I had the
great pleasure last evening to be able to
attend the pre-Int'l show of the fabulous
Midwest Vocal Express.
As you can imagine, the most anticipated
segment of the show was the debut of their
2007 contest set.
Following their 5th place medal in Indy last
summer with the FISH set (announced as a "high
water mark" by Harmonizer editor Lorin May)
most barbershoppers can't wait to see what
they're gonna do next. Me too.
They opened the show with the famous and now
historical fish. It was as creative,
entertaining and as insane as I remembered
from last summer. The creative team behind
this chorus should be credited with continuing
to "take a chance" and challenge others to do
more than two songs to gain points in the pit
and standing ovations in the audience. I also
was once again impressed with the top quality
singing.
What a great job Dr. Chris Peterson has done
over the past few years. He is stepping down
soon to move to Fullerton for a position at
California State University.
The show theme was wrapped around an "Ed
Sullivan Show" with vintage clips of the
original between their own variety of acts.
And what a variety they had.
Nightwatch (winners of the recent Chicago
Regional Harmony Sweepstakes) presented their
popular "Too Long On Broadway" set dressed as
near survivors from of CATS, Phantom of the
Opera, Spamalot and Wicked. Each (Scott
Hettig, Dan Naumann, Paul Wolf, and Matt
Martin) did a very deranged and creative
parody from each musical. I was glad to see
this in person. A real treat.
http://www.nightwatchqt.com/
You can't
have a Sullivan show with a juggler, can you?
They found a great one in Marcus Monroe. He's
a high energy 21 year old kid with great
personality and on stage charisma. He wowed
the audience and really delivered with some
outstanding "throws" using balls, clubs,
knives and torches. His finale included this
from a 6ft unicycle. Ed would have been
impressed.
http://www.marcusmonroe.com/
MVE is
a well organized and well run group with the
music team setting a fine example for all
other chapters by including 50th anniversary
tribute to The Music Man on their show. They
educated the audience to the Buffalo Bills and
recreated the "school board quartet" scene
with "ICE CREEEEM" (always a crowd pleaser).
They even added a few more MM songs with a top
quality VLQ. Very well done, guys.
One of their division champion quartets,
Magnum (Mike Lietke, Kirk Hyder, Dave Baxter
and Bob Wozniak), did a great job with "If I
Love Again". This chapter is serious about
supporting quartet singing.
http://www.magnumquartet.com/
The
entire chorus did a "normal" set with "Puttin'
On The Ritz", "Happy Together" and "Three Girl
Medley". The later was directed by Jim
Debusman who was singing on his last MVE show
with his pending move to Nashville after
Int'l. You could tell he was well liked and
made a positive impact on the chapter.
The long first half was ended with their
headliner quartet, The Humdingers joining them
for the finale.
The Humdingers opened the second half and
showed why they are one of the top show
quartets working today. With a perfect
balance of barbershop songs, jokes, dancing
and organ chimes, the patrons were treated to
a pleasant throwback to quartets of early four
part harmony. Lead singer Steve Culpepper has
become one of my all-time favorite leads. His
effortless vocal work and stage presence is a
thrill to watch. When I grow up I wanna be
Steve!
The other three are certainly experienced
performers as well. He and Chad Bennett, Drew
Kirkman (Michigan Jake) and Kevin Miles
(Platinum) did a full set and left a great
impression of what barbershop is all about.
All being members of the core Dapper Dans of
Disney World and singing there full time gives
them an advantage
of other bookable quartets working today.
Kudos to the MVE for booking these guys.
http://www.humdingers.org/
I was
excited to learn the MVE has produced a new
video DVD of their famous contest sets New
Orleans Musicians, Counry Fair Farmers, New
Dads, Broadway waiters, Green Army Men and the
Fish. You can get YOUR copy (its only $25)
via their outstanding website -
http://www.mve.org/MVEvolutionDVD.htm
So, there we
all were . . . waiting for the new 2007
contest set . . . the curtain rose . . . I
knew it was gonna be insane and creative. I
was right.
Show Chairman Dan Fenske
Stage Manager Brenda Johnston
Props Management Erik Anderson, George
Sonnentag
Producer, Advertising, Jim LaBelle
Chapter President Bob Fichtner
Great Show Guys!
Those in Denver will NOT be disappointed and
believe me, THAT's No Lie.
Grady Kerr
