Cavaliers finish 3rd in drum corps contest

Fans of Drum Corps International describe Saturday night's championship finals as one of the closest ever, but the evening was bittersweet for The Cavaliers drum and bugle corps, sponsored by the village of Rosemont.

They took third in the finals - their same position as last year - behind their perennial rivals, the Blue Devils of Concord, Calif., who came in second, and the Phantom Regiment based in Rockford, which pulled off a surprise victory.

Playing before a packed crowd at Memorial Stadium at Indiana University in Bloomington, the Phantom Regiment won its first outright championship, after tying for the gold medal in 1996 with the Blue Devils.

The Rockford-based corps performed a show around the theme of "Spartacus," while The Cavaliers performed an original show designed to characterize the life of a Samurai warrior through original music and complex choreography.

First-year Cavaliers director Bruno Zuccala described the evening as "very, very successful" for his 150, all-male corps, capping their 60th anniversary season.

"The corps had a spectacular performance and drew multiple standing ovations," Zuccala said. "The kids felt very good about themselves, and that's what it's all about."

Don Warren, who founded The Cavaliers in 1948 and stepped down Saturday as its president, agreed.

"I'll have to admit that any one of the top four corps could have won," Warren said. "They all have outstanding talent and perform magnificent shows."

The Cavaliers' show built dramatically through four movements, including the third, called "The Art of the Sword," when color guard members used authentic Samurai katana swords while the front pit section drove the action on taiko drums.

The program's original music and dramatic interpretation of a Samurai's lifestyle helped the corps take first for field performance, while taking second for percussion, visual effect, visual ensemble and color guard.

Members of the corps arrived Sunday in Rosemont after a summer tour that took them to 37 cities across the country before their final performances in the championship series over the weekend in Bloomington.

Zuccala added that the design team would begin next month on creating a theme for next year's show, with auditions to set to take place in November.

"In constructing a new program," Zuccala said, "we hope to make it interesting, intellectual and very emotional."