All That Jazz wowed us once again this past Thursday and Friday with performances from “Tangled,” “Chicago,” “West Side Story,” and more.
The Spartan Choir has been preparing for the show since late November, when students were told which songs they would be performing. Since then, they have been working diligently during Learning Seminars and after school to perfect each number.
“This concert is super different than normal concerts because we’re singing songs that are totally different from ‘traditional’ choir songs,” said junior Stephen Perkins, who sang “Lilly’s Eyes” from “The Secret Garden” and “I Have a Dream” from “Tangled.” “Most of the songs require a different tone and overall sound, considering they’re all from musicals. I think that having a bigger stage presence is more important in All That Jazz because a lot of us are singing by ourselves or in small groups,” said Perkins.
Senior Delaney Fetzer, member of Personality Show Choir and one of the choreographers of the show, agrees that All That Jazz is different from any other show the choir puts on.
“The numbers this year are show-stopping and a step above the past three years I’ve been in it,” said Fetzer.
Fetzer blew audiences away with her solo performance, “Safer” from the musical “First Date.”
“I sang the song for my audition and really related to the lyrics. There was nothing like pouring my heart out on the stage through a song that draws similar parallels to my life,” said Fetzer.
Due to the nature of the show, with each song being from a different musical, it is necessary for the set, costumes, and even the lighting to change with each number. This can be quite labor-intensive, especially for members of the show who had to execute multiple costume changes back-to-back, and for the bigger group numbers such as “I Have a Dream” and “Razzle Dazzle” from the musical “Chicago.”
“It’s harder to put it all together because there’s so many different components like putting the songs in a certain order so the audience enjoys each song more,” said junior Renee Cotton, also a member of Personality Show Choir.
Audience member and junior Josh Chapman felt strongly that, although he thoroughly enjoyed the entire show, one number shined a little brighter than the rest.
“‘I Have A Dream’ from ‘Tangled’ was above and beyond my favorite song,” said Chapman. “‘Tangled’ is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time so it really warmed my heart to see all those guys up there putting their heart into it and making everybody laugh. Plus, Stephen Perkins was in it—that man is a god.”
The entire cast came together to perform the last number, eventually leaving the stage and joining the clapping audience to finish the show on a joyful note.
“It’s as if we are all the leads of a huge musical and we come together to share the story of our love of music,” said Fetzer.