Originally Posted By ksargen I just got this email from our choir director this morning. Knowing the mayhem of last year, they may make changes, they may not, but this is what we know right now. "Disneyland Candlelight Ceremony and Processional 2013 For the 2013 Holiday season the Candlelight Processional will be performed in its traditional schedule of 2 nights at Disneyland Park, with two performances each night. Candlelight will be performed Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, 2013." Folks, it means it's going to be crowded again. If you really need to see it, you need to get booked in for that weekend. Good luck! Meanwhile, it's back to auditions for the choir... I guess this also kills my idea that we may be in the theater. This will most likely still be outdoors. It's not worth mucking up the entertainment schedule and the stage to cram this in for two nights.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Thanks for the update! It's interesting, though not entirely surprising, that they're going back to having it for only 2 nights this year. I guess the month-long test showed them that it wasn't needed Since it is a popular event, I would assume that it will stay outside. The capacity of Town Square is much greater than any indoor venue on property, and with limited showings they'll need the additional space to fit everybody in. Plus, I would assume they would want to keep their new show at the Fantasyland Theater running, and it seems like Aladdin will never leave, so the main indoor venues are already booked
Originally Posted By ksargen I have a feeling this may be a "regroup and plan" year. Going back to the tried and true keeps it going, and gives the new management team time to PLAN for the next one. The changes last year were fast, furious, and seemed a little underplanned. We'll see! I'm hoping our choir's luck holds up. They've only been turned down once in 20 years, so I have high hopes I'll get to do the show again this year...
Originally Posted By ksargen And, MORE NEWS! Someone from management has confirmed that it WILL be in DL, outside again. So much for the ever present "Hyperion" rumor.
Originally Posted By Hats and Wands Could this be due to the "rumor" that Disneyland is going to have PAID Christmas parties this year??? It's been talked about on the not to be named "Ageing Mouse" site for months. No fireworks, snow or parade for the regular folks....just for the ones who want to shell out the extra bucks. It would be hard to cordinate Candlelight with the parties. This way, the parties can happen (if they do) without dealing with the Candlelight issues.
Originally Posted By ksargen I haven't read the rumors, so I can comment on them, but yeah, coordinating ANYTHING with Candlelight is a mess. It's just a very specific set of people and things. IF they're going to go to the paid party thing (which would make sense in several ways), they'd have to change the look and feel of Candlelight to include it. Sending a group of 50 down Main Street is nothing like sending 600! And coordinating the large numbers of volunteers would have to go away. It's a legal and logistical nightmare. If they did a scaled down, CM and short term hires only version, they could shrink it, and do it in a smaller venue. I'd hate to see that happen, which may mean they'll keep the two day version, and then do something else for their paid party nights. I've also been told that Voices of Liberty aren't coming back for the show this year, either.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It's interesting that the rumors about paid Christmas parties persist. When they first popped up with some validity last year, the thought process was that the up-charge parties would include the Candlelight (possibly in the Big Thunder Arena or elsewhere in DL). I suppose they could do a scaled-down version for the party nights, and have the full version in Town Square for 2 nights, but that seems like it could become very difficult to coordinate two versions of the same show, for very different purposes. I'm not sure how guests would react to up-charge Christmas parties without it, since they wouldn't really offer anything 'new'. At least the Halloween parties have the character cavalcade and candy stations that were never a part of regular park admission, and a fireworks show that was only 'free' for one year; selling the existing Christmas festivities will be much more difficult to pull off tactfully. >>I've also been told that Voices of Liberty aren't coming back for the show this year, either.<< This makes sense, as they no longer make their regular appearances in the park either. I think their last day was about a month or two ago.
Originally Posted By lesmisfan I was told that if they were to have candlelight for a private ticked event that they would have to pay the cast members who would perform in it. I do not think they would do that, so this is probably why it went back to two nights only.
Originally Posted By schnebs I'm sure that the prospect of having to comp tickets to guests whose Candlelight performances are rained out (as happened several times last year) probably influenced the decision to go back to one weekend.
Originally Posted By ksargen You're welcome, amazedncal2! As for weather issues, that's the single most persistent reason being INDOORS would be good - it would mean that, unless something went horribly wrong, the show could still happen in the rain. With outside, if it's raining too hard, the orchestra can't play, and won't come out, which means no show. There is also the slightly less problematic wet bleachers, which are something of a safety hazard, but is easier for the rest us to deal with. They can dry those off at least a bit to get us in them, and climb back down. We had a near cancel the night I sang, but we managed to only have a little misting for most of the show, so the orchestra could handle it. No one wants to see or hear a wet orchestra. It is an ugly, ugly thing. Between instruments that don't like the wet, and players who like it even less *LOL*...
Originally Posted By schnebs Too funny,ksgaren. Having performed in a couple of choruses, I'd give anything to perform at Candlelight - even if it meant getting soaked. My memories of performing outside and having to deal with wind gusts and unexpected changes in the weather make me appreciate what the Candlelight performers must go through.
Originally Posted By schnebs Oops, make that "ksargen". I swear, I can read and spell - I just can't type...
Originally Posted By 9oldmen >>It's interesting that the rumors about paid Christmas parties persist. When they first popped up with some validity last year,<< The rumors about the upcharge Christmas parties happening on the West coast began as early as 2010,with this article, also from that other site, which seems to be the sole source of the rumor. <a href="http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al110910a.htm" target="_blank">http://miceage.micechat.com/al...910a.htm</a> I remember going to the park during the 2011/2012 season, thinking that was going to be the last year to see the parade and fireworks without paying extra.
Originally Posted By ksargen schnebs - oh, believe me, I would, too. But the orchestra is a whole other ball of wax. Having been an orchestra manager, and clarinetist, on top of being a singer, while I can sing in just about any weather, I can't make my clarinet behave in nearly as many atmospheric conditions! AND, the orchestra that plays Candlelight seems to be made of LA session musicians, and they're a touchy bunch. *LOL*
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Orchestras are finickey by nature. If the temperature or humidity changes noticably (5-10 degrees) overnight, expect them to spend even longer than usual tuning (and for an orchestra, that says a lot!). Mix in some bumps in the road on the way to DL, and several hours between rehearsals and performances, and anything can happen to the instruments Being a former marching band member, we always mocked the orchestra for how fragile they were. Even if they were playing indoors, the temperature and humidity outside would impact their instruments. We could (and did) perform in any range of temperatures and weather events, but the orchestra always had a really tough time coping. When it got really cold, we would get creative with tuning, intentionally tuning the entire group between 'real' notes; it worked because wind instruments go flat in the cold, but strings go sharp which makes for a really bad combination in any sort of symphony setting
Originally Posted By ksargen ^^^ Yep! My favorite part of being a singer - we can tune up anywhere, any time, short of laryngitis, and I've even managed to sing through THAT a time or two... You cannot make a clarinet play with a broken reed, or a violin with a bum bridge...
