Music is a Magical Thing

It's been 2 weeks since the end of Pi. I think to date, it's been the most memorable Y-Hope special service I've ever been involved in. Why was it memorable? Most definitely not because I was heavily involved. If that were the case, there'd many other special services that'd be more memorable - dancing and VJ-ing for Freedom, playing Michael Jackson and Liquid Tension Experiment songs for Rendition, posing as Ip Man for post-exam special service...

No. It was because Pi stretched everyone to their limits and yet, we enjoyed it every step of the way. It was because of how amazing it was to see a bond spring up as quickly as it did among those involved, let alone the cast. I had to admit right at the beginning, I had serious misgivings that I never voiced out. "Even professionals couldn't do it at such short notice, what more us?", or something along those lines anyway. After all, we were working with people with, at that time, raw abilities. Black diamonds with small shiny spots, but certainly far from a finished De Beer. I was of the opinion that such a production should be measured in months, not weeks!

The day before Pi One, I was at rehearsal, the full-dress rehearsal nothing less, and I won't mind telling you that I had this partly hollow, partly flabbergasted feeling as I played and watched the cast do their nut on stage. Of course I enjoyed myself playing bass, I almost always do, don't I? But I couldn't see then and there what a runaway success this pseudo-musical was going to be. Technical difficulties abounded, and the cast clearly could not lose themselves and produce the expansive actions that I knew they had to pull off if the musical was to be vibrant and alive. I was gladly proven wrong on the actual day itself though. Each and every one involved performed far and away above their level of competence! Feedback from the general audience was great, and they wanted more. I was surprised and delighted with the result, but I knew that the next week presented an even greater challenge - we had barely begun to put any effort into it!

Pi Two's script wasn't as good as the first's. It was put together simply because it HAD to be put together! But after the first ess, I could see that the cast was closer than they'd ever been before (then again, maybe I was thinking too much, something I'm rarely ever accused of!), so I thought that there was a chance that this could be as good as Pi One. To compound matters courtesy of Murphy and his blasted Law, Kaiwen, resident Y-Hope guitar expert, had to leave Singapore for a while for an already-planned trip to Taiwan, and could only make it back the night before Pi Two. Thank Heavens that Yao doesn't seem to fly as much...

On one of the earlier rehearsal days that week (a Tuesday, I believe), I was itching with irritation at the apparent unprofessionalism of the cast. They forgot their lines, laughed onstage, timed their entrances and exits badly and since there's always the proverbial cherry on the proverbial cake, the people backstage seemed to suffer from bad cases of verbal diarrhea. I fumed silently - I doubt that anyone saw the steam leaking from my ears! I thought that Shan controlled herself admirably. When I heard someone telling her that she was overly fierce and scary, I almost lost my head - the way the rehearsal had gone, if I had been director, I'd have reprimanded some of them either into oblivion or extinction!

Come Friday though, I was pleasantly surprised by the marked improvement that everyone showed. Even last minute changes were incorporated without overt fuss or fanfare. I know that Joshua tried exceptionally hard to get his parts for "You've Got a Friend in Me" right for instance, and Chee Hwee & Chunkiat clarified the speed of their song "Devil in Me" with Lee, YWAM poster boy drummer. Small details like that were very encouraging. The finale incorporating the bow was fully worked out that night and what a remarkable piece of art that was! Saturday came and once again, the response was overwhelming - a few hiccups here and there as per the norm, but the cast performed with gusto, and Yao managed to save the day when Joshua didn't manage to come in properly on his song. No shame there of course - it wasn't a simple song by any means! Nearly spilled gastric blood when learning that particular song!

In retrospect, it was really magical to see people who were initially inadequate grow so quickly in such a short span of time. Surely God's hand was in this! I'm sure that this ess will be remembered as an awesome service over the years - hope the videos will be done soon, so that those involved can watch it over and over again in future with that warm fuzzy feeling in their tummies. =) Thank you very much all of you, the cast, the dancers, the musios, the image team, the technical crew and the logistics crew! Thanks for all your effort. Of course there're special people to single out - Shan did a great job directing, training and organizing the cast, and Yao was instrumental in leading and caring for both the musios AND cast (VitC and Bird's Nest anyone?). And most of all, thank God that He is sovereign over any situation, that He manifested Himself through each and every one of us, that He wrought four miracles over four services, and that most of us can choose to appreciate art in all it's glory, especially when it is used for it's intended purpose. =)