Violinist Rose Crelli is still reeling from what she calls “the biggest production I’ve ever been part of.”

That production — Bad Bunny’s celebrated Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday — was, in fact, one of the biggest productions anyone has ever been part of, with an estimated audience of more than 135 million.

For Crelli, it also marked an incredible life journey so far, from being born in China and adopted into an Alaska family, to a childhood in Alaska and Dawson City, Yukon, practising violin at her family’s remote tent in the bush, to carving out a career as a musician in San Francisco “from scratch,” and then playing with a global superstar before an audience more than three times the size of the Canadian population.

“It was one of my favourite performances that I’ve ever been a part of, ever,” she recalled, of the halftime show.

“Just the energy when you’re walking on the field, and there’s all the lights shining from the stadium, and you see all the fans in the seats.”

Crelli said she first received an email in December, asking if she was available on Feb. 8 for “a potential halftime show performance opportunity.”

“I had to send in headshots, measurements for the outfits, and I believe there are three separate production teams who had to approve individually each musician,” she said.

She found out in late December that she got the gig — but she had to keep it mostly to herself, even signing a non-disclosure agreement.

“I wasn’t allowed to announce it on social media or anything,” she said. “It was a complete surprise and shock for the majority of the people I know,” she said.

‘I know her smile when she plays violin’

That includes her proud parents in Whitehorse, who admit to being rarely online. More than 135 million people may have now seen the show, but as of Tuesday, Crelli’s dad was not yet one of them.

“We’re not very ‘connected.’ So we often hear things about Rosie from other people that we are unaware of,” said Mike Crelli. “So it’s not actually surprising to either of us, that we’re the last people to see it.”

Rose’s mom, Marcia Toland, happened to be at the Canada Game Centre in Whitehorse on Sunday when the show was on. She saw a young girl watching it on her computer so Toland asked if she could look on.

“So I got to watch Rosie. It was great,” said Toland.

“I knew for sure it was her … her hair was done so different, but I know her smile when she plays violin.”

Toland described how music was always a big part of their family life. Rose and her brother Simon — an accomplished fiddler in the Yukon — were home-schooled, and music was a priority.

“I think of the winters when we would take their little violins and put them in sleeping bags and take them over the mountains into [the] bush and keep them into the wall tent from freezing,” Toland recalled.

Mike Crelli credits Toland for always prioritizing music, practising with the kids and often driving them long distances for lessons.

“I had nothing to do with it. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” Mike said.

Rose’s parents said on Tuesday that they were just beginning to understand what a huge deal the Super Bowl show was, largely because they’d been getting so many calls and texts about it.

“Rosie said to me, she said, ‘Mom, it was the biggest event in my life so far.’ And I said, ‘but remember when we were on the Stewart River that night and we watched the biggest sandhill crane migration ever? It couldn’t have been as important as that,'” Toland recalled.

“She said, ‘they’re different, Mom.'”

Cultural significance

For Rose, it wasn’t just about audience numbers, either. She recalled meeting Bad Bunny at the dress rehearsal and again after the performance.

“He was so kind, so gracious. He made sure to thank all of the musicians and the dancers,” she recalled.

She also described the “cultural significance” of the show, which was performed by the Puerto Rican sensation entirely in Spanish. She said she respects Bad Bunny because he “speaks up about what he believes and he stands true to his values.”

“I really appreciate how he celebrated the beauty of immigrants speaking a second language, being proud of your culture. And just really, it was a message of celebration, joy and hope,” she said.

“And it was very meaningful to be a part of that.”