Choral Concert

Sunday night marked my choral debut in Handel's "Acis and Galatea." For those of you not up on your Handel, here's a quick rundown of the story found in the program, slightly paraphrased. Galatea is this half-divine sea-nymph, and she thinks this shepherd, Acis, in a neighboring field has it going on, so she falls for him. They are eventually united as they run through the fields in slow-motion and leap into each other's arms. It's not happily ever after though. There's this huge monster, Polyphemus, and he's all pissed off because he can't get any girls. So naturally, he falls for the beautiful Galatea, and we have ourselves a love triangle. She's all into Acis, though, and hardly impressed by the giant stature and smelly breath of Polyphemus. This pisses Polyphemus right off, and to protect his woman, Acis steps in to fight the monster. Bad idea, dude. Polyphemus interrupts when Acis and Galatea are having a private moment and crushes Acis with a giant stone. Galatea is crushed (no pun intended) over the loss of her man, but remembers her powers, as a half-divine sea-nymph, and turns her dead lover into a fountain. Got it? It was a cool experience, but I can't say I'm going to miss it too much. There were a couple hundred people in the church, to see us and the Limerick Baroque Players, and they seemed to enjoy it. I wouldn't mind wearing a suit like the one I had on more often, though. I'll post a picture soon. When I went to take the suit back on Monday afternoon, the lady asked me if I owed anything. "Um, I don't think so, ma'am, the college was supposed to be picking up the tab for me, right?" "Ah yes, that's grand. No worries." Apparently even the salespeople are in on the trusting, laid back vibe that is Ireland.