A busy weekend!

Tour began with our departure from Charlottesville (too) early last Friday morning. We drove to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ to participate in the Centennial Seminar of Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, a national support organization for male choirs of all ages and levels. After our arrival, we ran through our set, then attended a rare performance of Stravinsky's Opera-Oratorio Oedipus Rex, performed by the Rutgers Glee Club and Symphony. Classicists in Club were especially fascinated by the gruesome tale.

We shared the evening performance with the Glee Clubs from the University of Illinois and Miami of Ohio. It was great to hear other, similar groups perform, and the audience of other singers, conductors, and fans, was very enthusiastic.

The next morning, it was back on the bus for the long drive to Pittsburgh, PA, where we were greeted by Glee Club super-alumnus Lloyd Stamy, who took the guys to the famous Hofbrauhaus for dinner and then on a tour of the city. The next day, we headed to Lloyd's church, the architecturally splendid Shadyside Presbyterian, for an afternoon performance on their concert series. One of the guys discovered he'd left his tuxedo in the hotel in NJ, so we were grateful that Shadyside's Music Director, Mark Anderson, ran home and got his for our costume-less student to borrow. The guys sang well in the acoustically generous space. The audience was warm and supportive, and it was great to see another Glee Club alum, Greg Chafuen, who drove all the way from Notre Dame, where he's attending law school. There was a fantastic catered reception in their Fellowship Hall, and then we were on our own for the evening. Many of us wound up at Pennsylvania's own Quaker Steak and Lube, renowned for their wings and other food that'll kill you if you eat enough of it. After dinner, everyone went to sleep and all were on time for our morning departure to Ohio. Well, at least that's what happened in my fantasy world. But we did all make it on the bus and are hurtling across Ohio to make our next concert--a joint performance with the fantastic Glee Club at Miami University of Ohio.

I practice my stand-up routine in Pittsburgh while the Glee Club looks on in bored semi-amusement. By the end of the week, they'll have heard all my material multiple times!