Wheaton Warrenville South wins show choir title
The Classics from Wheaton Warrenville South High School earned a second straight grand champion title Saturday night at Hersey High School's Chicagoland Showcase.
The 50-member mixed show choir earned best vocals and best choreography, as well as best male and female soloist awards for Matthew Moore and Erin Taylor, on the way to winning to its fourth championship this season.
The Expressions from Buffalo Grove High School was the runner-up, while winning best band.
“We're a young group, with a lot of freshmen and sophomores, said Buffalo Grove senior Nicolle Von Helms of Arlington Heights. “But we're very tight-knit and we don't really care where we finish, because we're having the time of our lives.”
Buffalo Grove's program celebrated being different and opened with a masquerade scene, to the familiar strains of “Phantom of the Opera.” However, its 30 singers and dancers soon put it into high gear, performing a high-energy mash-up that combined the Backstreet Boys' “Masquerade” with Lady Gaga's “Poker Face.”
“It starts out slow but then really gets fierce,” said senior Charlie Walker of Arlington Heights. “Just when the audience thinks we're going to do something from ‘Phantom,' we really get going.”
Prospect High School's Mixed Company finished third, and its all-girl ensemble, Company, was fourth.
In a separate soloist contest, Brian Pawlak of Buffalo Grove High and Sylvi Rameriz of Prospect High were named best male and female singers, respectively.
The two-day event featured plenty of surprises, as ensembles performed different arrangements of mostly pop songs, while using intricate choreography and multiple costume changes to pack the most entertainment value in their 25-minute sets.
Prospect's Mixed Company ramped up its choreography this year, including hip hop moves in its closing party song mash-up that paired Jay Sean's “2012” with Usher's “DJ.”
“We have to bring a lot of energy to make it stand out,” said Prospect sophomore Patrick Pfohl of Arlington Heights before taking the stage.
The Classics were one of the few choirs to include a classic song in their show, and it struck a familiar chord with the audience.
Senior Mary Tehrani and sophomore Jeff Jordan, both of Wheaton, performed a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers-type number when they sang and danced their way through Irving Berlin's “The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing.”
The ensemble left the audience wanting more after they closed their set with another mash-up, this time the entire company performed a high-powered dance number to “Dance, Dance, Dance,” combined with “Freedom Song.”
“It's like this big party song,” said junior Emily Korst of Wheaton, “when we celebrate our new freedom.”
Hersey choral director, Sara Michael, said that crowds remained strong, beginning with the middle school competition on Friday, through Saturday's preliminaries and finals.
“We had anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 people at any one time in the gym,” Michael said. “And because of the caliber of the groups, people stayed.”