Glory Be, It’s a Singing Tree!
     By Elizabeth Cozart

There’s a hum backstage at Charlotte’s Ovens Auditorium. A hum of performers tuning up their vocal chords – and a hum of rising excitement.

The buzzing marks the return of Charlotte’s Singing Christmas Tree, the Carolina Voices’s annual presentation that’s become as seasonal as Santa himself. Each December for the past 42 years, choir members dress as colorful ornaments, assemble on a massive tree-shaped structure, and herald the season through song.

"For a lot of people, this is the beginning of Christmas," says 1995 production coordinator Tom Barker, who, like all members of the chorus, is a volunteer. "It puts people in the Christmas mood, and it’s an absolute; they wouldn’t miss it. But it’s a big undertaking for us."

That’s something of an understatement. The coordinator and crews begin planning each January, and hold meeting after meeting for the next 12 months. Come August, the final chorus assembles after auditions have filled the few openings. Most society members retain their spots by singing in every choral performance during the year. This year, 48 people tried out for a scant 13 available parts.

Now that "Tree Week" has finally arrived, chorus members scamper about, excited and a bit nervous. Backstage bustles like Santa’s workshop. Singers warm up and apply makeup. The technical staff frantically adjusts the lighting cues. Tom Barker and Tracy Blume, head of production, use glow-in-the-dark tape to highlight prop locations for stagehands.

"For me, this whole show is very rewarding and personally fulfilling," says Tracy as she adjusts a few of the tree’s 10,000-plus lights. "I’m a big fan of Christmas, and this show really demonstrates that there is a higher force guiding you and helping put the whole program together."

Tradition. You hear the word again and again. "Charlotte is an exciting city to live in," says alto LouAnn Vaughn as she applies her makeup in the brightly lit dressing room. "There are a lot of new things and new people. That’s exciting, but traditions such as this show can help anchor the city. This had been around for 42 years, and a lot of Charlotteans have been coming here forever."

As she speaks, several other choir members stop to wish her luck. Among them is 69-year-old Iris Lewis, who sang in the first tree 42 years ago.

"There I am," Iris says later, proudly displaying the 1966 issue of Southern Living that featured the tree on its cover. "First row, fifth from the end."

Being on this tree is the highlight of my Christmas season, and I dearly love it," Iris continues. For the 40^th tree, 1994, Iris was chosen to be the tree’s angel, an annual honor given to a female member based on volunteer efforts. The angel stands at the tree’s highest point, more than three stories above the stage.

Ginny White, last year’s angel, says, "I can remember seeing the Singing Christmas Tree as a young child. It was a very magical experience for me. And the excitement of being up there on the top of the tree is overwhelming."

Singers such as Ginny and Iris say their biggest challenge is memorizing all the music. As Christmas ornaments, they can’t hold sheet music. Nor can they scratch or swipe away a strand of hair. And it gets awfully hot under those lights. Because the angel fainted years ago, members now hide smelling salts among the greenery.

But despite the dramatics, the music remains the real star of the show. "A transformation takes place within us as we prepare the music," explains Dr. William Dailey, musical director of the chorus since 1985. "And when the audience participates in the total aura of the lights, the visual components, and the music- it is more than entertainment. It is something deeper, something very timeless, and I believe that we are in some sense touching the divine."

As curtain time nears, chorus members take their seats on rows of metal folding chairs that line a long, narrow hallway behind the scenes. Each chair is labeled with a name that determines the singer’s spot on the tree. To maintain balance on the 40-foot-wide structure, the performers climb on in well-hearsed order. Tom Barker rounds up straying singers, making sure everyone is in the proper place, green-and-silver capes adjusted.

"I’m nervous," says Tom, smiling. "It’s like being an expectant father. The baby’s going to be born tonight. We’ve put our hearts and souls into this. At this point I’ve done everything I possibly can to make it happen, and now it’s in someone else’s hands."

The whole production goes beautifully. Singers load the tree quietly and quickly, rewarded by a delighted gasp from the audience as the curtain rises. Spotlights shine when they’re supposed to, special guests- an African American chorus, a harpist,a mime, and puppets-perform flawlessly , and the singing sounds as if it were coming from heaven. Two-and-a-half hours later, the show ends as it always does-with the soft, quiet notes of "Silent Night."