Case in point: By the time I started working there, Secret Santa assignments had already been given and carried out and I didn't expect to be involved in any way. But on my second day, I got to my desk and found these from Santa!
Awww! Unfortunately I'm off of sugar right now (which will get its own blog post explanation later), so I didn't eat them myself but Mom, Sarah, and Ashley really enjoyed them! And in this case, it really was the thought that counted.
I could list a bunch of awesome people (including some LDS celebrities) that I met just this first week in the office, but I won't. Just know it's been incredible.
And then on Thursday it was a normal, chill day at the desk when I got an e-mail saying that Corporate was giving away 100 free tickets to their employees for The Forgotten Carols Friday night in Orem.
I pounced. Not even knowing who could go with me or if I could make it, I snatched up four tickets right away.
The Forgotten Carols has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up listening to the CD while driving home from grandparents' houses on cold winter nights. I read the book once a long time ago. But I had yet to actually see the full production. It's been on my bucket list for forever, I just never got the chance or had the money.
So to be offered tickets for free (even if they were last-minute for a production far away) was the best Christmas present I could have asked for this season.
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| Official logo from forgottencarols.com |
I'm categorizing this as partly Ambiance because going to this production was an experience. It wasn't a play to be analyzed and criticized, it was a memory and a flood of feelings that has to be witnessed for oneself to be understood--as grandiose and moving as a spectacular landscape or a brilliant sunrise.
I was really stressed leading up to the performance, because I was told we had to claim my tickets before 6:30 or they would be given away. Cue bumper-to-bumper traffic.
We made it there by 6:45, and to my immense relief my tickets were still there waiting for us! It was just me and Mom who made it (it was too last minute for anyone else to come with us), and we had great seats only a few rows back from the side of the stage.
I knew what to expect from the story because, like I said, I grew up listening to it and reading it. But seeing it all in musical form was completely different. The singing wasn't as good as the CD I have on my iPod, but the acting was good and hearing the songs in the context was like really hearing them for the first time.
For those of you who know absolutely nothing about The Forgotten Carols, it's about a nurse named Constance who is given the task of taking care of an eccentric old man over the week of Christmas. Constance is always caught up in her work and doesn't connect with people well. When she arrives at the man's house, she is at first very annoyed by the crazy "Uncle" John, who resists her professionalism, calling her Connie Lou, insisting he's over 2000 years old, and sharing Christmas carols with her that she's never heard before.
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| Photo from forgottencarols.com |
Uncle John's carols are all from people who witnessed the birth of the Savior themselves (he's 2000 years old, remember, so he knew them all personally), and as he shares them, Constance's empty life is gradually filled with the true spirit of Christmas, and she learns to open her heart to others.
Here's a trailer, if that wasn't enough for you:
It's a very simple stage production, with a limited cast and a small choir, but the music and the feelings were as powerful as a MoTab performance in the Conference Center.
I laughed, and I cried. Oh my goodness did I cry. The touching story of Uncle John forever changing Connie Lou's life wasn't the half of it, though that was tear-jerking on its own. No, what really got to me was how Michael McLean ended the show.
I laughed, and I cried. Oh my goodness did I cry. The touching story of Uncle John forever changing Connie Lou's life wasn't the half of it, though that was tear-jerking on its own. No, what really got to me was how Michael McLean ended the show.
McLean plays Uncle John himself, so when he came onto the stage to end the show, we all greeted him with roaring applause. But after a few more jokes and thanks to those who helped put it together, he got very sober. He told us how this was his first production without at least one of his parents in attendance, and that he was actually wearing his late father's clothes as Uncle John's costume.
He then proceeded to play one of his older songs for us on the piano. I'm sure you'd recognize it if you heard it. The chorus goes, "We can be together forever someday," repeated three times. Hearing him sing it was sad enough, knowing he was thinking of his parents. But then he played it again and had us sing the chorus with him.
Afterwards, he said, "Wow. That was...so reverent." We'd all kind of mumble-sung it half-heartedly, so he made us sing it again, this time with our arms linked with the people sitting next to us. This time we all sang a little louder--with a little more love in our hearts.
Finally, he told us to think about someone who wasn't there with us--someone who just couldn't make it. Someone who is far away. Someone who maybe isn't even on this side of the veil anymore.
When we sang it that last time, half of the audience sang it at the top of their lungs. The rest of us were too choked up with tears to sing at all.
McLean let the chorus trail off. The dark auditorium was filled with eye drying and sniffles. He asked us to remember what the Christmas season is really about. He reminded us that we sometimes feel like our carols are forgotten, but that Christ and Heavenly Father never forget us. And then he asked us to sing the one carol we'll never forget--"Silent Night."
Again, I was too choked up to sing very much, but I did my best. After singing the first verse, he asked us to hum it again. As we did, he said goodbye, he walked off the stage, and the lights shut off before we'd even made it to the last line.
A few people clapped when the song faded away, but for the most part the audience was quiet. Reverent. I've never seen anything like it before. Not even General Conference ends that quietly and thoughtfully.
I left that auditorium with a resolve in my heart to not only listen to The Forgotten Carols until April but also to open my heart more and remember Christ. Not just during the month of December, but all year round.
In summary, I recommend seeing this production if you get the chance. I HIGHLY recommend it. No matter who you are, no matter your circumstance, this production will speak to you. It will remind you what Christmas is all about. Who it has always been about.
Merry Christmas!
He then proceeded to play one of his older songs for us on the piano. I'm sure you'd recognize it if you heard it. The chorus goes, "We can be together forever someday," repeated three times. Hearing him sing it was sad enough, knowing he was thinking of his parents. But then he played it again and had us sing the chorus with him.
Afterwards, he said, "Wow. That was...so reverent." We'd all kind of mumble-sung it half-heartedly, so he made us sing it again, this time with our arms linked with the people sitting next to us. This time we all sang a little louder--with a little more love in our hearts.
Finally, he told us to think about someone who wasn't there with us--someone who just couldn't make it. Someone who is far away. Someone who maybe isn't even on this side of the veil anymore.
When we sang it that last time, half of the audience sang it at the top of their lungs. The rest of us were too choked up with tears to sing at all.
McLean let the chorus trail off. The dark auditorium was filled with eye drying and sniffles. He asked us to remember what the Christmas season is really about. He reminded us that we sometimes feel like our carols are forgotten, but that Christ and Heavenly Father never forget us. And then he asked us to sing the one carol we'll never forget--"Silent Night."
Again, I was too choked up to sing very much, but I did my best. After singing the first verse, he asked us to hum it again. As we did, he said goodbye, he walked off the stage, and the lights shut off before we'd even made it to the last line.
A few people clapped when the song faded away, but for the most part the audience was quiet. Reverent. I've never seen anything like it before. Not even General Conference ends that quietly and thoughtfully.
I left that auditorium with a resolve in my heart to not only listen to The Forgotten Carols until April but also to open my heart more and remember Christ. Not just during the month of December, but all year round.
In summary, I recommend seeing this production if you get the chance. I HIGHLY recommend it. No matter who you are, no matter your circumstance, this production will speak to you. It will remind you what Christmas is all about. Who it has always been about.
Merry Christmas!
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