X-Rays are Scary

Corn Allergy, Life

In March, I inexplicably came down with pneumonia. The weird thing about it is that I wasn’t sick. That is, I didn’t have the flu, or even a cold. Just a cough that would not go away, and nighttime chills. I didn’t have a fever either, but I never get a fever as my body temperature is usually 97 degrees and change.

An x-ray confirmed I had pneumonia, and a round of antibiotics cleared it up. The cough lingered, but that’s normal (or so I understand). However, the follow-up x-ray showed an “enlarged right hilar”, and that led to a third x-ray, which shows the same. So now I have to go for a chest CT scan tomorrow.

Needless to say, I’m a bit freaked out, although realistically it’s not going to be the most dreaded thing. I’m sure I have some kind of auto-immune disease that I haven’t had diagnosed yet (mostly because I haven’t been to the right doctors for it) and what is being seen is a swollen lymph node.

So, wish me luck!

New Musicals

Life, Music, Reviews

This year, I have done (or will do) SIX new shows, that is, shows I have never done before! For the vast majority of the musicals I do, I love repeats, because I love most of the shows. There are a few I hope I never do again (ahem-Carnival) but most I could play endlessly.

These shows are:

  • The Sound of Music
  • Mary Poppins
  • Titanic, The Musical
  • On the Town (concert style)
  • Shrek
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Don’t ask me to pick a favorite. I can’t! They each have their moments where I think “this is my favorite show to do!” And I would do any of them again in a heartbeat.

Happiness is…a Bernstein Festival

Life, Music

I have been looking forward to the Leonard Bernstein Centennial Festival in Lawrence, Massachusetts, for months! I will be playing in the pit of all three shows/concert.

The headliner show is, of course, West Side Story. This will be my ninth time playing this show, and I am lucky that I am able to do the Eb/Bb/bass clarinet book again. This is absolutely my favorite show to perform.

Basically using the same set (and locale), In The Heights is the other show being performed in the festival. The last time I played this show, I had to drop out after the first weekend because I had cholecystitis (my gallbladder was inflamed)! I ended up having surgery very shortly afterwards. I am hoping that there are no medical issues during this run.

The other performance is a concert version of On The Town, and I am also playing Eb/Bb clarinets in this one. This is not an easy clarinet book. The Eb parts go up to high G# regularly, and even at one point a high B! I can’t even do that on my Bb clarinet. Probably the person who played this book before me couldn’t play that high either, as the notes are written in an octave lower. I think I’ll do that too. But this is a great opportunity to play something my grandparents might have seen and certainly listened to on records.

Since I’ve been playing again since April, I’ve been lucky that I’ve only had a couple of allergic reactions. One was to cigarette smoke from an audience member and the other from playing an outdoor concert. Still, the reactions lasted less than 2 days, and was not nearly as bad as they had been in the past. I am so grateful that I am able to play shows again.

Here are all my instruments for the festival. This doesn’t even include the instrument stands or gig bag!

My tenor, alto and soprano saxes; Bb, Eb and bass clarinets; and flute and piccolo.