Looking Back on the April 26, 2023 Alexandria Spring2ACTion and Cabaret

 Looking Back on the April 26, 2023 Alexandria Spring2ACTion and Cabaret 

The Alexandria Chapter participation in the Alexandria Spring2ACTion was a huge success.

As reported by executive director Randall Eliason, thanks to efforts by chapter members in both the Harmonizer chorus and Metro Voices, we exceeded out $75.000 goal! 

 

There were two matching grants of $25,000. Our ambitious goal was to raise at least an additional $25,000 to trigger those matches and make our grand total $75,000 for our 75th year.

We are pleased to report that as of 8:30 am on April 28 (late donations continue to trickle in) our total is $78,035!

 

In addition, we won $1,250 in prize money for the day - $500 for the most donors during the Power Hour, $500 for the most money raised during the Power Hour, and $250 for 4th place for greatest number of donors for a medium-sized organization (321 donors). All this means that by the time a final donations roll in, we could be over $80,000 total for the day. 

 

More than 40 members created individual fundraising pages that resulted in donations, which is terrific. Thanks must go out to the great teamwork of chapter development director, Ken Rub; executive director Randall; and chapter general manager, Susan Fitzpatrick, who all worked to get out the messages to members, alumni and patrons of the chapter - many of whom made donations during the event. 

 

Finally, the Cabaret in the evening was a very fun event that showcased a lot of the remarkable talent we have within our organization. It was fun to be together as a “watch party” for the final tally on the donations! While we were there, the donations came in that put us over the $75K mark. It was a great way to round out the successful day. If you missed it, you won't want to miss it next year! 

 

Ken Rub and Will Whittaker were organizers (and bartenders) for the cabaret event at the Bike Club in north Alexandria. The taco bar was great and an easy way to serve a crowd. Drinks were available and seating was available around the stage for the show that featured members from both ensembles in the chapter. Carl Kauffmann helped manage the credit card sales at the bar.

 

Thanks to Joe Cerutti, Terry Reynolds, Tony Colosimo and Tessa Walker for organizing the show.  Tony’s choir friend, Paige Rammelkamp, was accompanist for most of the performers.  Alex Chen was emcee for the show. The helpful staff at the venue provided set up, including the stage, lights and sound.  Terry coordinated the Facebook Live coverage for the evening which had about 40 viewers during the evening. Randall monitored the donations and announced when we went over the $75,000!

 

The talented acts for the cabaret included the following:

 

Maggie McAlexander from Metro Voices sang “Arthur in the Afternoon” made popular by Lisa Minnelli.

 

Terry Reynolds sang “Popular” from Wicked with Joe Cerutti as his model.

 

Sophie Clarke from Metro Voices sang “Much More” from The Fantasticks.

 

Harmonizer intern, Kaj Vaisanen, who sings in a Barbershop in Germany youth chorus, performed “The Devil You Know.”

 

Joe and Tony sang a duet of “Lily’s Eyes” from The Secret Garden.

 

Zak Sandler played the piano and sang an original song about his new musical life singing lip trills in the Harmonizer chorus.  It was a great comedy piece!

 

David DesPortes dressed in formal tux with a cane to sing “On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady. He sang a cappella.

 

Alex Pierce from Metro Voices sang “At Last” made famous by Etta James.

 

Tessa Walker joined with Julian LeFlore to perform “It Could Totally Happen” from Like You Like It.

 

Ebb Tide, the acoustic version of the Riptide rock band, played two numbers with band members  Kellen Hertz, Doug White, Joel Golden and Chris Huber.  They also played before the show started for the arriving crowd.

 

Maggie and Tony performed “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” from The Fantasticks.

 

David Breen sang “As Time Goes By” with Joe as his accompanist.

 

The final act was Matt Ambler and friends (Ben Watsky, Sophie Clarke and David Breen) performing “Nobody’s Side” from Chess. 

 

The event ran from 7-9 pm and the social time moved to the Harmo House to extend the afterglow fun. 

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 74^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.

 

Looking Back on the April 22, 2023 Harmonizer Show in Newport News, VA

 Looking Back on the April 22, 2023 Harmonizer Show in Newport News, VA

 

(Many thanks to Brian Ammerman who agreed to be the reporter for the Harmonizer Performance Sat. April 22 at the Ferguson Center for The Arts - Peebles Theater on the campus of Christopher Newport University (CNU). Brian labeled himself “NOT YeEd”)

 

I knew this was going to be an awesome day, even if the weather was a bit soggy. 

 

While select individuals and other groups of the Harmonizer family opted to drive themselves to the event, the rest of the Harmonizers gathered at the Scottish Rite Temple (Alexandria not in DC like our last road trip!) to board the bus to Newport News at 12:45 pm, and we departed exactly at 1:02. Wheels on the bus …. round and such they say ….Yay! 

 

The last person boarding the bus, our own K12, Mark Klostermeyer,  reminded “NOT Ye-Ed”  that his duty was to take notes on the trip. Thank our lucky stars for master framers! 

 

The rain started hitting the bus about a half hour into the trip, eased in time for us to get caught in a traffic jam in Thornburg, and was coming down in buckets at our destination. The ride was quiet overall with just a few friendly shenanigans from trouble-makers at the rear of the bus, and just before our arrival show producer Greg Tepe handed out “snacky things.” After winding through the CNU campus for 20 minutes, we excitedly arrived at the venue at 4:30 for a 4:45 stage warm-up. We found our dressing rooms, dropped off our things and headed down the long hall to the auditorium. 

 

As Dave Welter said at first glance, the cozy theater put him in mind of the theater where the Harmonizers sang in Dundee, Scotland - a very intimate, rather quaint venue. Not huge, red velvet seats and balcony. 

 

The warm-up for the performance was conducted by associate director Tony Colosimo who told us that we actually had had a choice of two different venues, a much larger auditorium (where we were later told by Joe that Tony sang with Bocelli - and a picture of it hangs in the school library ….. wait, what now?! )  and the one we were  in for the show, which he thought would be a better fit . Nailed it, the sound was amazingly rich. 

 

Being an alumni of CNU and having performed his junior and senior recitals on the very stage where we sang, Tonysaid it was kind of a weird experience, and felt like he was looking over his shoulder in warm-up  to see if any of his professors were critiquing him. 

 

Joe and Tony then worked through the show music, and all of the normal adjustments and fine tuning points to shape the sound and create the right mindset, with show timing and order guided by Terry Reynolds and Greg Tepe. 

 

We broke for dinner at 6:20 pm, were treated with Subway sandwiches and all the trimmings organized by chapter shows director Doug White, and had a nice break to change and socialize until 7:30 when we returned to the dinner room dressed and ready”.

 

Prior to taking the stage, Joe  made the customary call asking if this was the first show for anyone on the risers.  Our new member Matt Ambler answered the call.  His parents were able to be at the show too, since they live in the area. Welcome, Matt, and huge congrats on your first Harmonizer show! Cheers to many more!

 

We took the stage, and the curtain raised at 8:00 to reveal a healthy audience who turned out to be warm and welcoming, and enjoyed the performance from start to finish, clapping loudly after each song with a standing ovation after select pieces and at the end. Joe Cerutti Sr. and Janet were there with many friend from their neighborhood, as were Tom and Ian Berkey who live in the Williamsburg area and brought a group of their friends too. 

 

The Harmonizers sang all of the music we’ve been preparing and we were also very blessed to have BETTER TOGETHER appear with us.  The quartet sang three numbers and totally crushed them.  The chorus sang “I’m the Music Man” as an opener, followed by “Help from My Friends,” “Something’s Comin,” “Wee Small Hours,” “Sit Down You’re Rockin the Boat,” “New York, New York,” “Never Fully Dressed,” “Impossible Dream” with a quartet of Tony, Lance Fisher, David Breen and Andrew Havens singing the intro, and finally “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  Emcees for the show were Randall Eliason, Noah Van Gilder, Terry and Tony. 

 

With the show over, we got fist bumps from Joe as we exited the stage.  Happy Director. Happy Harmonizers. Happy Audience. As Ricky Savage said in the dressing room post-show, “if we touched just one life [with our music] it was worth it!” Amen, my friend.

 

Our friends who drove themselves headed to their cars, and the bus, freshly loaded with Harmonizers and our gear, departed at 9:25 pm. Beverages and snacks were provided by the chapter and were much appreciated for the long ride home. We arrived back at Scottish Rite Temple just after midnight, unloaded our belongings and went our separate ways. 

This Harmonizer performance was the final act on Saturday night of the Christopher Newport University ‘Virginia Community Music Festival.’ Our performance was subsidized by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts Touring Artists program. The program provides funding to help Virginia artists bring their performances to areas of the state outside their local community. The Harmonizers have been approved artists in this program for several years. The stage crew was from the campus and the chorus did not have to provide risers.

It was an Alexandria Harmonizer success and a great day with friends, which is why we say “It’s Great to be a Harmonizer”! 

 

Until next time – “NOT YeEd” - Brian Ammerman! 

 

(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 74^th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)

 

The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.