MTC Week #71 - Singing With Angels - The Movie

One of the questions I get asked the most when people find out I'm in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is what the audition process is like. Depending on the situation and interest level, I give them the long or short version describing the process as long, difficult, stressful, and emotionally tiring--as well as amazing, rewarding, and humbling. Soon, however, I'll be able to tell them that there's a whole movie dedicated to answering that question!

Prepping for a performance scene Thursday night 

Candlelight Media is currently shooting the film and the Tabernacle Choir was asked to participate in several of the scenes this past week. Those agreeing to participate came to the Tabernacle, Abravanel Hall, and other locations at designated times. Once arrived, we followed the director's instructions while various cameras filmed the action and the stage crew attended to all of the behind-the-scenes work. While I can't say it was incredibly fun, it was certainly interesting. 

On Tuesday night, some of the "bigger" scenes were filmed. Many of the choir members filled the choir loft in the Tabernacle and sang along to pre-recorded tracks (we had recorded them a couple of weeks ago). The first two scenes were performance scenes and as such, we all dressed in regular performance attire. The next three scenes were rehearsal scenes and to make sure it looked like we were rehearsing at different time periods, we changed our

Cameras and actors getting ready to film

clothes after each one. Before each scene, a young woman would come out in front of the camera and do the familiar sounding sequence of announcing the scene and yelling "Take 1" or "Take 2" or whatever take it was. Thankfully, things went fairly smoothly, and we only had to do two takes of each scene. 

All in all, it was kind of cool to see how everyone worked together; to see the two main actors embedded in the choir; to see the choir members respond to the director; and to sing for an actor portraying Brother Wilberg :)

How it looked from our point of view. The guy in the red
with the mic was the director for these scenes

The movie actually won't be released until April of 2016 so it's definitely a ways away. But I plan to remind all of you next March and if there are any interesting developments along the way, I'll mention them. In the meantime, here are some sites you can go to if you're interested in more info (HERE, HERE, and HERE). You can also find Candlelight Media on Facebook here.

Awaiting the directors instructions

Some enthusiastic sisters enjoying the filming experience

Getting ready to film a scene at Abravanel Hall

Looking up at choir members at Abravanel Hall

Filming a scene in the room where those auditioning take the theory exam 

In other news, today was our Music & the Spoken Word Mother's Day special and the songs we sang were truly inspirational. My favorite was called "Lullaby", written by our very own Ryan Murphy. It was written to honor those who were tragically affected by the shootings at Sandy Hook elementary (where Ryan actually attended when he was a boy). It speaks about a mother's love for her children and was very appropriate for our Mother's Day tribute. I'm thankful for how I felt during this song; grateful for mom's in general who do so much to love and care for their children; and grateful for inspirational feelings from the Spirit. Thanks for all those who attended (and/or listened) to the broadcast today. We had a full house!

Until next time, God be with you.