Looking Back on the September 10th 2022 Harmonizer Fall Show
There was a great swell of joy and happiness when the Harmonizers presented their first fall show in few years. The theme for the show, “A Beautiful Morning,” was the central message of all of the songs and the remarks by presenters during the 90-minute show on Saturday, September 10th at Schlesinger Hall in Alexandria. The auditorium was nicely full on the main level and lower balcony.
Artistic director Joe Cerutti summed it up best in his “Welcome to the Show” message in the digital show program: “This show was three years in the making! The chorus began learning much of this music in late 2019, in anticipation of our 2020 fall show. Then, of course, the pandemic shattered those plans and plunged us into a world of Zoom rehearsals and no live performances. During 2020 we pivoted to planning for a show that would celebrate our community’s emergence from the crisis, not knowing when that day would come. And it turned out that one of our new pieces, David Wright’s stunning and innovative new arrangement of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from “Oklahoma,” provided a perfect theme for a show focused on the passing of the pandemic’s foreboding shadows and dawn of a new day.”
There were many volunteers who helped at the show taking and selling tickets, helping guests find their way to seats, and passing out a survey on behalf of the City of Alexandria Office of the Arts. Randall Eliason and Susan Fitzpatrick coordinated that crew of Harmonizer members and family friends. The show program was coordinated by Susan and Frank Shipp. It included messages from Joe and president Noah Van Gilder and a number of advertisements which members had sold or in some cases, purchased for their own company or firm.
Greg Tepe was stage manager, and a tech team headed by Mike Kelly included John Sifuentes, Lance Fisher andTessa Walker. Joe Sr. and Janet Cerutti helped with stage set up and decorating the platforms which the chorus stood on for the show, instead of the traditional risers. Jack Pitzer organized backstage refreshments for the singers.
The 1:00 pm tech session ended early so the chorus did its warm up session on the stage conducted by associate director Tony Colosimo. This session also allowed the singers a chance to adjust their personal performance plans while standing on the platforms – especially challenging for “42nd Street.”
There were two members who were singing on their very first show as a Harmonizer – David Hillinck and Cy Shuster. Uniform for the show was the blue suit pants and vest and orange tie. The front row guys wore orange sox too, as did Joe!
The show opened with the theme song “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” with the lights coming up like the sun in the morning and soloists singing a single phrase – ‘oh what a beautiful morning’ - sung by Turner Arndt, ‘oh what a beautiful day” - sung by Frank Fedarko, ‘I’ve got a beautiful feeling’ – sung by Michael Berkson. The chorus came in during Michael’s last note to sing the song.
Tony stepped up to speak about our joy of singing again and the celebration of singing for an audience – which was the signal to start “42nd Street.” The six guys from 17th Street Dance ensemble from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC, joined our front row to tap the finale of this exciting number. Our Harmonizer front row guys included Randall Eliason, Terry Reynolds, Michael Pugh, Doug White, Ken Rub and Reed Livergood with Bruce Roehm as front row captain.
Randall told the audience that they had just heard and seen our contest package from July when we earned a third place medal at the barbershop convention. He also shared that we were honoring front line workers and early responders tonight. Those in the audience were encouraged to wave and be identified. The chorus sang “Help from My Friends” as a salute. A video of typical scenes from COVID era was projected. Thanks to Dean Rust for his work in inviting these guests.
The chorus sang “Somethings Comin” which was the cue for special guest pianist and songster, Drew Tepe, who appeared on stage sitting at his piano rising up from the orchestra pit of the stage. His enthusiastic style got the audience singing, with help from projected lyrics, on classics like “Fly Me to the Moon,” a couple Beatles songs, and ending with “My Way.” He thanked the chorus for letting him share the stage for the show and saluted the chapter for all it does in the community to get folks singing.
The chorus sang “Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” and then Joe spoke about the benefits of singing for one’s health and happiness. This merged into the chorus singing “Sing a Song” directed by Tony and then the audience singing too. As the song faded away, a video of the Northwell Health Nurse Choir from NY appeared and their spokesperson shared that they “shared the strong belief in the power of music and its ability to heal, inspire and change lives.”
We honored the memory of many membes of the Harmonizer family who we lost during the Pandemic by projecting their pictures while the chorus sang “Remember Me.” It was a moving presentation that was hard to sing through for the men on the risers. The final slide of the show was “There will always be a place on the risers for you.”
Then the chorus sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which is one of the songs they will sing on Sept. 18th in their appearance with other major a cappella groups at an event at Wolf Trapp.
A special announcement at the show was from Tessa Walker, lead section leader for the Harmonizers, about the formation of a new soprano/alto chorus to be called Metro Voices. That chorus begin working soon on a couple songs ready to sing on the Harmonizer holiday show in early December. Then the new chorus will launch in earnest in January. Interested singers can contact Joe, Tony or Tessa or check at Hamonizers.org.
The special guest quartet for this show, FIRST TAKE, sang a fantastic set and performed a great variety of songs for our audience. The quartet was excited to have new dad and bass, Andrew Havens, on stage – he and his wife Heatherjust added twin daughters to their family a few days before the show. Tenor is Alex Corson, lead is Tony Colosimo, and baritone is Drew Wheaton. They were proudly wearing their fifth place bronze medals from the contest in Charlotte. During their time on stage, the quartet thanked David Breen for filling in for Andrew when the babies were born and the quartet had a show appearance.
FIRST TAKE then sang “Impossible Dream” and the chorus stood from their seating positions on the platforms to join the quartet for the powerful tag.
The final number for the show was “Circle of Life” which brought the audience to its feet. The powerful song, with great choreography, color and a special rhythm section organized by chorus friend Ben Hawker to include Bob Blair, was a fitting end to our show for our friends, family, patrons and many former Harmonizers.
Kudos to the music team for their extra work in recent months to help the chorus singers prepare the great music for the show. Joe paid tribute to the extraordinary efforts by shows director Doug White who had to fill in as show producer as well as director. His efforts to communicate with the chorus leadership as well as the staff at the venue made it all work smoothly.
Until next time – editorjack!
(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 74th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)
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