"Mama Who Bore Me" (SPRING AWAKENING)

Yesterday was the anniversary of when I saw the musical MISS SAIGON. Yet I would not have discovered it had it not been for the Santa Clara Vanguard. They are a competing drum and bugle corps from California. Their 1991 program was titled "Selections from MISS SAIGON." I saw it on the PBS taped broadcast of the Drum Corps International's World Championships held in Dallas that summer. I was captivated by the music in their program and I watched that videotape over and over again. I was in love with the music of that show.

What is a drum and bugle corps? Well, it's another one of those hobbies that I absolutely adore but I would mostly call it a viewing hobby of mine for years, just something that I never really actually participated it. Drum and bugle corps, according to Wikipedia, "is a musical marching unit consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard..typically operating as non-profit organizations they perform on-field competitions, parades, festivals, and other civic functions. The prime age for participation is 14-22." I went to see my first drum corps show in Houston in the summer 1990 at Rice University Stadium, and I was amazed at the pageantry and talent on a football, telling a story through music while displaying designs moving at a fast-pace at the same time. I was in high school at the time and I was also in the marching band but it was nothing like this or even close to it. Over the years it would become a summer activitiy to follow and there are a few favorite corps that I like to watch out for. But it was that one show in 1991 that lead me to Broadway (and I have that show on my video iPod to this day) and for that I've always believed that things do come into our lives for a reason--to bridge us to the next piece.