Bollywood!!!

Monday, July 9, 2012--Denver

When I wrote about the performances I had seen yesterday, I couldn't recall details I wanted to mention.  For instance, the tall black man who conducted the Willamette Chorus came out in tall, black high heels and conducted the entire performance in them.  Therefore, today, I gook a piece of paper and wrote some brief notes about things I though I would want to mention.

Unfortunately, they are using 3 major performance halls most of the time which means that I only get to hear a little more than 1/3 of the performances (MORE due to the fact that morning performances are one group at a time and because there are occasional times in the afternoon when only two groups are performing instead of three).  Therefore, I'm sure there are great performances I am missing.  I went through the program on Saturday and prioritized the ones I would see based mainly on their programs.  Other criteria included my interest in seeing all the Texas groups and my preference for male or mixed groups over women's groups (although I chose some of them because of their program).

After having attended performances for two full days, I can see what the crowds prefer.  They want excitement.  They like a group to do a fun song.  And they like choreography.  Leave those out and the standing ovations and the applause decrease.

Today's performances:

Capital City Men's Chorus (Austin)--Austin had 24 singers here.  Their performance was not as good as I had hoped, and it showed in the audience reaction.  They did two show-stoppers with choreography that got people on their feet, however:  42nd Street at the beginning and I'm Super to end the show.  Click here for some of their videos.

Orlando Gay Chorus--They came out with Mickey Mouse ears and with the conductor wearing a wizard's hat and huge Mickey Mouse-style gloves for the first song.  They had lots of choreography and a strong sound.  I can't recall anything especially great, though.  Click here for some of their videos.

Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles--They gave the most professional and impressive performance of the festival so far.  They had a very strong sound.  And the highlight of their performance was a Bollywood piece that began with the choir pulling a large white piece of nylon cloth over the entire chorus.  There was movement under the cloth as an Indian girl and a group of others performed a silent movement piece.  Then the cloth was pulled off the the members of the chorus were wearing colorful Indian tops and scarves.  About 8 of the men came out to the front and were joined by the same number of women from off stage.  The choir sang a Bollywood song while those in front performed a Bollywood dance.  The performance had people in the audience on their feet and roaring!  Click here for some of their videos.

Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus--This was not an especially strong group, but they ended with the song How to End a Show with the lyrics, "A show's got to end with a kick line."  They put on top hats, and the entire group was kicking while singing the song.  Click here for some of their videos.

Diversity:  The Voices of Sarasota--Nothing special to report here. Click here for some of their videos.

River City Mixed Chorus (Omaha)--Very enthusiastic chorus.  Did an especially good African song.  Click here for some of their videos.

North Coast Men's Chorus (Cleveland)--A choir that doesn't have particularly good singers, but which gave the second best performance of the day (just to show that more than singing goes into a performance).  Over half their songs had choreography.  They started with Cleveland Rocks.  Later, they did Do Re Mi with 7 of the men in front wearing lederhosen, holding up sound cards in tempo with the song, and then dancing together.  The showstopper, however, was when the men went back to the choir at the end of the song, they stripped off the lederhosen to their underwear and then put back on their tuxedo pants!!  Later, they did a bebop version of Slap that Bass with a 6-man dance troop in front.  In the choreography, "slap that bass" involved slapping the ass of the man in front of you and the action eventually moved from the dancers to the entire chorus.  They ended with Born to Boogie/Expressing Yourself with the words, "What the hell's wrong with wearing a dress?"  Again, several members wore tutus and performed in front of the choir during this song.  They were so entertaining that no one wanted them to leave the stage.  Click here for some of their videos.

Voices of Kentuckiana (Louisville)--I liked this group just from reading about them in the program.  They are a non-auditioned choir, accepting anyone and everyone who wants to participate.  And guess what?  They sounded better than at least 3 of the choruses I heard perform earlier!  Their showstopper was an anti-rainbow medley entitled Rainbow Madness.  For the last section of the medley, everyone pulled a rainbow-something out of a shopping bag and put it on or held it.  I saw knit caps, an Indian war bonnet, a pinwheel, feather boas, flags, a string of pennants (which was pulled from the breast section of one woman's dress), etc.  Click here for some of their videos.

There are two more days left of the festival.  I felt the number of people there today was a bit smaller.  Some may have come only for the weekend.  I hope that the crowds don't get smaller and smaller as the days progress.  That would be sad for the groups scheduled to perform toward the end.

Steps Walked:  10,503