Changing Places Week 163 W/C 5th April 2009

If it's Tuesday it must be Abba, Wednesday is Hansel and Gretel and round off Friday with Broadway Nights.  The story of the week was music and theatre dominated in our family.  The mountain people - that's us - left their valley and hills and headed for Palma to Kate's school for the end of term performance which was Abba with a capital A.  The costumes reminded us of what we used to wear when Abba happened first time round and the singing raised the roof.  You could tell from the sheer enthusiasm that the children had enjoyed every second of the preparation for this show.  The delight of the children was rounded off with an Abba line up of all their favourite teachers who entered into the spirit of the day as only fun loving teachers can, albeit enhanced by the original soundtrack!  Musical direction, as always, by Conway Jones, resplendent in long wig and beard showing that he hasn't always been a `sensible' teacher - in fact he seemed very comfortable in his alter ego.

The very different world of the local school in the Port of Soller was the location for the thespian performance of the year.  The families crowded in to the small hall to see the results of the hard work their four year olds had put into their end of term play.  Costumes and make up and background music set the scene for the `not a dry eye in the house' Hansel and Gretal.  Our Emma was a bluebird and along with her best friend `little Aina' they helped the story along to its happy ending.  This was very concentrated work for this age group and was an impressive achievement by the teachers.  The climax to the term before the wind down to the Easter holidays.  An outing to Marineland is still to come before the teachers sign off for a few days.

The Georgie Insull Singers had a busman's holiday and we sat in the audience of the Auditorium watching Centre Stage's production of Broadway Nights.  This was a sell out and the audience was enthusiastically supporting the young talent on stage.  All the favourite songs from the shows were there and produced `Conway' style. A great show that left us with a smile on our faces as we headed for the nearest restaurant.  Live music is alive and well and living in Palma - that's for sure.

Our friend Pedro died this week and we were introduced to funerals Majorcan style.  The cemetery in Palma contains private rooms where the body was laid out beautifully in a glass case.  We had never seen that before, it was not in our English experience.  The room next door was occupied by another grieving family and between them and us a lot of crying was going on.  The mutual support of all the people gathered to mourn their loved ones and pay their respects was a special experience and proof that just because its not `our way' that doesn't mean its inferior - far from it.  Pedro was a bedrock of the Port of Soller who had been the manager of the Marbel Hotel in his time.  He was also a local artist of note so he leaves a legacy of his pictures of the area to remember him by - a well loved man.

`All in the April Evening' is the piece de resistance of the Georgie Insull concert tomorrow evening at 8 pm in the Anglican Church in Palma.  A varied programme of music suitable for Good Friday will be performed and we are almost there.  We have had the obligatory rehearsal where it all sounds awful and our leader has her usual pre concert hissy fit so it's guaranteed to be alright on the night.  All funds raised are in a good cause and the hot cross buns and wine will go down well.  Look forward to seeing you there - Easter wouldn't be the same without it.
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