Spring semester in the HHS show choir means performing the season’s competition shows one last time. This year, the group will additionally showcase a Broadway Revue.
HHS show choir director Byron Mosquera defined the revue as “little snippets” of Broadway shows put together into one production rather than an entire musical.
On the evenings of April 15 and 16 in the HHS auditorium, the group will be putting on a performance showcasing nine popular Broadway musicals, including Wicked, Newsies, Phantom of the Opera and Hamilton.
The ticketed event is the first of its kind at Homewood and will be a part of a four year rotation.
“The whole idea just kind of came from wanting to give the kids a more full, more enriched experience,” HHS show choir director Byron Mosquera.
The shows will rotate between a broadway revue, a dessert cabaret, a musical and a typical competition spring show with the goal of kids experiencing each type of show during their time in the program.
“There are a lot more pieces to this show than a typical show choir show,” said Mika Marriott, The Network Vice President and soprano one section leader. “I think it’s really fun to get to do a bunch of different characters.”
The performance will consist of an diverse array of songs, with music from dark shows such as Jekyll and Hyde and up-beat shows like Hairspray.
Each show segment will have its own costumes, with many of them being reused from past competition shows.
Mosquera said the remaining costumes will be provided by the kids.
“That just allows the kids a little bit of creative freedom,” he said.
Adelaide Jowers, member of The Network and stage crew, said that stage crew has been working during third period, study, after school and during rehearsals to collect costumes and put together sets for each show, including many props such as a giant can of hairspray for Hairspray and a rhinoceros head for The Lion King.
The stage crew has also made backdrops for each show to emphasize the ambiances that each show sets for the audience.
There will be between 30 and 40 solos in the show, with some assigned by audition and some for seniors.
“We like the spring stuff to be geared towards the seniors,” Mosquera said.
Marriott looks forward to the show as a fun experience for seniors to perform with the show choir one last time.
Mosquera hopes that the show will allow people who usually wouldn’t go to a Broadway show appreciate the performances.
“Kids will know it, adults will know it,” Marriott said. “It’s like a story you can follow along… which you don’t always get in show choir.”
