On March 5, in the newly renovated auditorium’s inaugural show, the HHS show choir performed their annual spring showcase. After lacking a performance center during renovations, this first show held extra anticipation.
Director of choirs and auditorium manager, Bryon Mosquera, explains the meaning behind spring showcase.
“It was an opportunity for parents and grandparents who couldn’t attend the parent show back in January to finally get to see it again,” Mosquera said.
There are three levels in the Show Choir program, which are Continuum, Nexus and the Network. Each group had different themes. The Continuum travelled through space, while the all-female Nexus expressed the importance of identity, and the Network performed a range of songs from 90’s grunge to ballads.
“If there was a song that was impactful to us a long time ago, we will bring it back,” Mosquera said. “We like to bring back songs the audience will enjoy.
The choreography and vocals are derived from previously learned songs. Performers work hard during camps to master choreography and during class, where they master vocals.
“That’s the stuff they had been learning since September, we had choreography camps anywhere from September to November,” Mosquera said.
Junior Network performer Molly Pepper shares what she thinks is the most challenging song they perform.
“Our closer, Livin’ La Vida Loca, is really fast, and there are partner works and complicated steps, which makes it difficult to perform,” Pepper said.
Despite the difficulty, Pepper expresses joy about performing.
“We all had fun because it’s one of the last times we’ll perform a competition show at home,” Pepper said. “It was low stakes, and you were doing it for families.”
Older generations feel a sense of nostalgia during the spring showcase.
“The Network show was a throwback to the 90s, so the older people in the 90s might feel nostalgia from their childhood,” Mosquera said. “Our ballad from the network was the Titanic, and so for us to bring it back into the show, I would assume a lot of those parents and grandparents got thrown back into the 90s, just for them to feel something”
The chaotic nature during costume changes remains unobserved by the audience.
“It’s a little chaotic, but that’s just show business, you have a lot going on, so when the audience sees it, its like oh thats so nice, but then they don’t see all the craziness happening backstage” Mosquera said.
Stage crew helps secure the technical aspects of the spring showcase.
“Backstage we had to set up the TV’s, light towers, where the microphones needed to be, every show is different, we need to know where the mics are,” Mosquera said. “They are also the ones that help the people change quickly.”
Whilst the fall show was targeted towards learning the fundamentals, the spring showcase was a time to truly display proficient performances.
“Fall shows are a way to get the kids prepared and we do a lot of fundamental stuff to really help the kids for competition stuff” Mosquera said.
In the face of a three hour long rehearsal, Pepper finds them deeply rewarding.
“Rehearsals are long, but they go by quick and you feel accomplished after,” Pepper said. “Seeing it come together on stage is really gratifying.”
The spring showcase featured improvement in performance since the fall. The previous parent show was seen as a draft of the spring showcase.
“The parent show was just a rehearsal, it was still not ready…” Mosquera said. “This time around we have all the costumes, the kids have perfected the show so they are able to do it really well.”
The spring showcase is for the community, offering students another chance to perform competition shows during the year.
“Because after we finished the competition season we are done with show choir, we don’t do the competition shows anymore, we move onto the spring show” Mosquera said.
The competitive show choir groups Nexus and Network have dance captains. With their leadership they are able to polish choreography.
“We also have vocal captains to help students learn the vocal stuff,” Mosquera said. “We have a lot of student involvement and help from everybody to make the show as good as what you saw on Thursday.”
The show choir had used the Wright Center at Samford during the HHS auditorium renovation. The Samford stage had provided experience, but coming back to the school’s auditorium had improved technical displays, providing ease.
“So going to Samford was a good learning experience to see what a huge stage is like,” Mosquera said. “Coming to our renovated space its so nice to run sound, to control that, and also the lighting, it’s a whole different world now.”
The improved board system had increased confidence within the show choir’s spring showcase production.
“Here we are able to control all the lights, it’s so nice to have a good sound system where you can hear everybody, and have lights for different effects,” Mosquera said. “I feel a lot more confident running the sound now than the previous parent show.”
Mosquera hopes to have implemented senses of joy and deep emotions within the audience.
“I hope that the audience has one, enjoyed what they’ve seen, and two, feels a sense of joy,” Mosquera said. “That’s the whole reason why we do what we do, we want to bring happiness, emotion to it.”
