If You Would Briefly Indulge a Happy Parent of a Child in the Arts….

By
Greg Diamond
– July 27, 2013Posted in: Arts, brea, Fresh Juice
Audrey and Justine sing "Alto's Lament" at Brea-Olinda HS concert

Kids’ minds are alive … with the sound of music.

I am, in a minor way, a “stage parent.”  I love the fact that my daughter is at a school with an award winning “show choir” program — more or less like the one depicted in Glee — and I try not to miss a show.  (I’d try not to miss a show even if she weren’t involved — it’s a great entertainment value for your $10 — but it would be more of a hassle to get tickets.)

Well, it’s a slow weekend — so I figure that this is a good time to indulge my pride. My daughter’s an alto (as well as an increasingly poised comedian.)  In this year’s “Summer Magic” show at Brea-Olinda High School earlier this month, she and a friend were chosen to present the delightful song “Alto’s Lament.” It’s in the bottom video below.

It written by Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler, which expresses the sad reality that perfectly wonderful female singers with slightly lower vocal ranges get relegated to the limelight-free supporting role of singing harmony — because, after all someone has got to do it and it may take more talent. (True story: I got the lead in an a capella quartet number while I was in law school because I was the only one of a quartet too inept to learn a harmony part. Life can be unfair.)

If you want, you can first see how a professional — Katherine Von Till, one of the musical theater artists with the Bay Area charitable group “Divas for Life” (which distributes funds to treat children with serious illnesses) — renders the song here:

And here’s a version from the talented New York actress Natalie Weiss:

And finally, you can see how the duet of Audrey and Justine did it:

You have a pretty happy patron of the arts (and of the school district) here! If you have videos of your own kids (or so) performing, please go ahead and post them. [Note that negative comments about other people’s kids will be printed out on heavy newsprint, wetted down and frozen, swung in a wide arc at high speed, and then aimed for your head. Or they’ll be deleted, whichever seems easier.]

I hope that someday, as it was when I went to school here, decent arts education will be available in all schools. For the effect it has on children, it’s worth funding!

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)