And it's over.

[written by Rome]

Just like that! Our 3 minute of Up With People-ness, in the past. In case you missed it, you can YouTube it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDGZqb0Sdoc

Here's what it was like behind the scenes:

Dec. 31, 2:30 PM
We finished our final rehearsal on the float, at the Duarte Float Barn (probably not its real name, but that's how I will always know the vast, drafty warehouse where we had our final rehearsal, and go to be as up close and personal as I've ever been with a Rose Parade float). We loaded the drums onto the Up With People truck, for their tech crew to deliver to the performance site and set up for us-- meaning we'd get an extra 2 hours of sleep (since we wouldn't have to go set up our own equipment). THAT was a no-brainer.

We drove directly back to the hotel, and I (Rome) went immediately to bed. The stomach flu had made a brief appearance the night before, and I'd gotten almost no sleep, and was still feeling quite ill. I slept until about 7 PM, then went back to bed at 8 PM, and slept until midnight. We had to meet in the hotel lobby at 1 AM to be driven out to the performance site. I felt much better after my hours of sleep.

Jan. 1, 2 AM

It was pitch dark and cold when we got to the corner of Orange Grove Blvd and Colorado in Pasadena. We made sure the drums were set up okay. Gaby, the tech for UWP, is amazingly good. In fact, all of the UWP staff is amazingly good-- professional, competent, friendly, and helpful. It's been a pleasure and honor to work with them.

After the set check, we headed down to Maranatha High School (about a 3 minute walk from the performance site) to join up with the UWP cast. They'd been there since 9 PM the night before, reveling and welcoming the New Year. I'm sure the cast's 9 PM call was insurance against any of them welcoming the New Year a little TOO enthusiastically and missing the show. Much too soon we had to head back into the cold for our TV rehearsal. Although we were all in full costume, we were allowed to keep our layers on during this rehearsal. Thank GOD-- it must have been in the low 40s. I had snagged the blanket off my hotel bed, and had it wrapped around my shoulders. Looks, zero, but practicality, ten.

The vast empty Grandstand in front of us was quite a sight. If anyone had been unsure of the size of the live audience, they weren't any more. We ran the piece 5 or 6 more times for the TV crew to practice their camera moves and which shots they wanted, and we got to run the strike twice.

Sadly, the TV broadcast didn't show our 45 second strike. Yes, that's right-- we had 45 SECONDS to get EVERYTHING out of the way-- the pods the musicians (including us) were on, the speakers, the pyro, the cast-- EVERYTHING had to be moved about 100 yards down the street, and then about another 50 yards up a little side street, so the parade could start. Riding the pod was a hoot, but a little scary. I mean, 4 feet above the ground, on a quickly moving pod, which weighs several hundred pounds, steadying an Odaiko that was quite rumbly when the pod got going. Falling would equal severe injury. Plus, I don't like heights anyway.

After the final TV rehearsal and strike, we re-set and headed back to the high school.

Jan. 1, 5:15 AM

The full UWP cast, all 100 of the scouts, families, UWP staff, musicians (including us) queue up for breakfast. It was quiche, and quite good quiche, and there was enough for all. I actually managed to eat several bites of mine, my first solid food in over 36 hours. We hung out at the High school, eating, sleeping, re-applying make-up, etc.

The girl's bathroom was an experience. It's been a long time since I've been around 19-21 year olds, and an especially long time since I've been around women that age who wear a lot of make-up. There was as long a line for the make-up counter as there was for the stalls, and every single outlet was taken with either a) a curling iron b) a hair dryer or c) a cell phone charger. Luckily, my hair was dry and my phone was charged.

Jan. 1, 6:45 AM

Everyone headed over to the performance site. There was a tent set up backstage for us, so we all packed in to put finishing touches on costumes, and keep warm. The UWP cast members were taking photos-- this was the last UWP performance for many of them. Most of them were just finishing up their year of touring with UWP. No tears (yet) but lots and lots and lots of photos.

Jan. 1, 7:45 AM

We moved into positions onstage, to wait some more. It was cold. Have I mentioned that yet? The Grandstand was full at this point, about 4200 people by Karen's reckoning.

Jan. 1, 7:54 AM

We took places and launched into "Up With People," the song we did as a warm-up for the live audience. My hands did that going-numb thing they do sometimes when I'm performing fue and I'm nervous. Of course I was nervous, I was about to be on national TV! And in case you're wondering, Karen and I DID learn the words to Up With People so we could lip sync along-- hey, if more people were for people, all people everywhere, there'd be a lot less people to worry about and a lot more people who care. Think about it. We left our pod after warming up the crowd, and stood behind it to await our call to...

Jan 1, 8 AM

...PLACES! We all had to get into place about 90 seconds before the song started, cuz that's how much time there was between when the TV coverage started and our song started (except on KTLA, whose announcers talked a little bit over the start of the song). 90 seconds is a LOOOOONG time to stand excited and committed to your position, but not moving, but we're professionals (ahem). Then, all of a sudden, the producer was counting down: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 (the last 2 were silent, of course-- yes, they really do mime the last two counts as they count you in), and then the song started, and I raised my arms and hit my note and played a few beats, busted a few Kasabayashi moves and....it was over. Everything went great. No dropped bachi, no missed notes (it was very hard to hit that first note, there was absolutely no count), no stumbling, no falling off the pod, and the strike was done in 42 seconds-- pshah, who needs 45 seconds to move literally tons of equipment? Not Up With People!

Jan. 1, 8:15 AM

We took our (comped) seats, and became Rose Parade spectators. I'll let Karen blog about that-- I gotta' go pack so we can hit the road back to Tucson.