Funny Girl

When I was a student at Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri, I was in a production of Funny Girl. Specifically, I sang in the chorus line.

We did tunes like Rat-A-Tat-Tat (which required us to wear WWI army uniforms, and which is strangely absent from the Spotify version of the soundtrack). I never again partook in any theatrical presentation as a member of the cast, but it was a big deal for me, even though the musical only played for three nights. The experience was notable for several things:

• The LP record I bought later was only marginally better than our own music. I was amazed after I bought that record to hear that our version had sounded so much like it.
• The high school girl who played the Fanny Brice part played by Barbara Streisand in the movie got knocked up before she even graduated. It was my first ever introduction to teenage pregnancy. I, on the other hand, am 57 years old, and I still haven't lost my virginity. :(
• The choreographer for the production had a dance number that required that he kick high in the air. He kicked so high, in fact, that he split his pants and accidentally kicked one of the microphones hanging from the ceiling over the stage.

High school can be an unpleasant experience in some ways, but I had just become a Christian, and that first year of high school was one in which I was getting heavily involved with New Wine Coffeehouse, where we had guests like Larry Norman, The E Band (with Greg Volz, who later went on to sing lead for Petra), the Children of the Day and our own local Christian rock band, Rainbow's Promise. Eventually, New Wine shut down, which greatly disappointed me.