- 0. COVER PAGE
- 1. DAVE'S DAILY NEWS...
- 1.5 DAVE WILLERT & DOUG KUHL
- 2. A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE DIMENSIONS NOVELS
- 3. WHAT'S UP WITH DAVE?
- 4. THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF COMPETITIVE SHOW CHOIR
- 5. RUTH JANE WILLERT (1922-2018) MY WONDERFUL, MUSICAL MOM!
- 5.1 TELLING A STORY
- 5.2 DAVE'S COLLECTED QUOTES AND SAYINGS
- 6. PENGELUM! STARRING DAVE WILLERT & STEPHEN MEDLEY 1968-1976
- 7. TEACHING CHORAL MUSIC TIPS
- 8. DAVE'S MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS
- 9. IN A PERFECT WORLD...
- 10. IT'S A NEW DAWN, IT'S NEW DAY, IT'S A NEW LIFE!
- 11. DAMAR PRODUCTIONS- DAVE & MARGARET MUSIC CO.
- 12. MY MEMORIES OLD AND NEW...
- 13. NORCO HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR 1977-79 BLOG
- 14. NOGALES HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR 1979-98 BLOG
- 15. MEMORIES OF NOGALES HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR 1979-1998
- 16. DIAMOND BAR HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR 1998-2005 BLOG
- 17. MEMORIES OF DIAMOND BAR HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR 1998-2005
- 18. BREA OLINDA HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR 2005-PRESENT BLOG
- 19. BREA OLINDA HIGH SCHOOL SHOW CHOIRS HALL OF FAME 2006-2010
- 19.1 BREA OLINDA HIGH SCHOOL PHOTOS
- 20. STEVE MEDLEY: HIS MUSIC WILL PLAY FOREVER!
- 21. LIVING LAUGHING!
- 22. WE'LL ALL MISS BORDERS...
- 23. DAVE'S MUSICAL HISTORY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS
- 24. DAVE'S "WHATEVER" PAGE...
- 25. I CAN IMAGINE MANY THINGS...
- 26. REMEMBERING WALT DISNEY
- 27. EMILY HAAGER...A REMEMBRANCE
- 28. REMEMBERING ALLISON PAIGE PURDOM WITH LOVE
- 29. IN MEMORY OF DON CLOUD
THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF COMPETITIVE SHOW CHOIR!
by
Dave Willert
Everyone knows a lot about the obvious ways to build a show choir. I can tell you in five steps:
1. Select a strong show with lots of "pop" choreographically and in the vocal parts.
2. Select a strong group that can sing, dance and perform.
3. Select strong costumes, props and sets to maximize your group's efforts.
4. Select a strong and musical band to enhance your group's singing and musical variety.
5. Constantly work on developing team spirit, group camaraderie and excellence.
But...what about the unwritten rules of competitive show choir? Well, the reason these rules are not written down is because frankly, they are not always very sportsmanlike, and can often be viewed as mean-spirited, and even counterproductive to good healthy growth. But, a lot of groups have created such "unwritten rules" over the years not so much to get to the top, but to stay there. In my 34 years of developing competitive show choirs in California, here are some of the "unwritten rules" my groups and I have faced as we competed against the top groups in the circuit. Since most of my readers have not been around the show choir circuit very long, I can tell you that the top competing groups have fluctuated over the years, and still do depending on which competitions you are talking about, and who the judges were. Many groups like to pretend that they have been on top forever, but it just ain't true. Even today, groups that continually squawk about being the best are only the best in competitions they "control" to some extent either through adjudicators or score sheet or competition rules. This is why a group can go to one festival and sweep all of the top awards, while the next week, they can come out without a trophy. Happens all the time. Anyway, let's remember some of the "unwritten rules" I have witnessed over the years in competitive high school show choir.
THE 1970s
1970s- High School Show Choir was very new to Southern California in the 1970s with only a handful of competing choirs. West Covina High School ruled the circuit with Redlands, Edgewood and Arcadia close behind. The rest of the show choirs pretty much competed just for fun at that time. The "unwritten rules" these groups used to slow each other down were the RULES they purposely wrote into their own festival guidelines. For example, one year a group had a wonderful wheel of fortune set piece and beat the top group in their first competition. By the time the next competition had rolled around, the beaten group had already disallowed any set pieces in their own competition. So much for creativity. Another group beat a top group in competition with a lengthy show, so by the next competition TIME LIMITS were strictly enforced with huge penalties for going overtime. In retaliation, the group that lost made a rule in their competition that every group had to perform a minimum amount of time (ten minutes I think) or they would be heavily penalized. Sure enough, the group which had first changed their rules to penalize the group with the long show, was penalized at that group's competition for having a show that was too short. They won Music and Show, but came in Second Place overall. Wow! Yet another group won using a very good soloist. By the next competition there was a rule stating that soloists would not be adjudicated and in fact could cause a loss of points if the adjudicators felt the solo was too long. That rule still exists today on quite a few of the scoresheets although no one really pays attention to it anymore with all of the soloists that every show choir uses these days. Groups did not all perform a'cappella ballads in those days, but when Arcadia began to win singing beautiful a'cappella ballads, suddenly competitions began to require an a'cappella ballad from every competing group. This rule was adopted to keep the groups musical, as more "show" began to emerge in groups toward the turn of the decade. Hosting directors were already beginning to fear the approach of groups who might put dance and show before their singing. But as they say, progress stops for no one. Not even hosts of high school show choir competitions.
In general, the 1970s were a time when a very small handful of talented groups ruled the roost. Usually only 3 trophies were given out, and NO ONE but these select three or four groups ever placed. There was no such thing as Advanced or Intermediate or Novice or Womens or Mens divisions. Only show choir. Everyone competed together in the same division. So, in order to stay on top, these groups created rules in their festivals that favored them and hindered their competition. The scoresheets always favored the vocals by a 70-30 spread as well, unlike today where show can often count for as much as 50% of a scoresheet. So, a great show never mattered in those days unless it was accompanied by a great sounding choir. For this reason, most groups chose not to dance much, but rather to sing well, and move a little bit. That would describe Redlands, Arcadia and Edgewood. Only West Covina had extensive dancing. There was a real effort by hosts of show choir festivals in those days to design the rules and scoresheets around the strengths of their own groups. So, West Covina's competition stressed show categories much more than The Aztec Sing for example. Oh, and did I mention that there were probably only a handful of competitions even around in those days. If memory serves, The Aztec Sing, West Covina High School, Fullerton College, Colton High School, Hart High School, Tops In Pops (San Diego) and Walnut High School for two years only. Not everyone went to all of these competitions however. On average, I believe groups competed no more than three times a year in those days.
THE 1980s
1980s- Southern California Show Choir really began to take-off during this amazing decade. More and more schools began to get involved as more schools began to host events. The powerful schools of the 1970s began to fade, as Tom Kessler left West Covina High School after 1985, and they stopped competing all together within another five years. Although Redlands was still around, they did not carry the same clout as Choreography and Show began to become much more important on the score sheets, an area Redlands never fully embraced. They continued to compete however in some capacity into the next decade. Edgewood became a Junior High School, and the director eventually took over West Covina High School, but by this time he was pretty much done competing. Only Arcadia really remained from these original Titans. Under the direction of Rollie Maxson they continued strong as ever. Rollie and his program are credited with two huge innovations in the 1980s. The acappella requirement and the beginning of the Women's Show Choir. Los Altos became a major player in this time period, along with the evolution of Nogales High School and Bonita Vista High School. With all of the growing pains in show choir during this decade, the groups that had been winning before had a tougher time hanging on to their dynasties. The most common "unwritten rules" practiced during this time period was the sneak back and complain to the host director during the competition and try to get the group disqualified for breaking a "perceived" rule. With so many of the host directors being young and afraid the "older" directors would cease bringing their groups to their events in the future, this underhanded technique was often successful. The rock solid time limit also became a major rule in this time period due to the insistence from those groups who had shorter shows and did not want to be beaten by another group simply because their show was longer. Costume changes, sets, props, big bands, risers and special effects were still pretty much a decade away. Another "unwritten rule" some of these directors used to slow the up and comers down was to band together and agree that something about that group was "wrong," and continually instruct their judges to score down for "too much show," "too many soloists," "too much dance," or "too loud of a band." Some directors complained loudly about the bands because synthesizers were just beginning to come on the scene toward the end of the 1980s. But the real explosion of show choir would take place in the 1990s.
THE 1990s
The 1990s were the beginning of what we are seeing today. HIgh powered show choirs with sets, costume changes and loud bands. There were two that dominated the early 1990s. The Bonita Vista Music Machine directed by Ron Bolles and choreographed by Reina Bolles and the Nogales High School Chamber Singers directed by Dave Willert and choreographed by Doug Kuhl. These two groups went head to head for four years or so and usually came in first and second in either order. The big question was always which group would win SHOW since both were high powered and energetic. As the 1990s continued, Upland HS with Bruce Rogers began to rear its head. The Upland groups sang very well and had very clean choreography, similar to the Tom Kessler West Covina groups of the late seventies and early eighties. By the middle of the 1990s, it was Upland and Bonita Vista who ruled the roost. Arcadia was still around winning in the predominantly Vocal competitions, and Brea-Olinda directed by Mark Henson was just beginning to dominate. By the end of the 1990s, Burroughs and Burbank began to make their presence felt on the scene along with Diamond Bar (directed by Dave Willert and choreographed by Doug Kuhl) and Brea-Olinda with Mark Henson had grown very strong. The unwritten rules of show choir that were engaged here were more subtle, as there was no dominant group at the time. There were a handful of groups who continued to place regularly, but no one group ruled the roost. So, the most common tactic directors used was to try to catch their competitors "breaking a rule." Directors continued to go backstage and complain to the host directors, with overtime still being the most common penalty. Still rules about directing twice, or stepping over a line, or leaving a prop on stage also brought penalties at some competitions. The late 1990s were a time of evolution. Most of the directors who had been there at the beginning of show choir in Southern California were gone, with the exceptions of Mark Henson, Dave Willert, Rollie Maxson and Mary Rago who were now all doing quite well in competition. By the year 2000, the mid-west influence was beginning to be seen in groups like Hart HS directed by Gail Hart. This was the true beginning of the mid-west revolution.
2000 To Present
The year 2000 marked a new era. Diamond Bar, Arcadia and Burbank began the decade as the strongest show choirs, but this list soon expanded as Chula Vista, Burroughs, Los Alamitos, Hart, El Rancho, Brea and Bonita Vista entered the fold. After a few years it was evident that Burroughs was ascending the show choir thrown, although others were winning as well. By 2005, the midwest style (large band, directing on the stage, choralography and large sets) was taking hold in the majority of the most competitive show choirs. This of itself was not a problem, until they began to bring in adjudicators from the midwest who were not educated on or respectful of other show choir styles. This became the turning point in Southern California Show Choir history. It soon became obvious that a group who did not practice the midwest rituals would not fare well in competitions hosted by midwest styled directors. Worse yet, the midwest styled directors decided to band together and form an informal "Show Choir Congress" of sorts. They proceeded to meet every summer to come up with new regulations that they felt would benefit show choir in Southern California. As might be expected, these new regulations benefitted those groups directly by allowing them to fully embrace the midwest style of competitions. These changes included: 1) An extension of performance time to 17 minutes from 15,
2) No timing of set-up to allow them to construct their large sets (average set-ups now average over 20 minutes for each of these groups), 3) Allowing the director to direct from the stage (previously they had to direct from a front seat in the audience), 4) No student may be a member of more than one competing group (men excluded for some reason), 5) Group size may not exceed 60 (???), 6) The addition of "caption" awards to be selected by the host group's students, 7) Accompanying bands may be as large as you wanted (the cap had previously been four or five members), 8) Separating the Advanced Division into AAA and AA. The AAA label has fluctuated in description, but this year it is for groups larger than 40 members. Not every competition has embraced all of these rules, but certainly the groups who made them expect other groups to enforce them if they expect them to come to their festivals. So, I would have to say that these past five years or so have been an ugly adventure in five or six show choir directors trying to change and control the entire Southern California show choir circuit. Think about President Obama's Health Care Plan being forced down everyone's throat, and you will understand the feeling. The real downside of this is the very obvious lack of growth in Southern California show choir. Since the same groups tend to win all competitions at all levels, the younger, more novice groups find themselves simply spinning their wheels, and often quit competing after only a few years. A few of the competition hosts (including Brea) give trophies to all competing groups in an effort to encourage them to continue on. Most competitions only offer trophies to the top scoring 50%, or the top three finishers.
FINAL SUMMATION
So, to explain the current Southern California Show Choir situation, I would say that there are three types of groups out there. The midwest styled groups (some are even directed by directors who moved here from the midwest), the California free-styled groups (no set rules) and the young groups who don't know who they are, or what they should be. My gut feeling is that in time this situation will fix itself. The last time the circuit was like this was over thirty years ago when Redlands, West Covina, Edgewood and Arcadia won all the trophies, and the rest of us were there to fill-out the night. The difference now is that there are plenty of good groups out there, but the adjudication is so different in the midwest styled competitions that a lot of good groups simply don't do well there. There is more of a director-adjudicator connection than I have ever seen before. I can pretty much call the outcome of most of our competitions by simply looking at the panel of adjudicators. This too will fix itself over time. Nothing is forever no matter how much some schools probably wish it would be. For the sake of growth in Southern California Show Choir, in my humble, but well-traveled opinion, I believe that FEWER RULES, not more are needed. Allow each director to take his or her group on a musical and theatrical journey of their creative choice. Respect that, and adjudicate it on equal footing with every other competing group. There is nothing innately wrong with midwest-styled groups. It just seems that in their competitions (judging from the ones out here) they don't appear to recognize or appreciate any other styles. So, in my opinion, tolerance, creativity and fun should be the catch words for the next decade of show choir. Certainly that will be Brea's motto as long as I am teaching there. I hope I have not come across here as being bias in any way. I am attempting to simply state the facts and the situation to the best of my ability. I love watching the show choirs from all groups, I appreciate the talents and efforts of all directors and choreographers and it warms my heart that so many kids want to do this thing called Show Choir. Now if we could simply stop trying to control it, and just let it run free, who knows what some of these other directors would come up with? I hope that before I retire I am able to see Southern California Show Choir run free once again as it did for most of two decades in the 1980s and 1990s. Only in an atmosphere of freedom and tolerance will our kids truly learn the joys innately present in competitive show choir. It is my professional dream that this special time will once again come to pass. Go Show Choir!
Here is a question and answer session I did with Choral Director Magazine in the March 2012 issue. Perhaps this will give you a little more background on the evolution of show choir in Southern California over the past 35 years, and how my groups have been a part of it.
The Dawning the Show ChoirApril 5, 2012 by Matt Parish
Now an Established Force in the Choral World, Brea Olinda High School’s Dave Willert Looks Back on the Early Days of Show Choir.
It’s early in the morning in a darkened conference hall at the Anaheim Convention Center when a team of whirling students from Brea Olinda High School takes the stage. The audience is a mix of music educators and administrators in town for the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) conference, and the atmosphere has been calm and reserved so far.
The choir will have none of that. Masquerade, Brea Olinda’s marquee show choir, plows through a 15-minute set that careens through high-wire arrangements of music from the Who, Elton John, the Doors, and musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Moulin Rouge. They transported the audience from a post-breakfast haze into a surreal world where Alice in Wonderland referenced KC and the Sunshine Band and wide-eyed kids bounded across the stage and up ladders with infectious energy.
And they sounded great, to boot.
Brea Olinda’s choir program, headlined by Masquerade but stocked with several talented groups, has grown into one of the best programs in the state under the leadership of its choral director, David Willert. They’d been invited to NAMM to perform for the organization’s “Music Education Days” series of seminars, designed to focus on the best methods and success stories for music education, and Willert’s story is integral in the development of show choirs in California.
As Willert tells it, he’s spent his 35 years as choir director watching as show choirs evolved from the days of watching one ambitious director run away with shows using Broadway tactics no one had considered before. By the ‘80s, everyone was using choreography and fast pacing to gain attention, and things have developed to the point now that Willert even finds himself stepping back from high-tech production values to preserve attention for the kids themselves.
It hasn’t stopped the accolades from pouring in for his choirs, with performances consistently ranking among the top of national competitions. He runs two high-class show choirs (Masquerade and Spellbound), along with an intermediate mixed group and intermediate men’s and women’s groups.
An author and composer, this California native (he grew up in Glendora and studied at Citrus College and the University of Redlands) comes from an energetic, do-it-yourself background and makes sure to instill those values in his students, who he is sure to incorporate in every backstage element of the performances as well as the stage time. “There are no divas in our program!” he says.
Sure enough, as the show wraps in Anaheim, students scatter backstage to lead themselves in different units tasked with organizing props and costumes. Within half an hour, the entire show is packed away into cases that the group is calmly loading out down hotel escalators. Willert himself hangs back in the venue as the troupe works with the efficiency of a seasoned crew, and it’s only through talking to one of his students who is working seriously as a production organizer and, in this case, media representative, that Choral Director was able to meet up with Willert for a morning discussion about all things show choir.
Choral Director: How have things changed since you started 35 years ago?
Dave Willert: Well, when I went to school, there was no show choir, not in California. It wasn’t until I was student teaching in the late ‘70s that it had just started. The Aztech Sing was the big one in the Azusa Glendora area. There were about four really good ones. I got a teaching job in Norco and they already had a show choir. We weren’t very good and I didn’t know what I was doing. It probably took me a good three years before I finally figured out how to do it – how you had to get the sound first and the show second and balance it like that.
Things were easier at the time. Things were very simple. It was straight singing and a little bit of choreography. The thing is, as the years went on, we started getting into Broadway styles. Out in San Diego in Bonita Vista, Ron Bolles starting coming with a program that was almost like a circus. My groups bumped heads with his for a number of years and I think the competition was really good for the show choir circuit and especially for motivating our groups. Ron has a book out now about those years. All this dancing just started to take hold, so by the time you hit the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, there was lots of dance. Now it’s like a Broadway show where people have sets and backdrops and screens. It’s all gone high tech, like what you seen in a music video. It’s all like that.
CD: Were you in touch with people throughout each year, with a good idea where things were headed?
DW: In my experience most choir directors tend to keep to themselves and maybe have a small band of friends they can hang with. They’re very competitive, at least in the time that I’ve been doing it. You can be as friendly as anything, but when it gets to competition, they don’t want to talk about their show. They don’t even want to tell you what their numbers are – they’re afraid you’re going to steal something or get an edge on them.
CD: What do you do differently now than when you started organizing the group?
DW: We take close looks at what’s going on professionally. We go to see Broadway shows. We go to Vegas. We go to New York. We keep abreast of everything going on. If things are starting to go toward doing lights differently, or if ballet is starting to come in more, we incorporate all that. So we try to keep aligned with what they’re doing on Broadway and what they’re doing at Disneyland. A lot of our kids work at Disneyland after they graduate. They get involved in shows and parades and characters – it’s a natural fit. We try to see where everything is and move it on from there. We don’t want to be one of those groups that just loves ‘60s music and so every year you have a ‘60s show. We want to move with the times and at the same time be able to reach back and use some of those things. That’s why the shows have three segments. We try to use different things.
CD: You’ve mentioned how you stay on top of as many trends in live shows as possible – are there trends you see and try to avoid?
DW: I’m not really a big fan of the whole electronic thing with the big screens and everything because I think it takes away from the kids. I want the focus to be on the kids. I want to be paying attention to their singing and dancing and when you have too many special effects, it draws away. That’s a decision we’ve made. We do have them – you saw the smoke and everything – but we don’t want that to become “it.” You want people saying, “Boy, that group was really good.” Not, “I really loved your special effects.” We try to make sure it stays group-focused and kid-focused.
CD: How important is making your students so autonomous throughout the shows – tearing down sets, running the scene backstage, and so on?
DW: Very important. If you noticed, I just sat out in the house and that’s what I always do for the shows. We have officers and the kids like to be responsible. If you give them the opportunities, they’re not afraid of it and they learn. We have kids doing the props, we had a student directing the a cappella portions. The band is professional, but the kids are involved with every other step possible so that when they go out and try to get a job, they’ll understand not just the stage part, but the backstage part and the tech part and the lighting and sound and all that stuff. That makes them more prepared for the industry.
CD: And probably cuts down on divas in the group, I’d imagine.
DW: Oh yeah! It does – the whole diva thing, we’re not like that. When someone comes in, they learn that real quick. “Now, would you sweep the floor over there, please?” We’re all in this big pot together. We all do everything – we don’t want to do it all for the kids because that would actually be doing them a big disservice.
CD: Did you begin arranging in the beginning, or did that develop over time?
DW: I was inspired to arrange by a director named Dick Kinsler, who was at Edgewood High School in West Covina when I was at Nogales, which was my second school in my third year. He arranged his whole show and I was so impressed because everyone else was doing stock arrangements. They’re going to the shop and you’d have seven choirs doing the same thing. He was arranging his own stuff, which I thought was cool. I spent a whole summer going through it because I’d never done it before, and that was our best show yet. I discovered that you can really affect the choreography a lot with the music, so I started working with the choreographer a lot – we sat together and planned it out. We’ll do a dance break here, a build-up here, a cappella here – just like you’re building a house.
CD: When arranging, do you work from sheet music or do you work things out by ear?
DW: Both. If there’s sheet music available, I’ll use that just so I have the tune. Piano parts, I do pretty much all myself. Standard piano parts tend to be not very good – they’re usually just chords – so I do those myself. Sometimes, if you know the song – well sometimes I write my own and have no music, so you just work it out from scratch. I’m a guitar player, too, and so I think through the guitar. I use the piano, but I “think” guitar, in terms of chord structures and things like that, so a lot of my piano parts almost sound like strumming a guitar. [laughs] I’m no classical piano player. I was in a rock band when I was younger.
CD: You’re dealing with a lot of guitar-based music to begin with, at least. Was that your biggest influence growing up?
DW: Yeah since it’s a lot of pop music, for sure. I studied guitar in high school, but I was never going to be a professional. I just kind of did it. When I got into show choir, I realized I could incorporate all this neat stuff. The guitar, the bass, the drums – it was just great for me. And I always loved the Beatles and was so inspired by what they did. It wasn’t only writing great songs, but they used great orchestrations, which was so cool. No one else did it. They did “ooohs” and “ahhhs” and everything. To me, they were the first show choir! They had the big walls of sound everywhere – I try to use all the same ideas. They’re probably my biggest musical influence.
CD: At what point did it seem like show choir was a real thing that had taken hold?
DW: When I was student teaching. I used to work with Tom Kessler at West Covina and his group was number one. He hired a professional choreographer from Broadway to come down and work with their kids. They had an incredible show and no one could touch them. They would always win Show and never win Music, but whatever. There was an incredible jealousy that built up in the area. Not me – I’m still friends with him. But no one could beat him. When he retired, that’s when Ron Bowles and Burroughs and few other choirs starting getting into it. We all thought it was a great idea.
CD: Let’s end on how this all translates to getting kids excited about the program – is it any more difficult nowadays with so many strong outside examples, like Glee, of how show choir works?
DW: It takes a special kid and I think we’ve made our market smaller for the kids who do come into choir, but the ones that come in are more dedicated and they’re willing to work as hard as we do. We demand that they try their hardest and that they work together. That’s really it, and then they come in and if they don’t fit, they’ll eventually quit. They’ll drop out because they don’t like it. We’re just too intense. But the kids that like it? They’re in heaven.
CD: You have about 10 percent of the high school enrolled in the program – is it ever tough to get students at Brea interested in joining the choir?
DW: It’s not bad. A lot of the kids at Brea – they like the shows, but a lot of them are afraid. They think they could never do it. Just because you see it after months and months of work. Really, you can do it. We just take it one step at a time.
At A GlanceBrea Olinda High School Choirs
Location: 789 Wildcat Way, Brea, Calif.
On the Web: bohs-bousd-ca.schoolloop.com
Students in the CGHS Choirs: 130
Students Enrolled at CGHS: 1,600
Ensembles: Masquerade, Spellbound, Chamber Singers, Tiffany’s, Thundercats
Staff:
Dave Willert – Director, Doug Kuhl – Choreographer, Hannah Hemwall – Band Leader, Kurt Nielsen – Acting Coach, Alex Willert – Music Coach, Drew Hemwall – Drummer
On the Road with Dave WillertCD: As your career has progressed, how has your approach to traveling with the choirs changed?
DW: In the beginning, we went to San Diego or San Francisco for overnight trips because they were cost effective and fun. However, as my groups became more competitive and the show choir circuit more national, we began traveling to competitions in New York City, Orlando, Branson, and Chicago. The financial aspect of these trips is challenging, but if the kids and parents want to do it, I find a way to make it happen (with everyone’s help, of course.) There is nothing like competing against groups from other states, which we never see normally. This helps us all grow in the show choir world, and leads to a great way to end the year.
CD: What are some steps you’ve taken to make trips with the choir work more smoothly?
DW: I have handled a lot of our trips’ accommodations myself and saved everyone a lot of money when I have been to the city before. Lately, however, we are going new places and we rely on tour companies to help us. I would tell other directors who are new to traveling, buyer beware. Some of these companies jack up the prices a lot, while others are more reasonable. It pays to price out everything yourself first (group air, group lodging, group activities, and group meals) and then look at the bids from the travel companies. I tend to select nice hotels for the kids to stay in and our price when I handle the trip is still significantly cheaper than the travel agency that wants to book us in a cheaper property. Group sales prices are usually a lot cheaper than the regular advertised prices.
CD: We all know that schools everywhere are facing tighter and tighter budgets – have you found any time-tested tactics for saving money here and there?
DW: Our goal each year is to have the best show choirs out there. This involves custom costumes, sets, music, band, and props. One way we “save” money is through using the same dress for some of the younger groups for two years so everyone doesn’t need to buy a new one. Another way is by using some of the same arrangements between groups on different years. We use some of the same parts of the sets every year, and when we can make it work we reuse some of the other parts but in a “fresh” way. Creativity is the name of the game.
1. Select a strong show with lots of "pop" choreographically and in the vocal parts.
2. Select a strong group that can sing, dance and perform.
3. Select strong costumes, props and sets to maximize your group's efforts.
4. Select a strong and musical band to enhance your group's singing and musical variety.
5. Constantly work on developing team spirit, group camaraderie and excellence.
But...what about the unwritten rules of competitive show choir? Well, the reason these rules are not written down is because frankly, they are not always very sportsmanlike, and can often be viewed as mean-spirited, and even counterproductive to good healthy growth. But, a lot of groups have created such "unwritten rules" over the years not so much to get to the top, but to stay there. In my 34 years of developing competitive show choirs in California, here are some of the "unwritten rules" my groups and I have faced as we competed against the top groups in the circuit. Since most of my readers have not been around the show choir circuit very long, I can tell you that the top competing groups have fluctuated over the years, and still do depending on which competitions you are talking about, and who the judges were. Many groups like to pretend that they have been on top forever, but it just ain't true. Even today, groups that continually squawk about being the best are only the best in competitions they "control" to some extent either through adjudicators or score sheet or competition rules. This is why a group can go to one festival and sweep all of the top awards, while the next week, they can come out without a trophy. Happens all the time. Anyway, let's remember some of the "unwritten rules" I have witnessed over the years in competitive high school show choir.
THE 1970s
1970s- High School Show Choir was very new to Southern California in the 1970s with only a handful of competing choirs. West Covina High School ruled the circuit with Redlands, Edgewood and Arcadia close behind. The rest of the show choirs pretty much competed just for fun at that time. The "unwritten rules" these groups used to slow each other down were the RULES they purposely wrote into their own festival guidelines. For example, one year a group had a wonderful wheel of fortune set piece and beat the top group in their first competition. By the time the next competition had rolled around, the beaten group had already disallowed any set pieces in their own competition. So much for creativity. Another group beat a top group in competition with a lengthy show, so by the next competition TIME LIMITS were strictly enforced with huge penalties for going overtime. In retaliation, the group that lost made a rule in their competition that every group had to perform a minimum amount of time (ten minutes I think) or they would be heavily penalized. Sure enough, the group which had first changed their rules to penalize the group with the long show, was penalized at that group's competition for having a show that was too short. They won Music and Show, but came in Second Place overall. Wow! Yet another group won using a very good soloist. By the next competition there was a rule stating that soloists would not be adjudicated and in fact could cause a loss of points if the adjudicators felt the solo was too long. That rule still exists today on quite a few of the scoresheets although no one really pays attention to it anymore with all of the soloists that every show choir uses these days. Groups did not all perform a'cappella ballads in those days, but when Arcadia began to win singing beautiful a'cappella ballads, suddenly competitions began to require an a'cappella ballad from every competing group. This rule was adopted to keep the groups musical, as more "show" began to emerge in groups toward the turn of the decade. Hosting directors were already beginning to fear the approach of groups who might put dance and show before their singing. But as they say, progress stops for no one. Not even hosts of high school show choir competitions.
In general, the 1970s were a time when a very small handful of talented groups ruled the roost. Usually only 3 trophies were given out, and NO ONE but these select three or four groups ever placed. There was no such thing as Advanced or Intermediate or Novice or Womens or Mens divisions. Only show choir. Everyone competed together in the same division. So, in order to stay on top, these groups created rules in their festivals that favored them and hindered their competition. The scoresheets always favored the vocals by a 70-30 spread as well, unlike today where show can often count for as much as 50% of a scoresheet. So, a great show never mattered in those days unless it was accompanied by a great sounding choir. For this reason, most groups chose not to dance much, but rather to sing well, and move a little bit. That would describe Redlands, Arcadia and Edgewood. Only West Covina had extensive dancing. There was a real effort by hosts of show choir festivals in those days to design the rules and scoresheets around the strengths of their own groups. So, West Covina's competition stressed show categories much more than The Aztec Sing for example. Oh, and did I mention that there were probably only a handful of competitions even around in those days. If memory serves, The Aztec Sing, West Covina High School, Fullerton College, Colton High School, Hart High School, Tops In Pops (San Diego) and Walnut High School for two years only. Not everyone went to all of these competitions however. On average, I believe groups competed no more than three times a year in those days.
THE 1980s
1980s- Southern California Show Choir really began to take-off during this amazing decade. More and more schools began to get involved as more schools began to host events. The powerful schools of the 1970s began to fade, as Tom Kessler left West Covina High School after 1985, and they stopped competing all together within another five years. Although Redlands was still around, they did not carry the same clout as Choreography and Show began to become much more important on the score sheets, an area Redlands never fully embraced. They continued to compete however in some capacity into the next decade. Edgewood became a Junior High School, and the director eventually took over West Covina High School, but by this time he was pretty much done competing. Only Arcadia really remained from these original Titans. Under the direction of Rollie Maxson they continued strong as ever. Rollie and his program are credited with two huge innovations in the 1980s. The acappella requirement and the beginning of the Women's Show Choir. Los Altos became a major player in this time period, along with the evolution of Nogales High School and Bonita Vista High School. With all of the growing pains in show choir during this decade, the groups that had been winning before had a tougher time hanging on to their dynasties. The most common "unwritten rules" practiced during this time period was the sneak back and complain to the host director during the competition and try to get the group disqualified for breaking a "perceived" rule. With so many of the host directors being young and afraid the "older" directors would cease bringing their groups to their events in the future, this underhanded technique was often successful. The rock solid time limit also became a major rule in this time period due to the insistence from those groups who had shorter shows and did not want to be beaten by another group simply because their show was longer. Costume changes, sets, props, big bands, risers and special effects were still pretty much a decade away. Another "unwritten rule" some of these directors used to slow the up and comers down was to band together and agree that something about that group was "wrong," and continually instruct their judges to score down for "too much show," "too many soloists," "too much dance," or "too loud of a band." Some directors complained loudly about the bands because synthesizers were just beginning to come on the scene toward the end of the 1980s. But the real explosion of show choir would take place in the 1990s.
THE 1990s
The 1990s were the beginning of what we are seeing today. HIgh powered show choirs with sets, costume changes and loud bands. There were two that dominated the early 1990s. The Bonita Vista Music Machine directed by Ron Bolles and choreographed by Reina Bolles and the Nogales High School Chamber Singers directed by Dave Willert and choreographed by Doug Kuhl. These two groups went head to head for four years or so and usually came in first and second in either order. The big question was always which group would win SHOW since both were high powered and energetic. As the 1990s continued, Upland HS with Bruce Rogers began to rear its head. The Upland groups sang very well and had very clean choreography, similar to the Tom Kessler West Covina groups of the late seventies and early eighties. By the middle of the 1990s, it was Upland and Bonita Vista who ruled the roost. Arcadia was still around winning in the predominantly Vocal competitions, and Brea-Olinda directed by Mark Henson was just beginning to dominate. By the end of the 1990s, Burroughs and Burbank began to make their presence felt on the scene along with Diamond Bar (directed by Dave Willert and choreographed by Doug Kuhl) and Brea-Olinda with Mark Henson had grown very strong. The unwritten rules of show choir that were engaged here were more subtle, as there was no dominant group at the time. There were a handful of groups who continued to place regularly, but no one group ruled the roost. So, the most common tactic directors used was to try to catch their competitors "breaking a rule." Directors continued to go backstage and complain to the host directors, with overtime still being the most common penalty. Still rules about directing twice, or stepping over a line, or leaving a prop on stage also brought penalties at some competitions. The late 1990s were a time of evolution. Most of the directors who had been there at the beginning of show choir in Southern California were gone, with the exceptions of Mark Henson, Dave Willert, Rollie Maxson and Mary Rago who were now all doing quite well in competition. By the year 2000, the mid-west influence was beginning to be seen in groups like Hart HS directed by Gail Hart. This was the true beginning of the mid-west revolution.
2000 To Present
The year 2000 marked a new era. Diamond Bar, Arcadia and Burbank began the decade as the strongest show choirs, but this list soon expanded as Chula Vista, Burroughs, Los Alamitos, Hart, El Rancho, Brea and Bonita Vista entered the fold. After a few years it was evident that Burroughs was ascending the show choir thrown, although others were winning as well. By 2005, the midwest style (large band, directing on the stage, choralography and large sets) was taking hold in the majority of the most competitive show choirs. This of itself was not a problem, until they began to bring in adjudicators from the midwest who were not educated on or respectful of other show choir styles. This became the turning point in Southern California Show Choir history. It soon became obvious that a group who did not practice the midwest rituals would not fare well in competitions hosted by midwest styled directors. Worse yet, the midwest styled directors decided to band together and form an informal "Show Choir Congress" of sorts. They proceeded to meet every summer to come up with new regulations that they felt would benefit show choir in Southern California. As might be expected, these new regulations benefitted those groups directly by allowing them to fully embrace the midwest style of competitions. These changes included: 1) An extension of performance time to 17 minutes from 15,
2) No timing of set-up to allow them to construct their large sets (average set-ups now average over 20 minutes for each of these groups), 3) Allowing the director to direct from the stage (previously they had to direct from a front seat in the audience), 4) No student may be a member of more than one competing group (men excluded for some reason), 5) Group size may not exceed 60 (???), 6) The addition of "caption" awards to be selected by the host group's students, 7) Accompanying bands may be as large as you wanted (the cap had previously been four or five members), 8) Separating the Advanced Division into AAA and AA. The AAA label has fluctuated in description, but this year it is for groups larger than 40 members. Not every competition has embraced all of these rules, but certainly the groups who made them expect other groups to enforce them if they expect them to come to their festivals. So, I would have to say that these past five years or so have been an ugly adventure in five or six show choir directors trying to change and control the entire Southern California show choir circuit. Think about President Obama's Health Care Plan being forced down everyone's throat, and you will understand the feeling. The real downside of this is the very obvious lack of growth in Southern California show choir. Since the same groups tend to win all competitions at all levels, the younger, more novice groups find themselves simply spinning their wheels, and often quit competing after only a few years. A few of the competition hosts (including Brea) give trophies to all competing groups in an effort to encourage them to continue on. Most competitions only offer trophies to the top scoring 50%, or the top three finishers.
FINAL SUMMATION
So, to explain the current Southern California Show Choir situation, I would say that there are three types of groups out there. The midwest styled groups (some are even directed by directors who moved here from the midwest), the California free-styled groups (no set rules) and the young groups who don't know who they are, or what they should be. My gut feeling is that in time this situation will fix itself. The last time the circuit was like this was over thirty years ago when Redlands, West Covina, Edgewood and Arcadia won all the trophies, and the rest of us were there to fill-out the night. The difference now is that there are plenty of good groups out there, but the adjudication is so different in the midwest styled competitions that a lot of good groups simply don't do well there. There is more of a director-adjudicator connection than I have ever seen before. I can pretty much call the outcome of most of our competitions by simply looking at the panel of adjudicators. This too will fix itself over time. Nothing is forever no matter how much some schools probably wish it would be. For the sake of growth in Southern California Show Choir, in my humble, but well-traveled opinion, I believe that FEWER RULES, not more are needed. Allow each director to take his or her group on a musical and theatrical journey of their creative choice. Respect that, and adjudicate it on equal footing with every other competing group. There is nothing innately wrong with midwest-styled groups. It just seems that in their competitions (judging from the ones out here) they don't appear to recognize or appreciate any other styles. So, in my opinion, tolerance, creativity and fun should be the catch words for the next decade of show choir. Certainly that will be Brea's motto as long as I am teaching there. I hope I have not come across here as being bias in any way. I am attempting to simply state the facts and the situation to the best of my ability. I love watching the show choirs from all groups, I appreciate the talents and efforts of all directors and choreographers and it warms my heart that so many kids want to do this thing called Show Choir. Now if we could simply stop trying to control it, and just let it run free, who knows what some of these other directors would come up with? I hope that before I retire I am able to see Southern California Show Choir run free once again as it did for most of two decades in the 1980s and 1990s. Only in an atmosphere of freedom and tolerance will our kids truly learn the joys innately present in competitive show choir. It is my professional dream that this special time will once again come to pass. Go Show Choir!
Here is a question and answer session I did with Choral Director Magazine in the March 2012 issue. Perhaps this will give you a little more background on the evolution of show choir in Southern California over the past 35 years, and how my groups have been a part of it.
The Dawning the Show ChoirApril 5, 2012 by Matt Parish
Now an Established Force in the Choral World, Brea Olinda High School’s Dave Willert Looks Back on the Early Days of Show Choir.
It’s early in the morning in a darkened conference hall at the Anaheim Convention Center when a team of whirling students from Brea Olinda High School takes the stage. The audience is a mix of music educators and administrators in town for the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) conference, and the atmosphere has been calm and reserved so far.
The choir will have none of that. Masquerade, Brea Olinda’s marquee show choir, plows through a 15-minute set that careens through high-wire arrangements of music from the Who, Elton John, the Doors, and musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Moulin Rouge. They transported the audience from a post-breakfast haze into a surreal world where Alice in Wonderland referenced KC and the Sunshine Band and wide-eyed kids bounded across the stage and up ladders with infectious energy.
And they sounded great, to boot.
Brea Olinda’s choir program, headlined by Masquerade but stocked with several talented groups, has grown into one of the best programs in the state under the leadership of its choral director, David Willert. They’d been invited to NAMM to perform for the organization’s “Music Education Days” series of seminars, designed to focus on the best methods and success stories for music education, and Willert’s story is integral in the development of show choirs in California.
As Willert tells it, he’s spent his 35 years as choir director watching as show choirs evolved from the days of watching one ambitious director run away with shows using Broadway tactics no one had considered before. By the ‘80s, everyone was using choreography and fast pacing to gain attention, and things have developed to the point now that Willert even finds himself stepping back from high-tech production values to preserve attention for the kids themselves.
It hasn’t stopped the accolades from pouring in for his choirs, with performances consistently ranking among the top of national competitions. He runs two high-class show choirs (Masquerade and Spellbound), along with an intermediate mixed group and intermediate men’s and women’s groups.
An author and composer, this California native (he grew up in Glendora and studied at Citrus College and the University of Redlands) comes from an energetic, do-it-yourself background and makes sure to instill those values in his students, who he is sure to incorporate in every backstage element of the performances as well as the stage time. “There are no divas in our program!” he says.
Sure enough, as the show wraps in Anaheim, students scatter backstage to lead themselves in different units tasked with organizing props and costumes. Within half an hour, the entire show is packed away into cases that the group is calmly loading out down hotel escalators. Willert himself hangs back in the venue as the troupe works with the efficiency of a seasoned crew, and it’s only through talking to one of his students who is working seriously as a production organizer and, in this case, media representative, that Choral Director was able to meet up with Willert for a morning discussion about all things show choir.
Choral Director: How have things changed since you started 35 years ago?
Dave Willert: Well, when I went to school, there was no show choir, not in California. It wasn’t until I was student teaching in the late ‘70s that it had just started. The Aztech Sing was the big one in the Azusa Glendora area. There were about four really good ones. I got a teaching job in Norco and they already had a show choir. We weren’t very good and I didn’t know what I was doing. It probably took me a good three years before I finally figured out how to do it – how you had to get the sound first and the show second and balance it like that.
Things were easier at the time. Things were very simple. It was straight singing and a little bit of choreography. The thing is, as the years went on, we started getting into Broadway styles. Out in San Diego in Bonita Vista, Ron Bolles starting coming with a program that was almost like a circus. My groups bumped heads with his for a number of years and I think the competition was really good for the show choir circuit and especially for motivating our groups. Ron has a book out now about those years. All this dancing just started to take hold, so by the time you hit the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, there was lots of dance. Now it’s like a Broadway show where people have sets and backdrops and screens. It’s all gone high tech, like what you seen in a music video. It’s all like that.
CD: Were you in touch with people throughout each year, with a good idea where things were headed?
DW: In my experience most choir directors tend to keep to themselves and maybe have a small band of friends they can hang with. They’re very competitive, at least in the time that I’ve been doing it. You can be as friendly as anything, but when it gets to competition, they don’t want to talk about their show. They don’t even want to tell you what their numbers are – they’re afraid you’re going to steal something or get an edge on them.
CD: What do you do differently now than when you started organizing the group?
DW: We take close looks at what’s going on professionally. We go to see Broadway shows. We go to Vegas. We go to New York. We keep abreast of everything going on. If things are starting to go toward doing lights differently, or if ballet is starting to come in more, we incorporate all that. So we try to keep aligned with what they’re doing on Broadway and what they’re doing at Disneyland. A lot of our kids work at Disneyland after they graduate. They get involved in shows and parades and characters – it’s a natural fit. We try to see where everything is and move it on from there. We don’t want to be one of those groups that just loves ‘60s music and so every year you have a ‘60s show. We want to move with the times and at the same time be able to reach back and use some of those things. That’s why the shows have three segments. We try to use different things.
CD: You’ve mentioned how you stay on top of as many trends in live shows as possible – are there trends you see and try to avoid?
DW: I’m not really a big fan of the whole electronic thing with the big screens and everything because I think it takes away from the kids. I want the focus to be on the kids. I want to be paying attention to their singing and dancing and when you have too many special effects, it draws away. That’s a decision we’ve made. We do have them – you saw the smoke and everything – but we don’t want that to become “it.” You want people saying, “Boy, that group was really good.” Not, “I really loved your special effects.” We try to make sure it stays group-focused and kid-focused.
CD: How important is making your students so autonomous throughout the shows – tearing down sets, running the scene backstage, and so on?
DW: Very important. If you noticed, I just sat out in the house and that’s what I always do for the shows. We have officers and the kids like to be responsible. If you give them the opportunities, they’re not afraid of it and they learn. We have kids doing the props, we had a student directing the a cappella portions. The band is professional, but the kids are involved with every other step possible so that when they go out and try to get a job, they’ll understand not just the stage part, but the backstage part and the tech part and the lighting and sound and all that stuff. That makes them more prepared for the industry.
CD: And probably cuts down on divas in the group, I’d imagine.
DW: Oh yeah! It does – the whole diva thing, we’re not like that. When someone comes in, they learn that real quick. “Now, would you sweep the floor over there, please?” We’re all in this big pot together. We all do everything – we don’t want to do it all for the kids because that would actually be doing them a big disservice.
CD: Did you begin arranging in the beginning, or did that develop over time?
DW: I was inspired to arrange by a director named Dick Kinsler, who was at Edgewood High School in West Covina when I was at Nogales, which was my second school in my third year. He arranged his whole show and I was so impressed because everyone else was doing stock arrangements. They’re going to the shop and you’d have seven choirs doing the same thing. He was arranging his own stuff, which I thought was cool. I spent a whole summer going through it because I’d never done it before, and that was our best show yet. I discovered that you can really affect the choreography a lot with the music, so I started working with the choreographer a lot – we sat together and planned it out. We’ll do a dance break here, a build-up here, a cappella here – just like you’re building a house.
CD: When arranging, do you work from sheet music or do you work things out by ear?
DW: Both. If there’s sheet music available, I’ll use that just so I have the tune. Piano parts, I do pretty much all myself. Standard piano parts tend to be not very good – they’re usually just chords – so I do those myself. Sometimes, if you know the song – well sometimes I write my own and have no music, so you just work it out from scratch. I’m a guitar player, too, and so I think through the guitar. I use the piano, but I “think” guitar, in terms of chord structures and things like that, so a lot of my piano parts almost sound like strumming a guitar. [laughs] I’m no classical piano player. I was in a rock band when I was younger.
CD: You’re dealing with a lot of guitar-based music to begin with, at least. Was that your biggest influence growing up?
DW: Yeah since it’s a lot of pop music, for sure. I studied guitar in high school, but I was never going to be a professional. I just kind of did it. When I got into show choir, I realized I could incorporate all this neat stuff. The guitar, the bass, the drums – it was just great for me. And I always loved the Beatles and was so inspired by what they did. It wasn’t only writing great songs, but they used great orchestrations, which was so cool. No one else did it. They did “ooohs” and “ahhhs” and everything. To me, they were the first show choir! They had the big walls of sound everywhere – I try to use all the same ideas. They’re probably my biggest musical influence.
CD: At what point did it seem like show choir was a real thing that had taken hold?
DW: When I was student teaching. I used to work with Tom Kessler at West Covina and his group was number one. He hired a professional choreographer from Broadway to come down and work with their kids. They had an incredible show and no one could touch them. They would always win Show and never win Music, but whatever. There was an incredible jealousy that built up in the area. Not me – I’m still friends with him. But no one could beat him. When he retired, that’s when Ron Bowles and Burroughs and few other choirs starting getting into it. We all thought it was a great idea.
CD: Let’s end on how this all translates to getting kids excited about the program – is it any more difficult nowadays with so many strong outside examples, like Glee, of how show choir works?
DW: It takes a special kid and I think we’ve made our market smaller for the kids who do come into choir, but the ones that come in are more dedicated and they’re willing to work as hard as we do. We demand that they try their hardest and that they work together. That’s really it, and then they come in and if they don’t fit, they’ll eventually quit. They’ll drop out because they don’t like it. We’re just too intense. But the kids that like it? They’re in heaven.
CD: You have about 10 percent of the high school enrolled in the program – is it ever tough to get students at Brea interested in joining the choir?
DW: It’s not bad. A lot of the kids at Brea – they like the shows, but a lot of them are afraid. They think they could never do it. Just because you see it after months and months of work. Really, you can do it. We just take it one step at a time.
At A GlanceBrea Olinda High School Choirs
Location: 789 Wildcat Way, Brea, Calif.
On the Web: bohs-bousd-ca.schoolloop.com
Students in the CGHS Choirs: 130
Students Enrolled at CGHS: 1,600
Ensembles: Masquerade, Spellbound, Chamber Singers, Tiffany’s, Thundercats
Staff:
Dave Willert – Director, Doug Kuhl – Choreographer, Hannah Hemwall – Band Leader, Kurt Nielsen – Acting Coach, Alex Willert – Music Coach, Drew Hemwall – Drummer
On the Road with Dave WillertCD: As your career has progressed, how has your approach to traveling with the choirs changed?
DW: In the beginning, we went to San Diego or San Francisco for overnight trips because they were cost effective and fun. However, as my groups became more competitive and the show choir circuit more national, we began traveling to competitions in New York City, Orlando, Branson, and Chicago. The financial aspect of these trips is challenging, but if the kids and parents want to do it, I find a way to make it happen (with everyone’s help, of course.) There is nothing like competing against groups from other states, which we never see normally. This helps us all grow in the show choir world, and leads to a great way to end the year.
CD: What are some steps you’ve taken to make trips with the choir work more smoothly?
DW: I have handled a lot of our trips’ accommodations myself and saved everyone a lot of money when I have been to the city before. Lately, however, we are going new places and we rely on tour companies to help us. I would tell other directors who are new to traveling, buyer beware. Some of these companies jack up the prices a lot, while others are more reasonable. It pays to price out everything yourself first (group air, group lodging, group activities, and group meals) and then look at the bids from the travel companies. I tend to select nice hotels for the kids to stay in and our price when I handle the trip is still significantly cheaper than the travel agency that wants to book us in a cheaper property. Group sales prices are usually a lot cheaper than the regular advertised prices.
CD: We all know that schools everywhere are facing tighter and tighter budgets – have you found any time-tested tactics for saving money here and there?
DW: Our goal each year is to have the best show choirs out there. This involves custom costumes, sets, music, band, and props. One way we “save” money is through using the same dress for some of the younger groups for two years so everyone doesn’t need to buy a new one. Another way is by using some of the same arrangements between groups on different years. We use some of the same parts of the sets every year, and when we can make it work we reuse some of the other parts but in a “fresh” way. Creativity is the name of the game.