On Monday (the 10th of December--I know, this is very late) I received a call from my choir director at around 9 in the evening, telling me that there was 90% chance that the choir would get to sing back-up for Sir Paul McCartney on SNL. I didn't hesistate to say that I would absolutely love to accompany the choir, even though it meant me missing school that Thursday for a rehearsal (that's a big deal for me--I'm extremely paranoid about always being on top of my work and normally would rather chop my left arm off than miss a day of school).
I then spent the next two days suffering at school, trying to contain my overflowing excitement. I also attempted to brag about my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity without coming off as self-righteous and pompous. I failed, but not because my bragging did in fact make me sound like a self-righteous and pompous jerk, but because I rarely brought it up at all. In fact, it either seemed like I was hiding a deep-dark secret and didn't want anyone knowing about it, or that I didn't care about the amazing opportunity I had been presented with. Either way, the important point to take away is that I clearly wasted the opportunity to become king of the school with everyone worshiping me as their god.
Then, Thursday happened. I went in to school early in the morning to do work and stayed for half of Chemistry before leaving to make it to the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church to meet up with the choir before we left to go to NBC Studios. (That was a long sentence). I arrived at 9:50 and we were picked up by NBC vans (our own vans!) at 10:30. Here's a photo from the ride:
We probably got to NBC at 11 or so. I took some more photos outside:
When we went inside, we were greeted by a guide. A personal guide. Only for our choir. For the whole day. I felt special. She was super nice but most likely despised us by the end of the day because all we did was bombard her with questions about what it was like to be an intern at SNL. She was really cool in the 4 and a half hours she had to spend with us though.
After waiting in the lobby for 20 minutes to get building passes for the 20-something of us, we were taken up to our holding room (which was Dr. Oz's studio, by the way). We probably spent 70% of our time there (including that Saturday) just rehearsing, talking to each other, playing the waiting game (wouldn't recommend it), or eating food they gave us which our choir director allowed us to have (meaning no cheese because it messes with your voice). We had one dress rehearsal at 12ish, and then we had a rehearsal with Paul McCartney at 1:30 or 2.
Paul McCartney is the coolest dude you will ever meet. Hands down. Not only is he so nice that he came up and talked to the whole choir, but he would also randomly burst out into jam sessions when we weren't rehearsing and jump around the whole stage. I still can't believe that he's 70.
We left NBC Studios at 3:30 but had to return to the Church at 7 to have a rehearsal for a concert (which we were conveniently having the day after our SNL performance). Since that concert isn't interesting at all and didn't make me famous, I won't bore you with it's story, which isn't interesting either.
Friday was drag. Luckily I didn't have that many classes, so I didn't want to shoot myself at the end of the day. Right when school ended, I went home and plowed through a majority of my work for the weekend. I have not been that efficient ever, and I most likely never will be again. I was almost done at 12 but then I got tired and burst into tears when I couldn't complete a math problem (I cry a lot by the way. I could probably list it as a hobby when I apply to college). I did eventually solve it in the morning though. I hope you're proud of me.
When I got to the church at 2:30 the next day, I was handed a new sheet of music by my choir director, Ms. Huff. SNL now wanted us to open the show by singing three verses of "Silent Night", to pay respect to the lives lost in the Newtown shooting the day before. We rehearsed that piece until we were picked up at 3 to go to NBC.
The traffic was terrible, and we didn't get there until 4. And it was raining. Could the day get any worse? You must be thinking, "No, living in the first world is so difficult..." (That was a joke.) Well, you're wrong. When arrived in the holding room and prepared to sit our weary bodies down after 30 minutes of rehearsal and a long car ride, who do you think was sitting in our seats? Broadway children and their parents. Let me just say that Broadway families are 99% of the time the worst people you will ever have to deal with. The parents attempt to live out their unfulfilled hopes and dreams through their spawn, who are conditioned from a young age to always seek the spotlight. Ok. Maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. The Broadway kids were not terrible, but their parents didn't seem too happy to have us there (even though the Broadway kids were only brought in because of a mic malfunction and the SNL people worried they would lose the choir's sound during Paul McCartney's song, and because the SNL people wanted the stage to be full during "Silent Night"). This makes it sound like I hated the presence of the Broadway people, but I promise I did not.
Rehearsal throughout the day went pretty well, except we did have a problem with the Broadway kids. And there was actually a technical reason, it isn't just me complaining: people trained for Broadway's voices are trained differently than people in a choir's. Broadway actors are trained to have their voices stand out, while choirs are trained to have their voices blend into a single unit. Because of this, we didn't mesh well at first. But Ms. Huff is amazing and made it almost impossible for an untrained ear to pick up on any oddities in the singing.
We had a countless number of rehearsals and a lot of downtime mixed in throughout the day, and time just flew by. At one point I thought it was 6 but it was actually 8:30...I was just sad and confused and it was definitely not my shining moment.
I met a lot of famous people. It was cool. I talked to Bobby Moynihan for a while, and I said "cute" when I saw him come out on stage in an elf costume. He was probably my favorite out of all the SNL cast; he talked to everyone in the choir and constantly expressed how happy he was to have us on the show, and how good of a job we were doing. I think that must've been especially exciting for the little kids, who were just thrilled to be talking to a famous person, even thought they most likely had no idea who he was. I also met and talked to Bill Hader for a while and he was super chill and incredibly kind, as well as Vanessa Bayer, Jay Pharoah, Jason Sudeikis. They may not be famous outside the US, but many of them are a pretty big deal in New York.
I also saw Tina Fey. And I don't think you can possibly understand my love for her; I worship her. She is my goddess. I would most likely sacrifice my friends for her if she asked me to. But I didn't talk to her. Not only because she was talking to other people, but also because I was incredibly nervous. I think you would be pretty nervous as well if you were standing just a few feet away from your Lord and Savior. Fortunately she didn't ask me to kill anybody, because that probably would have ruined the show for everyone and would have led to my arrest. But I would have done it anyway. Because she asked.
Ok. Now let's talk about the show.
I can't even describe it. I knew it was a big deal and was excited because of that, but I didn't really feel anything prior to the show. But when we started singing "Silent Night", you could feel the chill in the studio. It was one of the eeriest feelings, yet also one of the most peaceful. It doesn't really make sense, but that's the point. The shooting in Newtown was tragic, and you could feel everyone's hearts leap out of their chest as they instantly started thinking about the events that happened just a day before the show, and people's emotions were still incredibly raw. Yet, on the other hand, you felt a sense of comfort that there was this cold tribute to everyone who had died in the shooting. I think many people were moved by the performance, but it was the least we could do to commemorate all the lives that were lost.
Then, everything switched gears. We had to flip the switch of being somber and straight-faced to appearing energetic and happy in order to say "Live from New York it's Saturday night!" only 3 seconds after we finished singing the tribute. However, the gear-switch wasn't challenging at all, as it's very easy to get excited about having the honor of saying that line, which has been said by some of the most recognizable people in the entertainment industry. After our cue from the director, we belted the line out and quickly scampered from the stage, as Martin Short was going to start in monologue in about 30 seconds.
We had a little bit over an hour to get ready for our song, "Wonderful Christmas Time", with Paul McCartney, so we had plenty of time to get pumped up. We all sat around in circles, conversing with each other and playing hand games we hadn't even thought of since the 5th grade. We were told a number of times by the parent chaperones that we were being too loud, but that didn't stop us. There was nothing anyone could do to kill the excitement in the room.
5 minutes before we went on, we were all filed out of the room and lined up in front of the live studio. They decided to make Sir Paul's final performance part of a skit, so when that started we were brought out on to the actual studio space, which we had pretty much memorized inside an out. We were to just wait and do what we were told until Paul McCartney sang our cue, and we would then file on to the stands by the stage.
When the music started, the room was electric. You just felt energy surge throughout the whole studio. I instantly went from an incredibly calm state to the most excited state of my life. I was incredibly nervous, as I was about to stand just 3 feet away from arguably the biggest music icon, but somehow that nervousness managed to turn itself into an incredible high. It's inexplicable. You just sort of feel like the world is at your fingertips, and nothing can bring you down. When we heard Sir Paul sing "the choir of children sing their song", we dashed on to the stands right in front of him, and the crowd began to roar. That was probably the best feeling of the night. To hear so many people cheer because of something you're a part of, and to know that you're about to contribute to something so special is one of the best things you can ever feel. I embraced that feeling for the entire song, and I honestly think that what I felt in that moment is the best I will feel in my entire life. However, that incredible feeling also led to my dancing like a buffoon, but I'll take it. At the end of the performance, we just stood there, and it was extraordinary. The whole thing just seems like a blur now.
I got home and passed out on my bed. The glamorous life is exhausting.
So that's how I became a celebrity (sort of).
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