My Disney Hall Debut

Last night the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles sang at the Frank Gehry designed Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles. What a fantastic experience. I have been to the Hall a few times as an audience member and love it. It is visually beautiful and aurally stunning. It's not as crazy on the inside as it appears on the outside. Basically all the twisting metal is just stuck onto the sides of what turns out to be a normal theater-looking wooden cube inside. Everything is symetrical. But the wood work is still gorgeous. The stage is thrust into the middle of the room with some seats behind and on either side. And the acoustics just blow you away. I was able to hear myself and hear the other parts of the chorus as I've never been able to before. And because we're standing in the same room as the audience everybody hears what we hear without the need for amplification.

The program was a Gala to kick off the 30th anniversary of the chorus. We sang songs we've sung over the last few years. Plus we had several celebrity guests who spoke or sang with us. Christine Chavez (Cesar's granddaughter) and Donzeliegh Abernathy (Ralph's daughter) put the gay rights movement in line with the Civil RIghts struggles of other people. And we did an extended section of songs and words about the marriage movement. George Takei was there with his soon to be married same-sex partner, and the Executive Director of the LA Gay and Lesbian Center gave a great speech about the importance of the No on Proposition 8 vote in November.

We sold out the house and raised a quarter of a million dollars for the chorus. And everybody seemed to have a great time.