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| Issue #22 / Winter 2009 |
 America's Got Talent |
Installment 6 Live Shows! |
| by Carol Taubl |
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| If you missed Installment 1, click here |
| If you missed Installment 2, click here |
| If you missed Installment 3, click here |
| If you missed Installment 4, click here |
| If you missed Installment 5, click here |
Up to this point, we have shared with you our experiences with America's Got Talent, including our initial auditions in New York City, our exciting trip to Las Vegas, and our first trip to Los Angeles for publicity.
We came back from our first Los Angeles trip with excitement and nerves and headspinning numbers of details to take care of. The boys were going to be missing the first few weeks of school, so we had to arrange for that. And the girls had students that they weren't going to be able to teach for quite some time, so substitute teachers had to be found. And the most challenging task of all was for John. He was leaving his very busy job at Heim Bearings in Fairfield, CT to be gone indefinitely. His employer had graciously given him the time off, but the thought of being gone that long was staggering! All of this commotion did keep us busy, and busy means less nervous. So that was good!
But soon enough, the time came for us to leave for Los Angeles. We packed everything we owned, literally, due to the countless uncertainties that we were facing. You can imagine what that looked like! Nine of us, each with a huge bag, an instrument, and a carry on or two. Our huge 15 passenger van was filled to the very top! I was a little worried that the plane was never going to get off the ground. But it did :)
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When we first arrived in LA, we went to the studio to get a glimpse of the stage. We loved what we saw, but the reality of what we were about to do set in with a vengeance. It just didn't seem real. And yet, here we were.
Our first rehearsal on stage was so much fun. The cameras were everywhere, and there were so many people there to help you with whatever you needed. We told them we would like to have the girls up on a higher level, so they started building platforms for them. We told them that we thought royal blue dresses would be good, so the wardrobe director (our dear friend, Katja) started looking for royal blue dresses. It was almost like we were dreaming.
The next day, we headed off to downtown Hollywood to the Henson Studios (famous for the Muppets!) whe re we recorded an instrumental track. We were told that this was a precautionary measure, used for live television, in case a string broke or an instrument went horribly out of tune in the middle of the performance. Th is was really lots of fun. At all of these musical ventures, we had the privilege of working with one of the gre at arrangers in the business, Nigel Wright. He was so helpful and his musical ideas w ere incredible. |
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| We arrived in Los Angeles on a Tuesday, and we had exactly one week to prepare for the live show. Each day was filled with rehearsals on stage, meetings with producers, swimming in the pool, and evenings up at City Walk where we enjoyed some amazing cuisine! We all decided we could get used to this lifestyle! And by far the most remarkable part of the whole trip for the girls was the spray tan!!!! The rest of us found it a little uncomfortable... |
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When the first show day finally came, we had an early morning call time in order to get started on hair and makeup. Katja was able to find such beautiful dresses for each of us, and the boys were thrilled with their designer threads. Our hair styles required lots of curls, so that was set in motion early and then we had our make-up done. We went on stage for the dress rehearsal with huge curlers in our hair, but all went very smoothly and we were feeling really good when 4:30 arrived and we were taken backstage to wait for our turn.
The show airs live on the east coast, so our performances started at 5pm West Coast time. Those moments listening to the other acts were absolutely terrifying. I'm sure that all of you have at one time or another felt that little urge to go the bathroom as a result of nerves. Well, multiply that by a bjillion and you get a little glimpse of what we were going through! And to make matters worse, the boys' very best friends on the show, girls from the 'Beyond Belief Dance Company,' were eliminated from the competition only moments before we were to go on. Jeremiah got very upset and with only moments to go before our performance, was having trouble getting himself together! Our producer, Brian Updyke, got really nervous and looked at me to do something. This was one of those little unexpected glitches that you don't prepare for! So all I knew to do was pray. Thankfully, Jeremiah pulled himself together and we took our places backstage. We were next to go on. |
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While we were waiting, there was one very poignant moment that I will always remember. We were pacing the floor backstage listening to the judges buzz everyone before us, when suddenly Emily called us all together and reminded us of one very important detail we had forgotten. Her voice revealed the urgency of her request as she asked us all to gather around and she asked her Dad to lead us all in prayer. So we wrapped our arms around each other in a circle, and John prayed that God would bless our performance. There was an instant peace - and we knew that no matter what happened, we were so blessed. During the commercial break, they set us up on stage, and then the stage manager started to countdown the seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2 ...and he pointed to us for 1. The crowd went crazy, and the music started, and we were singing on live television before millions of people. It didn't seem real. It felt a little bit like any other performance, except for the cameras in our faces. But when we finished, we still had the judges to face. |
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As you know if you watched the show, the judges loved our performance and we left the stage floating on cloud 9! It felt like the beginning of something really good, and really big, and really life changing. We had some exit interviews to do, and then we piled back into the studio van and headed back to the hotel. We were greeted at the door by lots of fans, which was really fun, and then we huddled together with the other finalists to watch the show at 8pm Pacific Time. It was so much fun to watch yourself on television, knowing that people all over the country were watching it with you! There were several producers in the audience that night, and many of them came up to us and offered their congratulations, and their business cards! It was all very exciting.
But we still had the results show to face the next night. Hopefully America would vote for us!
To read about the results show. check back on January 26! |
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Gretchen's Heart for Orphans |
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In early December, 2008, the Taubl Family was honored to be a part of the annual tree lighting in Stamford, CT.
On a brutally cold December evening, thousands assembled to see Santa rappel down the side of a skyscraper in downtown, and then made their way down the street to Latham Park to hear some Christmas music by the Taubl Family!
Following the festivities, we were invited to the home of some dear friends for delicious food and warm fellowship. |
After dinner, our hosts shared with us a cause that was dear to their heart. They showed us photographs of an orphanage in Bogotá, Colombia, where they had spent many weeks working with and being blessed by these children. Then we were told the story of the saintly nun and other volunteers who took care of these little ones that had no place to go. Gretchen was touched by the faces and overwhelmed by the need, and expressed interest in going down to Colombia on the next trip.
In early January, Gretchen learned that she was officially invited to make the trip, and thanks to the generosity and vision of our wonderful friends, all her expenses were to be paid. Gretchen will be bringing a shipment of violins to these orphans, and helping to set up a string program for these precious souls. She will be leaving February 7 and returning February 14.
Check out the website of this amazing place and learn more about their mission to rescue these innocent little ones. If you want to learn more about the mission, or if you are wondering what you can do to help,
please contact us at tpianist@aol.com |
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Emily and the Hartford Symphony |
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After winning the prestigious Van Rooy competition last fall, Emily was asked to perform with the Hartford Symphony in January of 2008. Emily was thrilled with the opportunity to work with such a wonderful orchestra.Shortly after that first appearance, Emily received a call from the conductor asking her to appear on a regular season concert in January, 2009. January 8 - 11 marked Emily's return to the Hartford Symphony stage, this time performing Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major. Four nights of performing can be a daunting experience, but she handled it beautifully and each night brought more excitement and energy. The picture above left was her dress rehearsal on Wednesday, January 7. Above right is Emily with her mom backstage on Thursday evening, opening night, nervous but excited, looking radiant in her lavender taffeta gown. Click here to listen to an excerpt of her performance.
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Here is an excerpt of the review written in the Hartford Courant. "Cellist Emily Taubl joined the orchestra as soloist in the Haydn Concerto in C Major to close the first half of the program. Taubl performed Tchaikovsky's "Pezzo Capriccioso" with the HSO last January. Since then, her family, all nine of them, were finalists on NBC's show "America's Got Talent."
Taubl, a Yale grad now earning a second degree at Hartt, most certainly "got talent." She may project a relaxed and focused exterior, but she has a charismatic musicality. She plays with extraordinary accuracy and lightness. Her passage work in the third movement, taken at breakneck tempo, was breathtaking. In a work with a maze of different themes and passages, she led us through with clarity, logic and conviction. Taubl is going places." |
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