Two Michael Crawfords and a Howard Keel

SHERWOOD KIRALY

Now, you know you can sing, pal, because you sing in the car. And

you’re pretty good, aren’t you? You could have been a pop/rock/easy

listening/ rap/reggae/jazz vocal professional if you’d wanted to

spend all that time on the road. You’ve sometimes wished others could

hear you on “Fools Rush In.”

Then again, the idea of soloing in public has always been a little

daunting. Out there all alone ... one hiccup and the mood is blown.

Well, the new Laguna chorus needs a few people who can carry a

tune, or at least help lift it. And if you join up you’ll have a

whole troupe right there covering for you.

The Laguna Tunes, formed through the Recreation Department and

co-directed by Roxanna Ward and Christin Cornell, have begun

rehearsals for a Hospitality Night appearance Downtown in December,

along with local concerts TBA. They meet from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday

nights at the Neighborhood Congregational Church and if you’ve got

$25 for the entrance fee and $10 for supplies, you’re in.

My wife Patti Jo is in the chorus, so I know they’re presently

rehearsing holiday and patriotic music, selections by Sondheim and a

medley from “Chicago.” The co-directors are immensely talented and

the singers are raring to go ... but at the moment they’re short of

men.

Alarmingly short, in fact, because when Patti Jo came back from

the last rehearsal and said, “We need men,” she looked at me.

Granted, I can sing like James Taylor and I can sing like Dean

Martin, and in the morning right after I wake up I can sing like

Johnny Cash. But I can’t project. I have what they call a light

baritone, which in public performance becomes so light that you have

to read my lips.

Now, you don’t have to be a great singer to join this chorus, but

you should be audible.

So I’m making a general appeal on behalf of the Laguna Tunes for

men and women and especially men: If you are a tenor or a baritone or

a bass, or a mixture, and if you can be heard over the sound of one

hand clapping, get over to the Congregational Church on Tuesday night

and sing out.

*

For those friends who expressed curiosity about the yard sale I

mentioned a couple columns back, it’s 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct.

4. If you want the broken Weedwacker you better get here early.