December 19, 2008 by Ro.

We have our final rehearsal before our big weekend of song. We get a bit silly. For one thing, our cheat sheet has become so detailed with cryptic cues that we can barely read it anymore. As we start to sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” Ro snuggles up next to Steve and then wonders why no one else is closing in tight. “It says ‘CLOSER’ on the cheat sheet,” she says. “Aren’t we supposed to get in close?” “That’s CLOSER, as in the song that CLOSES the show, not to GET CLOSE,” they explain patiently, although Ro can hear the unspoken “you idiot” at the end.

We also have difficulty with the chorus of “Here We Come A-Caroling.” For some reason, we can never remember whether it’s “bless you and send you” or “send you and bless you” so we wind up with a spoonerized “sess you and blend you” with resulting hilarity. We even write BSS on our cheat sheet to remind us it goes bless, send, send, but no one can remember what it means.

Jeff is off and running with the whole spoonerization of our repertoire and discovers the lyrics are even more hilarious if pronounced backwards. He is delighted! “Hey! ‘bless’ backwards is ‘sselb!’” he discovers. He proceeds to “sselb” us all with his microphone (Jeff, solemnly, “I sselb you,” to each of us, as one by one we fall to the floor in hysterics.) This prompts Audrey to recall the joke about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who lay awake all night wondering if there was a Dog. Ro suggests that perhaps he should try counting peesh. PEESH! We all fall on that one and simultaneously start going, “Aaaab, aa-aa-aaab, aaa-aab!”

We are now in ruins, Steve wheezing for breath, Jeff snorting, Audrey and Ro in fits of coughing and laughter, Ro’s mascara streaming down her face so she looks like something from the Thriller video. It takes a bowl of Brenda’s excellent soup to calm us.

This is our fifth holiday season together as a quartet. It is still fun and magical.

To all our friends, fans, and family, “Holly Hapidays and West Bishes for a Nappy Yew Hear!”

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

December 16, 2008 by Ro.

We are feverishly preparing for the songful weekend we have coming up. It is the Perfect Storm of festivity: the Winter Solstice, the first night of Chanukah, and Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve all in one weekend, a little something for everyone to celebrate. And we are busy, busy, busy! On Saturday night we (cleverly disguised as Nah Cappella) are singing at the Chanukah Dance, and on Sunday we have an hour-long show at the Cedar Crest Performing Arts Center, followed by a performance at the menorah lighting in Long Valley! Oh, we are working hard!

And it’s paying off! We have three new holiday songs to add to our repertoire: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, Carol of the Bells, and I’ll Be Home for Christmas. We have a rehearsal at Steve’s that is very productive, despite the fact that the Wellses have just flown the redeye back from Hawaii and are between time zones. Flo is also in attendance and, as usual, she is our harshest critic. “Oh, that was just wonderful!” “I loved that!” “How do you do it? You all sound so good!” “I can’t get over it!” etc. etc.

Ro is in pure pre-holiday befuddlement, evidenced by her reaction when told by Brenda that she’s been “baking for Oklahoma.” Ro immediately assumes that there has been some horrible tragedy that has affected the state of Oklahoma and wonders why she didn’t get the word to begin baking for the poor people of Oklahoma who must be suffering and starving so. She tries to get her neurons to fire enough to recall recent news about Oklahoma. She knows that the country is in economic peril, but can’t recall hearing anything about another Dust Bowl. Perhaps a rash of tornadoes? Floods? As she is doing this, she is noticing that Brenda is wrapping up, not nourishing and practical foods for the people of Oklahoma, but festive-looking pralines. They are even in holiday wrappers with ribbons, nothing at all appropriate for a disaster zone. That’s when Ro remembers that Brenda is FROM Oklahoma and these are treats for her FAMILY.

Duh. Soooooooooo blonde.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »