Honoring Our Voices :: A 30-Year Journey

With their upcoming "Greatest Hits" concert just around the corner, members of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus tell The Rage Monthly about the show that's been 30 years in the making.

When the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus formed 30 years ago, the very first song they sang together on stage was Barry Manilow's "One Voice," a song that, SDGMC President Bob Lehman says, "echoed the feeling of many gay men back then, that they were all alone until they found a community around them."

The Chorus will perform that song again when they take the stage Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, for a "greatest hits" show that kicks off their 30th anniversary celebration year and provide the group with what Lehman says will be "A magical walk down memory lane." As Lehman recalls, "It was a vastly different time when the SDGMC began."

Indeed, back then, marriage equality wasn't even a blip on the radar for the future. Grindr was the misspelling of something used to prepare coffee beans and with drugs like Atripla and Triumeq more than a decade off, the gay community was being devastated by AIDS. "The ravages of the epidemic were catastrophic," Lehman recalls. "Gay men were dying in the midst of fear, intolerance and bigotry. It was a very difficult time to be out, let alone stand on stage as a proud gay man."

It was from this destruction that the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus rose, a group of men finding their way out of the devastation together with only their need to stand together and be seen and heard and to share their music as a force for social change... driving them forward.

Today, the Chorus is more than 200 singers strong, with a highly acclaimed chamber chorale, a vocal ensemble under the name of Mood Swings, the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus dance troupe and the newest addition to the family, the San Diego Youth Pride Chorus. As one might imagine, Lehman says, "One of the biggest changes since our beginning is the size and scope of our productions. We present imaginative, multi-layered, professional, original productions that really make a statement."

The 30th anniversary show will be no exception to that production ethic, Lehman promises. "Our biggest challenge with this show, was going through 30 years of music to choose the best songs for our 'greatest hits' show," Lehman says.

The group's artistic team mulled over hours of video footage of the chorus singing throughout the years. In the end, it was SDGMC's artistic director, RC Haus, who selected the songs and composed and arranged them into a show that tells what Lehman says is "A significant story of history, music and memories. We are hoping to take our audience on a shared journey over the ups and downs and highs and lows of the last three decades."

Additionally, the San Diego Women's Chorus will be spotlighted during the show in recognition of their contributions to the community, the Youth Pride Chorus will be introduced and will perform for the first time, and audience members who purchase VIP tickets before the show will hobnob with Haus and chorus members at the post-show VIP reception.

"We try to have a good time,"Lehman says. "What I like most about our concerts is that they are fun, uplifting, positive and highly entertaining. There is nothing like singing with 185 people on stage for an audience of our friends, fans and family. The goal is for everybody to leave with a smile on their face, reflecting those on the faces of all of us."

Before smiles are shared, however, there is the matter of covering three decades in 20 songs to attend to, as well as remembering those who were there when it all began, but unfortunately are not now. That will happen relatively early in the show, when the chorus opens with Manilow's "One Voice," just as they did 30 years ago. "It's our tribute to the brave singers from 1985 who knew there were other voices like ours out there who wanted to join in," Lehman says. "It's because of people like that, who were brave enough to get on stage and be known as gay when gay wasn't in vogue, that the LGBT community has achieved so much today. That's what we're celebrating - three decades of performing and changing lives."

The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus performs "Greatest Hits - Volume One" Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April
19 at 3 p.m. at the Balboa Theatre downtown. For tickets and information, call 619.570.1100 or go to sdgmc.org