Rock Solid, Part Three

Ok, so this is my final "Rock Solid" post, and I'm going to talk about something very near and dear to my heart--the musical numbers.

First up, "Rock Solid", the first song the kids learned. I was pretty pleased with it. This was also the only song that used props, empty plastic water bottles, and though they worked great with the song, they were such a pain! They were difficult for our stage crew to keep up with, and the kids kept using them as swords! I keep fearing they were going to break out in a swordfight on stage!





The next song was "No, No, No Never". The girls really loved this song, especially the movements, which basically allowed them to wag their fingers sassily at the audience. There was also a really neat mime-like choreography that went with the tag: "God will never stop loving you" that Kelsey and Jennifer, our soloists really got into practicing.



"Walkin' By Faith" presented us with one of those great "kid moments" that are so awesome in children's musicals. The choreography was simple: when you enter the stage, immediately turn to your right and start walking in place when you hear the music. Naturally, that is not at all what happened. Kids were facing every which way, even with me and Leslie whispering as loudly as we could, "Turn to the right! Face the piano!". We also got a great moment from Kelsey and Jennifer, who dueted in this song.



"The Amazing Thing Is" was, in my opinion, one of the prettiest songs in the musical. We had Jordan as a soloist, the Steen triplets as a trio, and some really pretty choreography. It was also very difficult for the kids to learn how to sing, because of the pacing of the music was not fast, but also not slow, so very often, they got behind the music. But those are the sort of things that no one notices but the directors.



This next piece was not so much of a song as it was a chant called "Storm Scriptures". The book called for the choir to chant the piece in crescendo, starting out with a whisper and ending up in a yell. We came up with a different presentation, which I think worked better. We started off giving the Steen triplets the first "verse" all to themselves, and on the second time around, the blue team joined them and made them a little louder. Finally, the red team joined in and they basically yelled, "God is my strength and my refuge! I trust in Him and I am helped! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" I thought it went quite well.


All the songs in the musical had very catchy, very singable choruses. "God Does" was no exception. Everything about this song, from the lyrics to the choreography was exciting, and even the boys got into this number. When I first heard the "Rock Solid" CD, I knew this would be Brian Michael's song, and he completely threw himself into it when we gave it to him.



"What Will Your Answer Be" was the only ballad in the musical, and Cathryn really wanted to sing it. I didn't want her to sing the whole song, because it wouldn't be fair to the other soloists is she got to verses when all they were able to sing was one or two lines, three at the most. I was so excited when Cathryn's friends Erica and Jordan began attending children's choir, because I knew Cathryn would be comfortable dueting with Erica, who is in the same class with Cathryn at school. Unfortunately , Erica came down with strep throat and couldn't perform, but her sister Jordan already knew all of Erica's part. It was a lifesaver! Now, I know that I'm partial, but when Cathryn stepped up to that microphone, I literally saw all of her fear melt away. And when she sang? It was as if a heavenly choir had joined her. I could barely direct her for being so enthralled with her performance.


The final song was "The Best Is Yet to Come", and when we were choosing soloists, lots of kids wanted to sing in this song. Ultimately, we chose Dalton, because the song is high energy, and so is he. Savannah was also chosen for this song for two reasons. One, I wanted "Claire" to sing a song celebrating her salvation. Two, Savannah had a ballad for Christmas, but her favorite songs to sing are upbeat. I think it was a perfect matching of singers and songs for both kids, because they had lots of fun: