong Chorale all along, but this was our first time with Michael and his group. But it really felt good when we had all of those singers with us, and both conductors were a pleasure to work with. I left the rehearsal feeling like this was going to be great. And we all got our tickets for various things on Sunday, which is the day of the concert. The singers got backstage passes to Carnegie Hall, and non-singing people like Cheryl and Maureen got tickets to be seated for the concert. And we all got tickets for the after-concert boat ride.
After this Cheryl and I went to the Museum of Modern Art, which was only two blocks from the hotel, where we took in the floor with turn-of-the 20th century art, such as Picasso, Klimt, and Mondrian. We spent about two hours there before getting tired and came back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. Then we went back to the Carnegie Diner for dinner before returning to the hotel.
Saturday, June 28, 2025
We went back to the Carnegie Diner for breakfast, and over breakfast began to look at New Zealand tours. Don really loved being there, so we thought we would see what some options are. Then it was back to the hotel for a bit. At 9:30 we headed out to Central Park. We walked through the park to Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial, then crossed the street to the Dakota to take a picture. Then we mosied back in the direction of Carnegie Hall. The Gift Shop is not open on Sundays, so we got there shortly after it opened at 11am so I could buy a souvenir magnet. Then we checked out where the stage door is, which I need to go to tomorrow morning. Then it was back to the hotel. I was able to sit and rest for about an hour before heading down to a 4 hour rehearsal in a hotel ballroom.
The rehearsal was great, and we are ready for this. We then went out for dinner with Don and Maureen before finally going back to our room, where I ironed my shirt for the morning.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Game Day!
We got up at 6am as usual, and went to breakfast at our usual place, the Carnegie Diner (not to be confused with the world-famous Carnegie Deli). Then it was back to the hotel to get into my concert attire before joining a group walk the 3 blocks to the Carnegie Stage Door. The choir was divided into groups, and sent into 2 of the Orchestra rooms to wait for our turn at a dress rehearsal. This was the first time we would sing with the orchestra, and that makes a difference. The rehearsal went well, then we had 2 hours off before our call. Some people went out to get a bite to eat, but my omelet at breakfast was quite sufficient to carry me through, so I just rested. I knew I would need all of my energy for today.
There were 3 acts on the program today, and were the 2nd. Ahead of us was a women’s chorus from San Diego, and Cheryl said they were very good. I didn’t really hear any of it being stowed away in the orchestra room, which is too bad, but I was getting myself ready for our spot, which came at 2pm. We first did the piece “Into the Light”, by Jake Runestad, and then the “Lux Aeterna” by Morten Lauridsen. These two pieces took most of an hour to do, and then it was over. Mid-America Productions then hustled all of us to seats in the audience, where we got to hear the New Orleans Youth Orchestra, who were quite good. I suspect at least half of our audience consisted of family members of those kids. Then we picked up our things from the Orchestra rooms, and headed out front to 7th Avenue to board the coaches that would take us to the harbor cruise.
The cruise was a nice end to the day. There was a buffet dinner on board that was sufficient to our needs, and the cruise took us by the Brooklyn Bridge and to the Statue of Liberty. We took photos of the Statue, the skyline, and each other, then back on the coach to go back to the hotel. It was a tiring day, and for me, a very emotional day. But I was ready to end it by this point.
Monday, June 30, 2025
Up at 6 again, and back to our usual spot at the Carnegie Diner for breakfast. We did a photo stop for the Ed Sullivan Theater, formerly the home to David Letterman, and now home of Stephen Colbert. I was too tired to do anything else, so we went back to the hotel to kill a couple of hours before boarding a coach to take us to LaGuardia for our flight back to Detroit.
Mid-America Productions did a very good job in putting this together. Our evenings were free, and we did take advantage on Thursday to take in a Broadway show. Friday our afternoon was free and we got to go to the Museum of Modern Art, just a few blocks from the hotel. Saturday our morning was free and we got to visit Central Park, again a few blocks from the hotel. And they organized the cruise after the concert, and handled all of the transportation. I was very happy with my experience.
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