I was in choir when I was a kid. Junior high, high school, even a cappella in college. And watching Glee gets me all misty.
In tonight’s finale, there was a scene that reminded me forcibly of a particular Moment In Time during my own high school choir experience.
The two romantic leads were alone together, right before they had to go onstage. Rachel said, “Break a leg!” And Finn replied, “I love you.”
He smiled his 16-year-old smile at her, and she smiled back; then doors opened and the lights hit them, and they had to go on. And I actually said, out loud, to my television: “Girl, you will remember that moment for the rest of your life.”
When I was 17, I loved a boy in my choir, and he loved me. We had The Drama in the way that only a pair of star-crossed teenagers who already had significant others could.
Domo’s senior year coincided with the mammoth motion picture experience that was Titanic, and during the spring choir show, the theme from that movie was naturally front-and-center.
Now, I didn’t get the solo, because our teacher couldn’t very well give it to just one girl—that would have shown FAR too much favoritism.
But my senior solo came directly before it; I sang “The Morning After” from The Poseidon Adventure. Then I was forced to recite the old Titanic lady’s dialogue about it having been 84 years and how Titanic was called “the ship of dreams.”
Then, mercifully, I was allowed to exit the stage while all the other girls in every choir sang “My Heart Will Go On.”
So there I was, all but alone backstage in the dark, wrestling with what would be the climax of my drama with my very own Finn. I was graduating soon; I still (sort of) had a boyfriend; prom was coming up soon; I was a mess.
And to this day, I don’t remember what, exactly, was the trigger that night. But somehow I found myself at the very back of the stage behind the scrim, and there was Finn on the opposite side of the stage. And we saw each other.
And with that impossibly cheesy music going on on the stage, we literally ran to each other in the filtered half-light and crashed together, holding on for dear life. And when he said he loved me, I said it back. And then he kissed me.
And I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.
I’m sure non-choir kids have those spotlight moments in their lives, too, but there’s just something about being backstage and 17. Part of you never gets over it.
And I’m glad there’s a show that can bring that to life again. That’s TV at its best—showing (and in some cases, reminding) us what life can be.
Life is a series of scenes that play out over years, and at the end we’ll each get our highlight reel. And I know that in mine, all of the best scenes will be set to music.
In tonight’s finale, there was a scene that reminded me forcibly of a particular Moment In Time during my own high school choir experience.
The two romantic leads were alone together, right before they had to go onstage. Rachel said, “Break a leg!” And Finn replied, “I love you.”
He smiled his 16-year-old smile at her, and she smiled back; then doors opened and the lights hit them, and they had to go on. And I actually said, out loud, to my television: “Girl, you will remember that moment for the rest of your life.”
When I was 17, I loved a boy in my choir, and he loved me. We had The Drama in the way that only a pair of star-crossed teenagers who already had significant others could.
Domo’s senior year coincided with the mammoth motion picture experience that was Titanic, and during the spring choir show, the theme from that movie was naturally front-and-center.
Now, I didn’t get the solo, because our teacher couldn’t very well give it to just one girl—that would have shown FAR too much favoritism.
But my senior solo came directly before it; I sang “The Morning After” from The Poseidon Adventure. Then I was forced to recite the old Titanic lady’s dialogue about it having been 84 years and how Titanic was called “the ship of dreams.”
Then, mercifully, I was allowed to exit the stage while all the other girls in every choir sang “My Heart Will Go On.”
So there I was, all but alone backstage in the dark, wrestling with what would be the climax of my drama with my very own Finn. I was graduating soon; I still (sort of) had a boyfriend; prom was coming up soon; I was a mess.
And to this day, I don’t remember what, exactly, was the trigger that night. But somehow I found myself at the very back of the stage behind the scrim, and there was Finn on the opposite side of the stage. And we saw each other.
And with that impossibly cheesy music going on on the stage, we literally ran to each other in the filtered half-light and crashed together, holding on for dear life. And when he said he loved me, I said it back. And then he kissed me.
And I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.
I’m sure non-choir kids have those spotlight moments in their lives, too, but there’s just something about being backstage and 17. Part of you never gets over it.
And I’m glad there’s a show that can bring that to life again. That’s TV at its best—showing (and in some cases, reminding) us what life can be.
Life is a series of scenes that play out over years, and at the end we’ll each get our highlight reel. And I know that in mine, all of the best scenes will be set to music.
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