Better than "Glee"
Show Choir.
Throughout my high school career (and a little after) I was heavily involved in Show Choir. Freshman year it was the JV group, Future Image, Sophomore year it was the all-girls choir, Sweet Revelation, and Junior and Senior year it was the Varsity group, Ultimate Image.
It was seriously one of the best things I've ever been a part of. Show Choir is not easy (I would even go so far as to consider it a sport). First of all, at least at my school, we chose music arrangements that were not easy (our director liked multiple harmonies and interesting rhythms). We normally did 5 songs (an Opener, a Novelty song, the Ballad, a Fourth Song, and the Closer). In addition to the music, we would hire choreographers to come in and teach us sharp, energetic choreography to go with each song, along with having to coordinate costume changes and props within the show.
It's very difficult to put all of that together into a wonderful, entertaining show AND make sure our vocals stayed strong and impressive. We practiced just about every other evening at the school, along with every other day during the school day and sometimes in the mornings (especially when were learning choreography).
When Show Choir season came around (in the Fall and into the early Spring) we traveled around to different competitions, in-State and out, performing for loads of different audiences and judges. Along with the main Show Choirs, some competitions also had a separate Solo competition, where singers from different schools performed solo numbers and were awarded trophies alongside the Show Choirs.
It was a crazy, intense time of my life, full of sequins, sore muscles, 8-part harmonies and and an abundance of bus rides. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I can't describe what a rush it was, standing on those risers just before our show started, feeling the energy from the audience and anticipation from everyone in the choir, ready to go. One of my favorite memories was when we were in Finals at a huge performance hall in Nebraska. It was our 2nd time performing our show for these judges, and our last time to impress. Our closing song was "Everything Old is New Again", with red sequin jackets, sparkly pants, and a very classic Broadway type feel (a lot of tap-inspired movies, plus one of our guys actually tap dancing on the highest riser). At the very end of the song, the tempo slowed down a little and there was a big build up to the last chorus, in true Broadway style. As we started to sing and got into a cool, V type formation, the audience went crazy, we got a standing ovation and the song wasn't even over yet. It was so cool. (We also took Grand Champion at that competition, I believe).
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| Ultimate Image 2011 |
I miss it so much.
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