Hard Questions 4
by dymondbolt
The night of the Spring Concert had finally arrived. The sound of the audience as they were entering the Auditorium and getting seated, was gently covering up the Orchestra as it got tuned up. The first Violin student, getting all the musicians in tune, was acting like he would in a professional Orchestra. That also made him second in command and gave Fred a few extra minutes back stage to help Woody get ready for the performance.
Fred had just looked out at the audience from the wings when Matt tapped him on the shoulder. "Mr G, could you please say the magic word, and put Woody out of Our misery?"
Fred turned to find Matt in a black tuxedo that fit him very well. Matt had put a few pounds on since Christmas, and it made him look more like a gymnast than a martial artist. "All that towering muscleman in a form fitted tuxedo, acting like a frightened little kid, and it's just now getting to you?"
Matt's worried expression dissolved into a grin. "Oh yeah. You probably had this for the past three hours."
Fred snaughed. "Try five. But it's about time to help my big man overcome his phobia."
They walked back to the dressing rooms and found all of the male members of the Choir standing outside, except for Jess. Fred shook his head as he grinned at his singers. "You all left Jess in there alone with him?"
One of the bigger students spoke up after seeing no one else would. "He started looking like one of those big cats they put in small cages."
A blonde Alto added, "At feeding time."
Another student cut in, "He won't stop pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth"
All the other students joined in with "Yeah!"
Fred shook his head again. "So you all thought Jess being the same size made him the Lion Tamer?"
Matt corrected him. "I think they all thought Jess would have a better chance of wrestling him to the ground if they weren't in the way." All the students were nodding their heads as Fred pushed past them.
The second Fred got in the dressing room he was grabbed and hugged by Woody. "Oh Frodo, I am so glad you got back."
While Woody started to babble, Fred was being crushed in his grip. He got out "Woody, gotta breath!" but realized Woody wasn't listening. Fred grabbed Woody around the waist and lifted him off his feet. Then after taking a huge breath he shouted "Chill!!!"
Woody loosened his grip on Fred and looked down at him in silence. Then a grin spread over his face. "My Frodo."
Fred's scowl also melted away into a grin. "I'll put ya down, if ya let me whisper a word into your ear. OK?"
"OK." Fred let Woody down and Woody bent down further to give Fred a kiss. "Thanks for being the strong one, this time. I really need that from you, more often than you know. And you always come through."
"Just like you Buddy." Another kiss and then Fred whispered the trigger word into Woody's ear. All of the tension seemed to drain out of Woody's massive muscled body. He stood up and seemed relaxed and confident. "And at the end of the performance, you are going to remember everything just like the last times in rehearsal, and just how much fun you had. Right?"
"I will, Frodo. This should get rid of my stage fright and fear of singing in public." Woody smiled all his love at Fred and saw it returned just as strong.
"Good, cause I love you singing."
Matt was smiling from the doorway. "Yeah, we do too." The students in back of him all murmured in agreement.
Jess adjusted his bow tie and then did the same for Matt. "Let's do this thing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kane Ford was seated in the third row center as the lights flashed. Then the house lights dimmed while the Orchestra and Curtain lights remained lit. Fred appeared from the side door and was greeted by some mild applause. He walked to his seat in the orchestra pit and bowed to the audience. Then he turned to the Orchestra and raised his baton. The remaining lights went out and the music started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kashmir
As the music finished the short intro to the song, a spot light lit up a microphone on a stand and then Matt's face as he started singing.
"Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream"
Jess moved into the light, left of Matt and sang,
"I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been"
Woody moved in to the light, right of Matt and sang,
"To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen"
Together they sang,
"They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed"
The curtains slowly opened with a dim back light showing the Choir in silhouette, standing on risers. But they remained silent as the Three Tenors continued to sing.
"And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been."
As the beat and volume increased from the orchestra, the stage was filled with light. That was when the audience could see that Matt was standing on a box to be able to have his head at the same level as Jess and Woody. With the lights up, Matt put his arms around the other guys shoulders and they did the same with him.
"Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace, {Matt}
Like thoughts inside a dream {M&Choir}
Heed the path that led me to that place, {Jess}
Yellow desert stream {J&C}
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, {Woody}
I will return again {W&C}
Sure as the dust that floats high and true, {M,J&W}
When movin through kashmir." {ALL}
The Choir sang the next three lines as Woody and Jess helped Matt off of the box. Woody kicked the box into the stage right wings and then lined up with Mat and Jess.
"Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years
With no provision but an open face, along the straits of fear
Ohh."
Matt grabbed the mike off of the stand and sang
"All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground"
Woody and Jess bent down over Matt to sing the next two lines with him. The Choir were silent but swaying with the music.
"And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been."
The rest of the song was sang by all the singers on stage.
"Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, when Im down...
Ooh, yeah-yeah, ooh, yeah-yeah, well Im down, so down
Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there"
Stage lights went out except for the back light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kane started clapping with the rest of the audience, only to find that the next song started after ten seconds of the applause.
It was an extended version of the David Bowie/Queen song...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
The Three Tenors and the Choir shared the song amongst themselves.
"Pressure!
Pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure
That burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
Bah bah dah bah bah dah
(Yeah) (Yeah)
That's okay!
It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Scream "Let me out!"
Pray tomorrow takes me higher
Pressure on people
People on streets
Bah bah dah bah bah dah
Okay!
Chippin' around
Kick my brains round the floor
These are the days
It never rains but it pours
Bah bah dah bah bah dah
People on streets
bah dah dee da day
People on streets
bah dah dee dah dee dah dee dah dee dah
It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Scream "Let me out!"
Pray tomorrow takes me higher (higher)
Yeah!
Turned away from it all
Like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love
But it's so slashed and torn
Why? Why? Why?
Love (love)! Love (love)! Love (love)!
Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love give love give love?
Give love give love give love give love give love?
Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care
For the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our ways
Of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last chance
This is ourselves under pressure
Under pressure
Under pressure"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The audience got a chance to applaud for a minute, that time. Kane took a moment to check the program and noticed it had a song hand written in a space just before the intermission. A solo to be performed by his weight training coach, Woody. Kane was still getting over the shock of hearing Woody sing so well. He had suffered with the rest of the general school population, when Woody decided to hum a tune or sing along with the radio. Something must have happened to fix Woody's tin ear. The curtains closed down to an eight foot wide opening and Matt stepped into the gap with an acoustical Guitar. A chair was magically under him as he sat. The lights on stage dimmed to just one spot hovering near his head as he started playing The Rolling Stones classic..
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paint it Black
"I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes "
A beautiful Hispanic girl from the Choir walks through the gap in the curtain, into the widening spot light, and rests her hand on Matt's shoulder as she joins him singing the next part of the song. They both are singing their anger and pain in the song. As the song progresses, parts of the orchestra softly join in with the singers.
"I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back "
They are slowly joined by more and more of the Choir. Each finds a spot to be near and touch Matt.
"I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby it just happens ev'ry day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facin' up when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin' comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes "
Matt hums and then sings by himself till the last two lines, where he is joined once more by the Choir.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm,...
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the applause swells the curtain opens to allow the Choir back to the risers.
For Kane the next two songs blurred together. He joined in the applause, but when it died the stage and the house remained dark. In the darkness a lone chord started to be played on the piano. It was familiar but you couldn't tell just exactly what song was coming from it. Then a spotlight pointing straight down to a point a few feet left of where Fred was conducting the orchestra, flashed on. It dimmed just a bit as Matt came forward with a stool. He placed it in the middle of the circle of light and beckoned Fred over to it. Matt took the baton from Fred's hand as he sat Fred down on the stool. The curtains had been closing all this time and another spotlight lit up the left side of the stage. The moment Woody stepped into the other circle of light, in front of the curtains, the chord being played on the piano changed. And then Woody started to sing a modified version of Billy Joel's song "She's Got A Way"...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
He's Got A Way
"He's got a way about him
I don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without him
He's got a way of pleasin'
I don't know what it is
But there doesn't have to be a reason / Anyway
He's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when he reveals me
He's got a way of talkin'
I don't know what it is
But it lifts me up when we are walkin' / Anywhere
He comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
He touches me and I get turned around
He's got a way of showin'
How I make him feel
And I find the strength to keep on goin'
He's got a light around him
And everywhere he goes
A million dreams of love surround him / Everywhere
He comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
He touches me and I get turned around
He's got a smile that heals me
I don't know why it is
But I have to laugh when he reveals me
He's got a way about him
I don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without him / Anyway"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last chords from the piano were suddenly overcome by the applause from the audience. Woody bowed a few times and the house lights came up. Fred was grinning from ear to ear. He started walking towards the stage as Woody walked down the side stairs and they met at the bottom. Fred buried his head into Woody's chest as they embraced. They didn't get a chance to speak before the audience surged around them. The intermission was a twenty minute blur until Missy Hopkins appeared and got her hug from them both.
"My Heaven's Woody, that was so beautiful."
"Why thank you, Missy. I'd been wanting to get over my phobia for years. And Fred finally helped me find a way."
"But that last song was a surprise for you, wasn't it, Fred?"
"Yes. A complete and wonderful surprise."
Missy smiled at the look the two men gave each other and then chuckled. That got their attention. "You two do know that the version of Mr Joel's song Woody just sung, would be equally appropriate if any singer were singing it about Jesus? With that in mind, it becomes a beautiful Gospel song. Now I know you were singing to your partner, Woody, but you've also given me another wonderful song to apply to my list of Christian songs. Thank you so much."
Woody murmured, "You're welcome," as he hugged her again. The lights in the entry hall flashed and Fred and Woody took their places as the audience returned to their seats.
To be continued