RUSHFORD-PETERSON SPRING VOCAL CONCERT

directors: Dianna Poppe, Burton Sendsen


HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR:
"Now is the Month of Maying" [Chamber Choir]
"'Adieu,' Said the Rose" [Dale Kor]
"My Boyfriend's Back" [Dale Kor]
"Chapel of Love" [Dale Kor]
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" [Dale Kor]


GRADES 4 AND 5
"Glory Bound" - traditional
"Be Kind to Your Parents" - Harold Rome
"Ching a Ring Chaw and Great Gittin' Up Mornin'"
"Firefly" - Andy Beck
"J'Entends Le Moulin (I Hear the Windmill)" - French Canadian Folk Song


GRADES 1,2, AND 3
"Once Upon a Lily Pad" - Donnelly & Strid



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Another fine concert by the local kids.


I was wonderfully impressed with the talent of the 3rd grades in the playlet. The leading young lady had a remarkable singing voice and did a superb job of being loud and clear with her lines. So often these sketches don't go over too well simply based on the poor speech of the youngsters.


Nearly all of the other performers also did a remarkable job. Many of them really taking the characters to heart.


A fun evening.

TAKE NOTE! SPRING CONCERT -- Rushford Area Society of the Arts

Rushford-Peterson High School Theatre
Featured Soloists: Moreen Bosch and Erin Hendricks
Director/Pianist: Judy Myers
Sopranos: Mary Ann Enns, Mary Gudmundson, Brenda Heimgartner, Joyce Iverson, Letitia Kopperud, Connie Koza, Irene Overland, Laurel Rusert, Rosemary Scott, Nancy Svendsen
Altos: Melanie Brand, Donna Ciangiola, Kristin Ekern, Siby; Floyd, nancy Gardner, Danette Grimsrud, Sandy Hanson, Kelly Peter
Tenors: David Gardner, Burton Svendsen
Basses: Peter Enns, Dan Mann, Shelby Westby

An assortment of showtunes.

"A Wonderful Day Like Today" -- The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd
"Love Makes the World Go 'Round" -- Carnival
"Selections from 'Oliver!'" -- Oliver!
"Hold On" -- The Secret Garden (solo by Bosch)
"Meadowlark" -- The Baker's Wife (solo by Hendricks)
"Selections frm 'Wicked'"
"What is This Feeling?"
"For Good"
--Wicked
"All That Jazz" -- Chicago
"I, Don Quixote" -- Man of La Mancha (solo by Bosch)
"I Believe" -- Miss Saigon (duet by Bosch and Hendricks)
"Try to Remember" -- The Fantasticks
"I Remember it Well" -- Gigi
"Sunrise, Sunset" -- Fiddler on the Roof
"Old Devil Moon" -- Finian's Rainbow
"Theme from the Motion Picture 'New York, New York'"

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All in all, this was a delightful evening of music.

The selections were well mixed and balanced, and the choir did a fine job of projecting the intended emotions along with the lyrics. Even the distracting youth that talked through good portions of the songs couldn't faze the choir.

The men need a little more help to round out the sound, but I think that finding male voices for a choir is often a difficult task.

Moreen Bosch had an asbolutely beautiful voice and was a real pleasure to listen to.

Miss Hendricks had a nice voice, on key, but was just nasal-ly enough in pitch to be a bit irritating.

I did decide that other than the director, I might have been the only person in the room who actually has a recording (CD or LP) of each of the shows represented during the evening ... even The Baker's Wife!

CRAZY FOR YOU -- Wabasha-Kellogg High School

music & lyrics: George and Ira Gershwin
book: Ken Ludwig
director: Cris Medina
choreographer: Laura Flicek
music director: Mary Brelsford
costumer: Cheryl Davidson
cast: Sarah Bignell, Aislin Bright, Jami Fonfara, Jan Jurutka, Panad Phiwbang, Maew Pongsawan, Kerry Powers, Greg Schumacher, Sarah Smith, Ben Buckmaster, Michael Johnson, Gabe Loechler, Brooke Nelson, Rachel Norgrant, Emily Seifert, Patrick Slaughter, Chelsea Smith, Dylan Braun, Ryan Bronner, Vicky Hoff, Jessica Hust, Natasha Irish, Thomas Smit, Sara Straskowski, Jacob Fancher, Becca Garrigan, Shannon Garvin, Don Hoff, Nolan LaRocqueKatie Leisen, Jon Smith, Eli Walgrave, Logan Christenson, Kyle Hemmingsen, Luke Smit, Dylan Thoeny, C.J. Bailey, Dominique Jones, Nic Schmit

"The New Gershwin Musical" featuring some great Gershwin songs.

Hoofer wannabe, Bobby, is sent to Deadrock, Nevada to foreclose on a theatre on behalf of the bank run by his controlling mother. In Deadrock, Bobby falls in love with the theatre's owner, Polly.

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I love this musical. I saw the national tour production in San Francisco and the Broadway production. The musical is just fantastic and the story is simple, as a classic musical should be.

This high school production proved to be VERY well done. The amount of singing and dancing, performed by all was remarkable. That as many young men were cast, all of them singing and dancing, was a real nice treat. Michael Johnson as "Bobby" did a remarkable job. He often struck me as a Jimmy Stewart type.

The male voices definitely carried the show -- unusual for a high school. Only Sarah Bignell as "Polly" had much to sing, but her voice didn't carry as well as most of the men. The female chorus was weak. Fortunately the male chorus had more of the singing.

In typical fashion (for a high school production), there were the students who were totally engaged throughout, but there were also those who didn't seem to understand the idea of staying in character and looked flat-out bored when on stage and not singing or dancing. However, thr over-all production value of the entire show was quite good and the students (and adults who worked on the performance) did a fantastic job.

There is still hope for theatre, judging by these young students.

Kudos.