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By Susanne Mason-Cox
This is a story about being indirectly involved in the Paralympics Celebrations. By that, I mean living with someone who worked towards putting the event together.
I believe there are quite a few of us behind the scenes who shared not only the “joy and excitement ” but also the “blood, sweat and tears” of this work.
Last Christmas Eve we got a phone call at home. It wasn't Santa, but another nice guy named Peter Winkler who had just taken over the role of Musical Director for the Paralympics Opening Ceremony. He asked my husband-to-be if he would consider submitting two original songs for the rock opera, which would be a major part of the event.
Dave of course was very flattered and agreed to try to write the two pieces. Peter then asked, “Can you have demos of them ready by January 12”? Dave gulped and replied, “Yes, no problem, please e-mail me the brief”.
He hung up and said – “Guess what baby, I’ve been asked to submit two songs for the Paralympics Opening Ceremony …and they have to be ready by January 12”!
As you can imagine, it was a busy time for us. We were having a dinner for family and friends on Christmas Day and two friends from overseas were arriving to stay with us for the next few days. Dave is also a working musician and celebrations for New Years Eve were scheduled to be hectic, with shows every night up to and after the New Millennium. And we were getting married on January 6, before heading off for a week’s honeymoon.
So you could say the weeks to come were going to be pretty intense.
But I didn't marry superman for nothing….
Dave worked on the songs everywhere – in the car, in bed, while washing, preparing dinner and while visiting friends at their holiday house at Callala Beach. And if someone asks me to describe our honeymoon I must say – “the greatest challenge of all”.
Fortunately, somewhere in there, Peter rang with the news that the deadline for the songs had been extended to January 21, the day before we were to leave for Tamworth, where Dave was playing during The Country Music Festival.
Finally, after a lot of hard work and soul searching, the songs were finished. Both explore the idea of humanity, its common thread, and what makes some individuals stand out from the crowd. “The Challenge” described athletic and personal struggle while “The Fire Within” was a celebratory anthem.
Next, demonstration versions had to be recorded. Whew! Eventually Dave dropped the CD into the Producer’s office on January 20.
Then a committee of Ceremonies organisers had to decide which, of the many songs submitted, to actually use for the Ceremony.
A couple of weeks later we found out that Dave’s hard work had paid off when they announced that his song “The Challenge” was going to be the first song performed in the song-cycle, sung by Jeff St John. “The Fire Within” was short-listed with one other song for the final slot, just before the cauldron was to be lit.
We celebrated with champagne.
Soon afterwards, Dave heard that the committee had requested a rewrite of the lyric of “The Fire Within” and another demo, this one to be sung by a female. So it was back to the drawing board and the new version was subsequently recorded.
Good as it was, the committee finally passed on Dave’s “The Fire Within”. However, work continued on refining the lyric of “The Challenge” and, eventually, a re-recorded final demo.
9 months later...
A good nine months after the busy song-writing period we got e-mail from Peter Winkler offering us tickets for the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. I was very excited, as I had thought that I’d only get to see the show on television. Naturally, we said, “Yes, please!”
The dress rehearsal, Monday 16 October 2000
Dave and I arrived at Stadium Australia two hours before the start of the dress rehearsal to pick up our tickets. It felt like we had entered a ghost town. Only one security gate was open and there were only a few people around. I asked Dave if he was sure it was the right day.
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Dave relaxing before the dress rehearsal of the Paralympics Opening Ceremony begins
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We headed off to find section K, on the very far side of the stadium. I was looking around for any evidence that there actually was a rehearsal due but didn’t see much.
Anyway, we finally found the gate and were given our tickets. We entered the arena and found it almost empty. It was a bit of an unreal feeling being able to actually choose any of one hundred thousand seats after seeing how crowded this place had been a couple of weeks before. We soon realised nothing was going to happen for a while, so we went back to get something to eat. We found the only restaurant open just at the entrance, outside the security gate. We ordered, sat down and relaxed before the big moment…
After some food, a beer and a glass of champagne we found our way back to section K and chose two good seats.
The Stage was situated at the end of the stadium, about 60 metres away. On risers around it was a choir of 2000 school children dressed in white. In each corner of the stadium there was a huge screen. In the centre of the arena, a large number of what looked like oversized ping-pong tables were placed…we didn’t yet know why.
Bryan Brown announced, “The world is watching….let the party begin,” and the show commenced.
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Jeff St John sings “The Challenge” with great spirit.…it is an electric moment. |
Just minutes into the ceremony, Jeff St John took the stage to sing “Advance Australia Fair”. It was emotional. Then came the moment we’d been waiting for…I took a deep breath and listened to Jeff St John’s powerful voice as he sang the song with just the right spirit and enthusiasm. On the big screens I could read the lyrics Dave wrote months before. The moment was magic. Tears were falling on my cheeks and, as I looked at Dave, I could see that he was very happy and maybe a little relieved too.
We stayed long enough to see most of the rock opera but, as the rehearsal started to become bogged down by technical problems, we left after the first teams entered the arena.
We had experienced what we came for and headed home to digest the performance. I must say I was a very proud wife…
Happily, the problems that plagued the rehearsal disappeared on the night, and, in spite of heavy rain, the Opening Ceremony was a huge success for all concerned.
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Dave chatting happily with a friend about the performance. |
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I can't help reflecting on how many people are actually involved in an event like this. Not only the performers, producers, planners, designers, technicians, volunteers and so on, but also families and friends of those involved, who indirectly live with the event for months before it actually takes place.
So I'm among those who got a little piece of the Olympic action, through my husband’s work, and I can't say how thankful I am and how much I enjoyed being behind the man, behind the song which opened the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.
PS - And more icing on the cake for us; “The Challenge” was reprised during the TV credits for the Closing Ceremony, under highlights of the athletes’ heroic performances.
Watch out for the CD!
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