July 13, 2008 at 11:21am
RON SWARNER: TUDORING >>>
I’ve enjoyed HBO’s The Tudors, a sexed-up, color-splashed take on the tale of England’s King Henry VIII, with a Project Renaissance Runway flair for fashion. Yes, you can quibble over The Tudors’ over-reliance on sleek exteriors and bodice-ripping soapiness while debating the series’ historical insight in depicting the story of King Henry VIII. The show occasional sends me on a fact-checking trip to the history books, which is nice.
Tacoma Art Museum’s member-only preview of its new exhibit, Illuminating the Word: The Saint John's Bible, was preceded by an hour-long performance by The Tudor Choir from Seattle. Dressed in black, the small choir filled TAM’s foyer with the beautiful works by Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis, who was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543, composing and performing for Henry VIII. In The Tudors, Tallis, played by Joe Van Moyland, looks like a young, creepy Johnny Wadd. Just saying.
My sunburn and I sped from the Old Town Blues Festival grabbing the last seat for last night’s Tudor Choir performance. TAM was strict on outside disturbances, shutting down the elevator and posting volunteers at all doors to prevent latecomers from disturbing the people in black.
The music was amazing. Truly. The Choir ran through such Tallis’ treats as Loquebantur varlis linguis, Sancte Deus, Puer natus est nobis Sarum chant and other hits. As the music swirled about my head I imagined myself milling about smartly in the HBO hit, mostly in the role as the King, of course.
Still, listening to church music, at least for me, is a task, especially after a long day in the sun (and beer garden). Studying my fellow TAM members, most older than me, many were in my court, too. My mind wandered during the concert. A lot. Here is a glimpse:
(Why are they all wearing black?)
(Do the ladies in the balcony know you can almost see up their skirts from the foyer below?)
(That bass singer looks like one of the ZZ Top guys. He would look awesome in sunglasses right now.)
(I wondered if King Henry VIII’s court bathed every day? What did they use for deodorant?)
(Their voices are amazing. I can hear each one if I concentrate. Nope, I can’t here that dude’s voice.)
(I should go to the YMCA tomorrow. I’ll work chest and legs.)
(How much longer? Should I grab my phone to check the time? OH MY GOD, did I switch to vibrate?)
(“Beth. Plorans ploravit in nocte†â€" It would be funny if Peter Criss was up their singing? Is he still alive?)
(No, I think I’ll work arms and back tomorrow.)
(Tallis-allis-bo-ballisâ€"tallisallis-fo-fallis-fe-fy-mo- mallis â€" Tallis.)
(Why is ultra tan skeleton guy just staring at his wife? Just. Staring.)
(Check out all the people outside waiting to get in during a break. One, two, three like nine.)
(Wow, that guy is really putting his whole head into his singing. He looks like he’s kissing the song.)
(Now skeleton guy is staring at his sleeping friend. Just. Staring. So weird.)
(Hey, maybe I should be writing this crap down. I could blog it tomorrow. No, that would be stupid).
By the way, the new exhibit is fascinating. Check it out.
LINK: Tacoma Art Museum
LINK: Weekly Volcano's Exhibits calendar
News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.
Thanks for posting! But I want say that Walkie Talkies are really required while organizing fun...
Really nice album. I have already purchased Vedder's Album. Listening to the song of this album,...
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
Your post contains very beneficial content. Kindly keep sharing such post.
Vedder's album is really nice. I have heard attentively
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
amazing information for getting the new ideas thanks for sharing a post
about 5 Things To Do Today: Art Chantry, DIY home improvement, "A Shot In The Dark" ...
446th Airlift Wing, 5 Things To Do, 62nd Airlift Wing, 7th Infantry Division, Air Force, All Ages, Army, Arts, Awards, Benefits, Best of Olympia, Best of TAcoma, Bobble Tiki, Books, Business, Camp Murray, Ceremony, Chainsuck, Classical Music, Comedy, Comment The The Day, Community, Concerts, Condemn or Allow?, Contest, Day Tripper, Deals, Defense Department, Deployment, DJ/Electronica, Events, Facebook, Fashion, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Food & Drink, Future Things Are Coming, Games, Gay Rights, Genius, Gig Harbor, Green Crush, Happy Hour Hug, Health, History, Holidays, Honors, I Corps, In Their Words, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Judging by the Trailer, Keeping Up With The Coffeehouses, Kids, Lacey, Lakewood, Legislature, Madigan Army Medical Center, Marines, McChord Field, Media, Memorial, Military, Milton, Morning Joe, Music, National Guard, Navy, Nerd Alert!, New Beer Column, News To Us, Night Moves, Not Cool, Olympia, Outdoor Addict, outdoors, Photo Hot Spot, Podcast, Pop Culture, Poster of the Day, Puyallup, Radio, Rangers, Retail, Rocket Science, ROTC, Ruston, Schools, Screens, Sex, Shout Out, South Sound Sidekick, Spanaway, Special Forces, Sports, Steilacoom, Strykers, Summer Tip, Sumner, Tacoma, Talking Shop, The Mouth, Theater, Tightwad, Tournament of Burgers, Tournament of Mac and Cheese, Training, Travel, Twitter, University Place, USO, Veterans, Video Hot Spot, Volunteer, Web/Tech, Word, Wounded Warrior
Read Comments