I walked in that night and watched...and listened. The song as "Far Away Places". They were talking about a Utah tour, and some guy in the corner named Rick broke into a chorus of "Thumbelina". I walked to the piano, sang a few notes of America the Beautiful for this guy named Don, and before I knew it, I had music in-hand, a white ladder, a yellow turtle neck, and instructions to buy a white pair of pants!

My first performance was four weeks later. Twenty-four people in the audience and 30 kids on stage! But it didn't matter. I knew I was in a place I wanted to be and it was wonderful! I came to know that feeling again and again, as we all did. It really ~ magic. There were a lot of smiles, a lot of laughs, a little pain, and allot of craziness. That first rehearsal on Saturday morning, hearing Mr. R. proudly announce, "Hi, I'm Rick, and I'm your section leader". I knew I was in good hands.  I think the rehearsals were sometimes the most memorable. Working hard together to come up with something we were really proud of. The Tabor church on Wednesday nights, the Mar Vista building on Saturday. and the songs, "All Our Friends", "Lark Day", "The Drifter", "Pass Me By", "Hallelujah Baby", "Lazy Day", "Goodtimes" and "Love is Something". The day we learned "Everybody's Talkin"' at Scott Jacoby's temple. Shelley Foreman's church, up the stairs and to the left... "Hey, there's this new guy named Chip," and with his guitar, wowed us with "Jean".  That night, Scott Jacoby whispering to the new basses, "Now when the downbeat comes, sing 'steamed up window panes' as loud as you can" ...and we did!. And of course, the ageless wisdom of Don Bluth..."If women were made to carry babies, they can certainly carry ladders", "Don't dawdle Amarillith" and "Make it happen."  Then, there were the performances.. with Bob Hope on stage and backstage, the infamous Hollywood Bowl show ("Did anybody show up on time?"), the hangar show with Ken Berry, gathering around Ray Bolger in the alley as he hummed a few bars as the Scarecrow, the two-hour Wilshire Ebell performance, the impromptu concert dockside in San Francisco, and the show at El Marino.  Remember those spur-of-the-moment coffee shop sing-alongs backroom at Dinah's, Woody's and Shipps. And we said a few goodbyes...Judy Thomas left, then left again (I think we would have cried the 10th time!...we were all a part of each other). Remember? ... Carla Anderson's wheat germ, the sectional rehearsals at Susie London's, Karen Bluel's VW, Arva Hammond "blowing grass" in Catalina, opening night at Dodger Stadium (and the echo!), "Once Upon a Mattress", "Porky's People", the Catalina boat trips, the El Gordo Hotel (what a "shoot-hole"), Robin Rothstein's pie in the face, Rugby...and Kris Drinkard ("Oh great, I broke a nail!"), Sandy Silberstein's teddy bear, Scrooge, four shows in one day, Stacy's house, the Ouija Board, Leslie Schulman's "The Song is Love", the San Francisco hospital performance, levitation at the McKay house, Jim Holly as a cheerleader, Jerry Baden's smile, the deli on Saturday mornings, the YMCA in San Francisco ("shoot-hole" #2), the bus breakdowns, Patie the dog, the day the projector light blew (John Bruckner is still looking for a bulb!), spin the bottle in Catalina, needlepoint on the beach, "and toto too?", Steve Noel's "I Gotta Be Me", David Wertheimer's "fffaaahh fffaaahh fffaaahh", Roger's camera.. .and the music. We packed in as much as we could and we tried to make the magic last as long as we could. And I think we did. To The New Generation on our 25th, thanks.