PGMC music rehearsal in a room of the Hilton hotel.  Howard is doing a great job singing his solo during "Bridge Over Troubled Water".  I was at this rehearsal but you can't see me because the person behind the camera just does not understand how important I truly am. 

Day Two begins with my bladder waking me up at 6:15 am. Ugh! After going to the bathroom I could not get back to sleep. Adrenaline is rushing through my body and my mind probably is working at full tilt. Any little thing is preventing me from falling back to sleep. Just the sheer sound of Adrienne, Josh, and Steve breathing is enough to keep me awake. At 7:30 someone's alarm goes off. I decide to hop out of bed and take a shower. Since everyone was sleeping I knew I could take my time and not rush. That was a nice luxury. I fully expected that there would be a battle to use the bathroom between three gay men and a woman. When I get out of the bathroom I realized that I didn't know where my wallet was. I am a creature of habit and usually have a place for everything. Now that I'm in new surroundings lord knows where I put that wallet. I didn't want to disturb the others so after getting dressed I left with just my camera, phone, and a book.

I went to the lobby to take pictures that I hadn't had a chance to take earlier. I just started to wander around the hotel. I went out the back and wandered over to the marina area. Once there I found two guys from Vancouver. They were a sweet couple who were very easy to talk to. Their chorus didn't attend GALA. However, they only recently had moved to Vancouver and the guys from Calgary, their former hometown, were here. Bryan was the talented guy who did the artwork for the singalong book. It's also his artwork on the cover of the DVD, “A Song of Courage”. After chatting for a while they left to get their day started. I continued to take pictures of the view from the hotel.

I continue in my wanderings and find some friends having breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Apparently, the breakfast buffet is pretty decent. I did not partake. I just chatted with my friends, Craig, Miguel and Stephen. Eventually, my phone rings and it's my roomies wanting to know where I am. This is fortunate considering my room key is in my wallet and I can't get back into my room without that. While chatting with Miguel et al I told them how some of us from last night had made plans to go to the beach this morning before the concert blocks began. Miguel definitely wanted to hit the beach. How can you visit Miami and never see the beach? That seems insane to me. We decide we will coordinate via phone since I needed to go up to my room to retrieve my room key and wallet.

My roomies, Steve and Josh were all set to go to the beach. We ran into the others from last night. They all wanted to have a leisurely breakfast. We decided if they wanted to find us on the beach, they had our cell phone numbers. Meeting us in the lobby were Miguel and Jeff A. I knew the gay beach was at 12th Street. We talked to the staff of the hotel and they told us we could take either the S or C bus out to the South Beach (SoBe). It was only $1.50. Taking a cab would be about $15-18. You split the cab fare between 3 people and it's $5-6/person. For me, it was a no brainer.

The Omni Station is only a two minute walk from our hotel. Once there these really nice ladies spy us and say "Gay boys, they'll know where to go". It was true, we did. They were from Voices of Kentuckiana. The S bus is the first bus that is heading to South Beach from the Omni Station after our arrival. I could hear the other guys laughing and commenting on how much I am like our friend Craig. The lesbians love me. I love the lesbians. The ladies from Kentuckiana and I were yakking it up the entire bus ride. I wish things went like that with gay men. It just doesn't. I have a theory about that. There just never is any underlying sexual tension going on between a lesbian and myself. They don't have to worry about me being interested in them and I don't have to worry about them being interested in me. We all can relax and just be ourselves. Hence, they love me, because let's face it there isn't much not to like.

Since I use public transit every day of my life, I was the one chosen to make sure we arrive at our destination safely. I got us off the S bus as close as the S bus will get us to the 12th Street beach. That isn't saying much because as it turns out, the S bus drops you off on the completely opposite side of the island from the ocean. Granted, I got us off at 12th Street; but we had to walk several blocks to get to the ocean. We pulled out maps that we had on hand to ensure we weren't wasting time going on a wild goose chase. It wasn't my fault that we were so off target. The hotel staff (who are LOCALS) told us the S bus would get us there. We just put a positive spin on it. We were able to see parts of Miami that probably the rest of GALA attendees just didn't get to see.  Why they would want to see these parts I'm still trying to figure out.

I grew up in South Jersey. I am used to the fact that even miles away from the ocean, you can smell it. There is more of a salt water smell that wafts on the air at the Jersey shore. Also, you see sand along the roads as you approach. In Miami, you really don't get those hints that you are getting closer. I missed that sensory anticipation for the beach.

On the way to the beach we stumbled upon a store that sells everything and anything you need for the beach. I hadn't packed sun block or a beach towel. I picked up both items. For some reason, GALA in Miami had a color theme. I kept on seeing chartreuse or bright lime green. When I saw a bright lime green beach towel that was the towel I had to get. Generally, I like bright distinctive colored beach towels. It's easier to spot from a distance. Miguel got the same beach towel but in a bright shade of blue. The ladies from Kentucky had to pick up some odds and ends too. Josh and Steve decided they would make use of the towels from our hotel room. You might think that was a reasonable idea. But no, you are wrong. Josh and Steve are gigantically tall. They're something like 8 feet tall (ok, 6'3 - it just seems like 8 feet). The towels from our hotel bathroom are about 5' max. It just was ridiculous. But my friends, the alcoholics, had priorities. Alcohol. That's the priority of the week. Spend money on a beach towel or spend it on a cocktail. Truly, is there really a contest?

Home of lime green accessories

As soon as we get to the beach, our new friends from Kentucky depart for a portion of the beach that would appeal to them. I can't blame them. What would be eye candy for me wouldn't do anything for them.

Hot! Hot, hot, hot. We skipped along the hot sand towards a spot near the ocean. Along the way we spy the coolest lifeguard towers. Only in Miami I think you will find lifeguard stations decked out in lavender, yellow, and yes, lime green. It's early on a Saturday morning and there isn't much activity or people. But still activity abounds with boating, parasailing, frolicking in the ocean and tanning on the sand.

After trying to lather ourselves with sun block we venture into the ocean. The ocean water is so incredibly warm. It's almost like being in a bathtub. You walk and walk and walk out into the ocean only to find you are on a sandbar. It takes forever for us to walk out far enough so that the water is above our knees. Eventually we make it far enough so that it's only our heads bobbing above the water. Another difference I discovered today is that I am used to waves. There were no waves. It was like a giant lake. I miss the waves. One of my favorite things to do at the shore is to ride the waves. That's ok. Men of the chorus don't need waves for entertainment. We are the entertainment. We goofed around and had fun just chatting in the wonderful water. Oh! I almost forgot! A wonderful difference about the ocean in Miami is that you can see clear down to the bottom. I could see my feet on the sand. The water color was a green-blue. The sun bounced off the water so much it blinded me. It took quite a while for me to get accustomed to the glare. It was sheer bliss being in that ocean. At some point Miguel decides he doesn't want to be a wrinkly old prune and returns to the sand. Jeff, Josh, Steve and I see that Miguel tries to take a picture of us out in the ocean. We are in a ridiculous mood so we pantomime "Y" "M" "C" "A" for Miguel to take a picture. After a while we all have had enough of the ocean and return for a rest on the sand. More folk have joined us on the beach. We lounge and enjoy the relaxation. We don't have much time and are mindful of the fact that we have a music rehearsal in the early afternoon. Couldn't PGMC rehearse at the beach? So what if a little sand gets into a cello.

Time passes swiftly and it is time for us to return to the Hilton hotel to rehearse for our performance on Sunday. We allot plenty of time since we are using public transit. As we mosey on back, we discover an eatery. Josh is hungry. I think Steve is too. It's about this time that we hash out a problem that has emerged. Steve discovers that he has no money on his debit card. How can this be? It turns out that the Marriott hotel has placed a hold on each of our credit cards in the amount of $50/night/person for the entire length of the booking of the room. Since Adrienne and I are in the room for nine nights, that means each of us in the room had a hold in the amount of $450. Steve was counting on having that money available to use on this trip. No one had ever mentioned that this practice would be taking place. Plus, Steve and Josh were only staying for FOUR nights. Josh was also counting on being able to use that $450. Among ourselves we concluded it must be a mistake and that the amount should be $50/night for the entire room, not for each of us. Steve calls his bank and hashes out an agreement that his bank will be prepared to clear the hold today as soon as the hotel takes the hold off the card. I also was a little put out. I was ok money-wise, but I just was planning on spending my money in a different manner. Now I had to rethink the whole cash vs. credit vs. debit situation.

Next to the eatery is a liquor store. I stop in to check on prices. Once again we discover alcohol is just plain expensive in Miami (Crazy expensive!). Someone is making a lot of money is all I gotta say.
We get to Washington Avenue which runs parallel to the beach and is only two blocks away. It's here that we find the C bus. Note to self: NEVER take the S bus again. Take the C or the K bus to go between downtown and SoBe.

We get back to the hotel room with plenty of time to spare in order to change clothes. I go to change into my clothes that I had planned to wear today only to discover that my shirt is missing. Not only that; there are other clothes missing. Expletives spew out of my mouth. I start swearing like a sailor but with a high pitched voice. The pitch of my voice goes waaay up high when I get really stressed and upset. I remember Steve was in the bathroom getting ready and I'm trying my best to pull it together. I had a distinct memory about what I had done with my clothes. On Day One as soon as I entered the room I noted how there were only three drawers in the armoire, plus two smaller drawers in the night stand between the two beds. I made a specific point of moving all of my clothes into the top drawer of the armoire. I was sharing the room with three other people so I squeezed everything into ONE drawer. I knew all of my clothes were in one place. Not only was the shirt I was going to wear missing, but the light blue PGMC polo shirt that I was supposed to wear later today at the opening ceremonies was missing. Even though I knew I had put all of my clothes into the one drawer I still frantically searched the entire room looking for my clothes. In my frantic hunt I am dreaming up possible scenarios and explanations. The most likely in my mind was that housekeeping decided they really loved my clothes and thought I wouldn't miss anything. I know it's a horrible conclusion to come to but it's the first thing that popped into my head. Because I KNEW I put all of those clothes into the one drawer. Steve helps me look around and I explain why I thought someone had absconded off with my clothes. Steve sees some bright blue at the very back of the drawer. He is able to retrieve the shirt I was going to wear for today. It turns out the drawer was so stuffed with clothes that some had gotten pushed back and fell behind the drawer and got caught in the armoire. The drawers of the armoire don't readily come out of the unit. It's not my furniture so I didn't want to dismantle it. It's getting late and I have to get to the rehearsal. I am just hoping that we will be able to retrieve the rest of my clothes.

Now I attend the rehearsal rather stressed out because I don't know if Steve, Josh or myself will be ok money wise due to the holds placed on our credit/debit cards. Will any of us be eating this week? Who knows? Money is a great stressor. Plus, are my other clothes stuck in that armoire? Maybe, maybe not. I'll find out after rehearsal.

We have a music rehearsal in the Picasso room of the Hilton hotel. It is great seeing Michael Helman again. I had originally met Michael when he was the accompanist for the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware (RCD) and I was dating someone in RCD. That was about 7 years ago. Ye Gods, how time flies! Michael acted as our accompanist for GALA. I'm so happy that he could perform with us. I'm sorry but I felt this rehearsal was a bit of a disaster. New mistakes that were never made before started to emerge. I'm just happy we had the time to discover all the errors. I was guilty just as much as anyone. My memory regarding certain measures of "Open Road" was lacking. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Joyful, Joyful" didn't concern me. It was "Open Road" that had 'potential disaster' written all over it. Joe Buches, our artistic director, did not seem all that concerned. He was in good spirits, as were Michael and his lovely page turner, Ken. They are so cute together.

Rehearsal ends at 3:30. We have a call time of 5:45 pm for a tech rehearsal over at the Ziff Opera House. I go back to the Marriott and talk to the reception desk. The customer service person arranges to have engineering come up to my room to dismantle the armoire in my room. Engineering shows up very quickly. As he is retrieving my clothes, I get a phone call from Steve asking me to appear at hotel reception. The hotel needs all four roommates and our credit/debit cards to try and sort out this money mess. As soon as engineering leaves, I head down to the lobby from my room on the 17th floor. I must say I was pleased with the demeanor of all four of us as we interacted with the staff of the hotel. I know Steve was incredibly stressed, Josh and I were stressed out, and Adrienne was concerned. However, we did not take our frustration out on the staff. We were calm but firm. After talking with the staff we discovered there was going to be no way that the holds or amount of holds were going to be changed. The roomies had a pow-wow in the lobby. We hashed out the problem and figured out a solution. I had determined that my financial situation was ok. Originally, I was going to pay for my room part on a credit card, part in cash. When I checked in they had placed a hold on my debit card. So now when I checked out of the room that hold would get converted into a charge and I would be paying about $50 more on my debit card to pay for the room. I was not out any money or cash flow at all. It was just forms of payment were going to be shifted. Adrienne had a good amount of available credit on one of her credit cards. The rest of us did not. Our solution was to have the hotel lift the holds on Josh and Steve's debit/credit cards and place the amounts of those two holds onto Adrienne's credit card. When Steve and Josh check out in a few days time their respective hold amounts will be released on Adrienne's credit card. Steve was going to pay Adrienne his portion of the hotel room bill in cash before he left. Josh was going to pay his portion to the hotel via American Express. Whew! Finally, all is right with the world but it took practically the entire break to work this entire thing out. The staff at the reception desk was excellent in helping us with our dilemma. The supervisor was diligent in ensuring that the banks cleared the holds on both Steve and Josh's cards. Luckily, we were getting it done prior to the banks closing for the day!

Adrienne and I head up to the room to change into our PGMC polo shirts. She was rather pissed that she had a medium sized shirt. I'll admit it was not the most flattering size. But she didn't look like she was wearing a muumuu either. But as I changed my shirts I hear Adrienne exclaim, "Oh honey! What happened!?! Are you in pain?" I was totally clueless. I didn't know to what she was referring. "On your back there is a big bright red mark". It was kind of in the shape of a star. It was the portion of my body that didn't receive the sun block treatment. It was the part of my back that I couldn't reach. I found it funny. But then, I wasn't in any discomfort or pain.

Basically, we would be heading over to the Opening Ceremony directly following the technical rehearsal. PGMC wanted to all be wearing the same shirt for the ceremony to create some group unity. I now had my polo shirt thanks to hotel engineering. As Adrienne and I head down to go over to the Grand Shops between the Marriott and the Doubletree we learn from others that our call time has been shifted earlier than we were told. We now have even less time. We rush over to Le Faubourg Deli. It's a combination French Bistro, Latin cafe, cafeteria, and deli. It provided a quick stop since we were on the run. After ordering our meal, we had all of fifteen minutes to eat. I had the barbeque half chicken with rice. Since we were in such a rush, I had barbeque sauce smeared all over my face. I didn't bother to wipe it off until I was completely done eating. I knew I just would smear more on. The food was quite tasty, a little on the pricey side though. They know they've got you by the cojones with their great location and you end up paying for it.

Adrienne and I walk briskly with our leftovers back up to our hotel room and then back down and out of the hotel. Adrienne is in heels. Not small heels, but serious heels. We are running very late. We will just make tech rehearsal in the nick of time, but only if we run. We start to sprint over to the Ziff Opera House. As we start to jog over it begins to drizzle and then rain. By the time we get to the venue it is pouring. I was so impressed with Adrienne's willingness to run through the rain in high heels. I would have totally understood should she have decided to just walk. We both ended up suffering because my shoes ended up rubbing the backs of my heels raw. I probably was bleeding back there. Her feet ended up swelling. What a pair we make! But we were at the tech rehearsal in time even with the moved up meeting time. You can't say the same for all of our membership. I recall one member was more than just five minutes late. He showed up after we were finished warming up.

CRISIS NUMBER TWO

The pace of my GALA experience has been go! go! go! For me, this picture illustrates the underlying desire I had all week long:  "I just need to rest".  But I can always sleep at home. 

Photo courtesy:  Giang Nguyen

As with all performance related stuff, it still was a matter of hurry up and wait. We really didn't need to run because the GALA staff was not quite ready for us at the time we were told to be there. D'oh! After gathering in a hallway we were lead to this backstage area with beautiful hardwood floors, a mirrored lined wall with a dance bar, and a piano. We did some warming up and rehearsing in this space. Midway through we shifted our arrangement so that we all faced the mirror. It was funny singing to my own reflection in the mirror. Eventually, we are lead to the area just off of where we will be performing. This venue is huge. There is so much space it is unbelievable. We had to be perfectly silent in this space. But we are PGMC. We don't know what that means. I did my best to maintain silence and shut my mouth. We got to hear "Uptown Express" perform bits and pieces of their set. I just remember Brad Parks doing his Jimmy Somerville impression in "Never Can Say Goodbye". Hearing what little I was able to glean was great.

Tech rehearsal went very smoothly. I thought it was a scream that when Royal did his solo for "Joyful, Joyful" they kept on having him move further and further back from his microphone. In other words, Royal really didn't need a microphone. We just did snatches of pieces so the lighting and sound folk could properly light and mic us for the following evening's performance. Our shifting from being in our respective sections for "Open Road" to mixing our standing arrangement for "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Joyful, Joyful" went relatively smoothly. Surprise! Things are coming together.

Following the tech rehearsal we made our way over to the room where our official picture will be taken. We took some serious and goofy pictures with our own cameras.

The chorus moves en masse to the Hyatt in downtown Miami. It is at the adjacent James L. Knight Center that the Opening Ceremonies of GALA will take place. As we are walking we get to an intersection where a loud, drunk woman invites us all over to her bar for a free beverage. She is rather loud and obnoxious (which is rather par for the course among the intoxicated). Chorus members actually listened to her and make a detour for the bar. Paul G. looses his marbles. He knows his fellow chorus members. It would be a highly likely event that they would get way too comfortable at this bar and never leave. He's yelling at them that they need to keep walking with us. "If we get there now, we'll get a good seat! We should all sit together!" His shouting lands on deaf ears. All they hear is "free booze". It's only a small group that makes their way to the bar. Paul and I gather people and saunter over to the Omni station. Omni Station is crowded with GALA attendees, not just PGMC members. Everyone is trying to get onto a free Metromover elevated train. One little car is jammed with people like sardines in a tin can. We wait and we wait and more people arrive on the elevated platform. Mark V. sees the lay of the land and doesn't like what he sees. He asks Chad and I if we want to grab a cab instead. I readily agree because it just looks like a zoo up on that platform. As soon as we get down onto the street we easily hail a taxi and we're whisked off to the Knight Center.

While at this moment it seemed the Metromover was a bad idea. It actually was a great asset to the city. An elevated train makes two loops around the downtown area. You get a great view of the city. It's fairly efficient, clean and you just can't beat free!

As we enter the James L. Knight Center we encounter some rather interesting cheerleaders. I don't know who they were or where they are from but they were quite amusing and entertaining. There is a crowd gathered around them making it difficult to see. I don't deal well with crowds. My patience wears thin in these disorganized situations. It actually would have made a good pre-show entertainment piece on the stage of the auditorium while we wait for the ceremony to begin. As Chad, Mark and I enter the auditorium I spy Bob E. sitting on his own. I suggest we sit over by him. I liked where he was sitting it was in a "balcony-like" area just off center. As it turns out, I plunked myself down right behind where Robin Godfrey, General Manager of GALA had reserved her seat. So how bad could the seats really have been. Gradually PGMC gathers around us as best we could.

Whoever was behind the slide show that exhorted the crowd to cheer and/or stand at various moments did an excellent job. I found it amusing. I loved all the editorial comments. They did things like clap if you are an alto, stand if this is your first GALA festival, etc. They did a countdown for years you have been out as a glbt individual.

This is the 25th anniversary of GALA. GALA commissioned a documentary which chronicles the gay and lesbian choral movement, A Song Of Courage. The ceremony opened with a video of highlights from the film. I'm a sucker for this type of stuff. I didn't even need to see the highlights to know that I'd be buying the DVD.

Robin Godfrey, General Manager of GALA made an address to the audience. She makes for a good public speaker. I liked the comments that she had to make. The only drawback was the long list of thank you's that had to be made. I would suggest that in 2012 whoever the General Manager should be should just say, "if you think your hard work and dedication needs to be acknowledged, then I thank you this evening". "Read the program book and give all our sponsors your business". Done. Finished.

Eve Campbell and Dwight Joyner did a roll call of all the attending choruses present for the week. They were doing their best to keep the list moving along. However, PGMC made a significant amount of noise when we were announced that they couldn't move on as quickly as they might have liked. We were not the only chorus to behave on the wild side. DC had a huge number of members creating a ruckus. They were sitting close by. Seattle made "a joyful noise". I was happy that our presence was felt. Philadelphians always have an inferiority complex since we exist between two behemoths, New York City and Washington, D.C. We work hard to stand on our own.

Ann Hampton Callaway was our headlining act for the GALA festival Opening Ceremony. The woman can sing. Go out and buy her new CD, Blues in the Night today! She has a great sense of humor and really played well to her audience. I don't think she gets audiences like GALA choruses every day. We know what goes into putting a performance like hers together. She normally is playing piano for herself, but she recently broke her arm. Instead, she had an AMAZING guest pianist. I wish I could remember her name. I could have listened to just the pianist all night long. I've been a sucker for a good jazz pianist ever since Diane Schuur turned me onto Oscar Peterson. Ann has a wonderful voice, terrific tone and a good range. I like the fact that she is able to make a song her own.

Tim Seelig made closing remarks. He was an entertaining speaker. Even though his comments were running long and they wanted to cut him off because they had scheduled the auditorium for only so long, I didn't mind him running long. If you can entertain me, you are allowed to be long winded. It would be like trying to cue the music at an Academy Awards ceremony while Robin Williams is on a riff. From this night on the running joke is now "Haaaaaay! Grrrrl". The best humor derives from truth. The fact that we wouldn't remember people's names despite the fact that a one night fling was enjoyed hit a little too close to home for some (of course, since I live the life of a monk I wouldn't know about such things).

This just in! As I was creating this page of the website I received an email from Ann Hampton Callaway. The name of her accompanist is Lynne Arriale. Please support our friends and visit their websites, www.lynnearriale.com and www.annhamptoncallaway.com.

Twist is actually seven bars in one with each bar having its own unique atmosphere. You can literally bar hop without ever leaving the two story club. The first bar you enter is the "video pub" which is very old school with brass fixtures. You continue back and emerge into a quieter garden area with plantings, mood lighting and a bar featuring tropical drinks. Just off this garden area is what I called the Tiki Hut but officially is the "Bangalow Bar". The Bangalow features go-go dancers who don't wear much. Off of the bungalow is a flight of stairs that takes you to the Patio Bar. Additionally, up there was the "Blue Room". The Blue Room was lit with blue lighting and had a dance floor with more progressive music. The "Red Room" had a smaller dance area featuring 80's music. Just a few days earlier Twist celebrated its 15th Anniversary.

Chad, Mark and I really enjoyed Twist. But we learned that we needed to go to the upstairs bars to get drinks with the potency that we required. We first stopped off at the bartender stationed off of the garden area. Our drinks were lacking. Gay bars are notorious for having bartenders with a heavy hand. We've now gotten spoiled and have come to expect our beverages to be strong. I get quite cranky, as Chad can attest, if my cocktail isn't suitably strong. In fact, the last time I went to the Stonewall in NYC I stormed out because my drink was basically cranberry juice. Thank goodness my regular bartender at Therapy was there the last time I visited. After a while other PGMC members showed up at Twist. The grapevine works very well in our chorus, apparently.

I didn't indulge too much, neither did Mark or Chad, I think. We had a rehearsal and a performance the next night. I did get back to the hotel rather late though. I can always sleep when I get back home.

Mark, myself, and Chad having fun at Twist

Photo coutrtesy of Terry Evans