Call it the 'Glee' effect: Big crowds for Hersey choir festival
The new season of "Glee" starts next month, but die-hard fans found the next best thing at Hersey High School over the weekend at the 17th annual Chicagoland Showcase.
The show choir festival drew more high schools than usual - 20 - and a crowd that consistently hovered around 2,000 people, from morning through the finals Saturday night.
"'Glee' has definitely given show choirs a shot in the arm," says JoAnn Langley, fine arts assistant. "It has generated a lot of interest, both in the public and in our own schools."
Wheaton Warrenville South High School's Classics earned the grand champion title after winning best band, best vocals and best choreography.
Their set opened with a rendition of the Lady Gaga song, "The Fame," with vibrant costumes and intricate choreography, before closing in dramatic fashion with a Latin medley fueled by a rocking band and singing in three different languages.
"It's a real fiesta on stage," said their director, John Burlace.
It was the Classics' third consecutive grand championship this season, after winning titles in Davenport, Iowa, and Troy, Mo.
Buffalo Grove High School's Expressions took first runner-up this year, after winning the grand championship last year, while the singers from Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis finished as second runner-up.
Rounding out the top five were the Mundelein Sound from Mundelein High School in fourth and Mixed Company from Prospect High School in fifth in the open division.
It turns out that Wheaton Warrenville South came away with two championships on Saturday. Their all-girl show choir, Esprit, won the unisex division, taking their second grand championship this season.
One of their standouts was a novelty number from "Chorus Line" called "Dance 10, Looks 3," in which they rewrote the lyrics around bass fishing. The comical routine featured a full-blown production number about trout and bass, enhanced by 4-foot-long fish pillows.
In that unisex division, the Lights from Mundelein High School finished as first runner-up while Company from Prospect High School came in as second runner-up.
In the festival division, or the junior varsity, so to speak, Wheaton North High School claimed the championship, while the Towne Criers from Elk Grove High School placed as second runner-up.
The showcase also included middle school choirs, who competed Friday night.
The New London Singers from New London Middle School in Wisconsin earned the grand championship, while the Electric Youth from Edison Middle School in Wheaton was named first runner-up, and Cadance from St. Isaac Jogues School in Hinsdale finished as second runner-up.
The festival was hosted by show choirs On Stage and Ladies First at the Arlington Heights school.
Many of these same schools will go head to head again this weekend at the Wheaton Warrenville South Choral Classic, which opens with middle schools Friday, March 12, and moves into high schools Saturday, March 13.
For information, visit moredomainsforless.com/classics/index.htm.
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