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Page 4 InCider Press April 2010 |
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Our guest quartet, The Allies helped make our 2010 Show a great success. They sang with wonderful mastery and a very positive demeanor. I got lots of good reactions from our audience to their part in our show and to our show overall (and The Allies praised our show, too). The Allies also sang with us in the dressing room and sang a neat tag for us. At the break between shows, some of us got to sit with them at their table in the Holiday Inn and enjoyed good conversation. Finally, at the afterglow they sang several songs and interacted with the crowd. We owe a big thanks to Bob Swenson for his role as host to our guest quartet. These four guys expressed strong appreciation for Bob’s efforts to make their stay enjoyable. Bob, you should explain to us how you do that job, so we can learn from your wonderful work. As the tenor, Jacob “Puck” Ross also has the position of Vice President of Music and Performance, I took the opportunity to find out how their home chapter organizes rehearsals, etc. The other three (David Calland, Lead; Casey Parson, Baritone; and Jared Wolf, Bass) joined in as they explained their organization. Their chapter, The Alliance, has three-hour rehears |
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als with a lot of variety of activities: one half-hour of warm up; about an hour of working on songs, break, business meeting, another hour of songs, and finally, sectionals. They sing on the risers at some points in every rehearsal. Section leaders meet with guys needing help with music a half-hour before rehearsals. They spend several weeks twice a year working on Polecat songs, making sure that every member has a chance to gain credit for mastery of their part on these basic songs. They make learning CDs of each song in the current repertoire, etc., etc. I enjoyed picking their brains about their activities, and getting in on the fun time they have with each other, i.e. a wild scene of calling someone’s wife at home and creating a monumental mix-up. I sat next to the bass, Jared Wolf and found out he has a wife, a young child, and a second child on the way. He thoroughly enjoys traveling across the country and meeting barbershoppers. They sound as if they plan to continue moving forward with their singing and travel. As you may know, the lead, David Calland is also their Chorus Director. The baritone, Casey Parsons had the VP of Music & Performance position before the tenor took it over. It helps to interact with such neat guys. We get some ideas for things we could try out. And we can follow their career as they continue competing and performing. Perhaps we will meet them again at contests and hear them again on CDs.♪ |
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The Allies come to Manhattan By Loren Alexander |
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Entertaining the audience at the spring show are, left to right: Casey Parson, David Calland, Jacob “Puck” Ross and Jared Wolf |
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The smallest cowboy at the show had to be Connor Borchers. He came in his cowboy outfit to help his dad, John Borchers, feel better about getting dressed up for the show. |