|
Page 4 InCider Press April 2007 |
|
We are down to the last couple of weeks now. I am very pleased as to how the show is starting to come together. It is obvious that some of you have spent some extra time in preparation for the show. The extra rehearsals you have participated in, being on time to rehearsals, and working on your costume. All of these things are important, and for those of you who have made this extra effort,…Thank You! For others, it is just as obvious that you haven’t made that effort. Singing wrong notes, mumbling words, and being lazy with choreography is obvious too…but in the wrong way! We hope that your effort will improve in the next two weeks. As we have heard so many times, we will perform as we practice. Here are a couple more “tips” as you prepare for the home stretch. First, make time to sing EVERY DAY a little bit. The more exercise you give your voice, the better it is for it. Sing through your part, sing some vocalizes, sing in the shower, in your car, or wherever you can find a minute or two. This will make a very big difference in your vocal quality as well as your endurance. Listen to your tapes! This helps to reinforce the words and notes…even if you think you know them already. This can be akin to preparing for an exam. Sing through what you already know, and also study those few weak spots. Repetition and reinforcement helps! Stay healthy! (I feel a little funny writing this as I haven’t been able to get healthy for the last three months!) Get plenty of rest, drink a lot of liquids, exercise, and call your mother often as she knows all the things you need to eat and do to stay healthy! Make preparations for the show a priority as we head down the homestretch. Be on time to rehearsals, come mentally prepared to sing and concentrate on the music. Don’t be afraid to put some emotional energy into the music. Again, you will perform the way you practice. Make some subtle improvements to your costume. Picture yourself into the time period. What would you do to impress someone with your attire? Again, it is obvious of who has spent some time and effort in this area, and who is just trying to get by. I saw some wonderful costumes a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to you who have made this extra effort! ♪ |
|
The countdown in here. Don Thomson Associate Director |
|
I was born in Pontiac, Michigan and raised in nearby Drayton Plains. I attended school in the Waterford School District and graduated from Waterford Kettering H.S. in 1970, five years before Kirk Gibson, WKHS’s most famous graduate. I attended USMA from 1970 – 1974 receiving a BS in National Security and Public Affairs. My first assignment after basic Army schools was to Friedburg, FRG. I met my wife, Sharon, while stationed there. She was in Germany visiting her sister, who was married to another officer in the battalion. We were married at First Christian Church, Manhattan, KS in 1976. Our daughter was born at 97th General Hospital, Frankfurt, FRG in 1977. This is the same hospital where Sheri Thomson was born several years earlier. We were reassigned to Fort Sill, OK in 1978, were our son, Mac, was born. We moved back to Sharon’s hometown in 1980. I left the Army in 1982 to return to school at KSU, where I got a BS in Secondary Education and a MS in Curriculum Development. I taught school at Riley County H.S. and in the Manhattan School District. In 1994 I was offered a job at Fort Riley as a contractor working with computer simulations. I am still there. Musically I have no training except what I received in Grade School and at Barbershop practice. Barbershop music first came to my attention at a performance by the Wamego Dutch Mill Chorus at Arts in the Park in 1980. I attended the 1981 show of the Manhattan Grainbelters Chorus, now known as the Little Apple Chorus, attended a guest night and joined the following month. The song we learned at the guest night was Alexander’s Ragtime Band. It is still one of my favorites although we don’t sing it much anymore. While I spend some of my time working in our garden, (she plants, I dig), and some on my computer, quite a bit of my time is spent music. My wife and daughter are both members of the Wamego Dutch Mill Chorus, my son sings with us in the Little Apple Chorus, my son-in-law has sung with us, (and may again), and my 11 month old granddaughter has been pledged to the Baritone section in Wamego. ♪ |
|
Meet member Mike McCaffery Mike McCaffery Lead |
