I have performed for the pope in my home town. In a football stadium, and at the end, he went slowly around the arena in the back of a ute. As the performers were spaced equidistantly around the edge of the arena, we could all touch hands with him.
Great. I dont know if you are a religious person, but for what amount would you sell that experience?
No. It happened by accident - more or less - our group were rung up out of the blue and asked to perform there. It was nice to do, but seeing the pope, in person, wasn’t anything I would ever have thought of doing, and it would never have been a bucket list item. The other performers were so hyped up - the most I’ve ever seen people hyped up. The atmosphere backstage was amazing! And, of course, the stadium was absolutely full, and we were in the middle (probably no one was really interested in us, they just wanted the pope). One of the people I worked with was there, and he was telling everyone about it the next day. He was shocked that I was there too, and really envious that I’d been so close to the pope, when he’d been in the middle of the crowd.
Walking out again and standing around the arena after the performance was something we hadn’t been told about, so it was quite a surprise, especially when the pope did a circuit. The other performers were absolutely wild with delight that it happened and they were so close to him. It also enabled us to all see the whole service, and that’s an experience I’ll never have again.
There are many things unplanned that happen in life, and some of them are the most memorable. When we performed for the Queen, we all knew it was going to happen, and we worked hard for years to make it happen. We traveled to the UK for that.
We were going to perform for Prince Charles and Lady Diana in our hometown, but at the last minute, she decided to attend a different event, so we didn’t. It was very like the event for the pope - we had very little notice - but it didn’t work out the way the organisers wanted it to. You win some, you lose some. I don’t remember being upset that they failed to show up. And we were a small amateur group, so looking back, I’m surprised at what we actually did. The experiences we had were amazing. Looking back as a very ordinary person it’s the sum of the experiences as a group that I remember, and that is something I would never sell. But the one experience with the pope is something I forget about until someone says something, like you did, about visiting the pope.
But when we were in the UK, the first time I saw my flag flying, and realised that it was flying because I was representing my country - that is something I would never sell. It’s something I never thought an ordinary person like me could do.