LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / November 4, 2000

I’ve always loved music. Even now, if you see me in traffic, more thanlikely you will see me beating percussion on my steering wheel, usually singing along with whatever I’m listening to on the radio or CD player.

I’m not sure of the origins of my love of music, but it never really translated into my becoming anything like a musician.

I joined the school band when attending Mimosa Park Elementary School in Luling as a sixth-grader. My best friend was playing clarinet, my cousinwas playing trombone and it occurred to me to learn cornet.

Let’s just say I didn’t set the musical world on fire. Let’s also be truthfuland say I never learned to read music in my years in band. Let’s also betruthful and say it was only out of the kindness and pity of my band director that I wasn’t flunked from band class.

I do remember that it was during one of those band classes that the principal announced over the intercom the shooting of President Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. Little else stuck with me.In high school, my best friend was still in band, my cousin had moved on to chorus and, in my sophomore year, I decided I would try to sing as well.

Let’s say I didn’t exactly set the musical world on fire. I did do better, anddiscovered I had a vocal range of three octaves and two notes. Where myefforts failed stemmed from two causes – I still never really caught on to reading music, though my sight-reading skills had improved; and I never really caught on to using my diaphragm correctly to project my voice.

The result of this was that I would hit the right notes but in a thin, almost whispery voice which hardly matched what anyone else was doing.

I also got elected president of mixed chorus, following again in the footsteps of my cousin. The vote came down to a tie between myself and agirl in the class. For some unknown reason, the choral director told us togo outside and “settle it between ourselves.” I allowed her to step outsidefirst, followed her and shut the door, and she turned and said, “You be president.”The biggest thing that got me was to be student director of the talent show that year. Which, of course, kept me off-stage.Since that time, I think, my singing has improved. When in Army ROTC atNicholls State University, I learned about my diaphragm and voice projection, using what the Army calls “command voice.” I can sing up astorm now.

Theatre classes at LSU also helped, especially acting class late in my college career. That got me on stage, at last, playing Lord Montegut, thefather of Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet.” I got to clash swords with LordCapulet and I got to be the one who finds the bodies of the young lovers.

I had this one terrific scene when I find Romeo dead, gasp out my lines, turn my back to the audience and I let loose this heart-rending groan.

Behind me, I heard audience members burst into tears.

I was a success at last.

LEONARD GRAY is a reporter for L’Observateur.

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