The School District of Fort Atkinson has announced that it will be hosting the 27th Annual Fort Show Choir Showcase Invitational tournament Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11.
The event will be held at the Fort Atkinson High School, 925 Lexington Blvd.
According to information released by the district, the invitational will bring high and middle school choirs from across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa to participate in the two-day event.
Middle school choirs are slated to compete Friday, with four choirs performing, the first of which will take the stage at 6 p.m.
The Fort Atkinson Middle School Show Choir, known as the “4th Street Singers,” will perform at 7:40 p.m. Middle School Choir Awards will follow the performances of the four show choirs.
Those wishing to attend the Friday night performances will find tickets sold at the door.
The cost of an adult ticket is $10, youth tickets are $5 each, and children 5 and younger are invited to attend free of charge.
Concessions will be available throughout the evening, according to the release.
Nineteen high school show choirs will take the stage Saturday. The two Fort Atkinson High School Show Choirs will be showcased as exhibition performers.
Performances will be given within several divisions. They are: single-gender, which will showcase performances given by “Rendevous” from Greenbay, “Octave Above” from Milton, and “YTBN” from Sauk Prairie; prep, which will showcase performances given by “Guys and Dolls” from Brodhead, “Defortes” from Deforest, “Reverb” from Mundelein, Ill., and “Act II” from Neenah, and open, which will showcase performances given by “Surround Sound” from Brettnedorf, Iowa, “Spotlight Signers” from Green Bay, “B*Jazzled” from Burlington, “Spotlight Singers” from Janesville, “Choraliers” from Reedsburg, “Cardinal Singers” from Mayville, “Silver Connection” from Monona, “Vintage 2023” from Neenah, “Choralation” from Milton, “Center Stage” from Green Bay, “Sound” from Mundelein, Ill., and “Executive Session” from Sauk Prairie.
Preliminaries begin in the gym at 8 a.m. and continue throughout the day, the release stated.
Performance are scheduled as follows: Single-gender groups begin competition at 8 a.m., with the final group performing at 8:50 a.m.; prep groups begin competition at 9:30 a.m., with the final group performing at 10:45 p.m., and mixed groups compete from 12:05 p.m. until a final varsity performance at 5:20 p.m.
In addition, a soloist/duet competition will take place in the Fort Atkinson High School Auditorium during the day. The soloist/duet champions will perform in the Grand Concert to begin at 7 p.m. The Grand Concert also will feature the top six varsity show choirs which will compete for placement and grand champion.The best vocal ensemble and most effective choreography also will be awarded after the finals competition.
According to the release, as hosts, the Fort Atkinson groups will perform in exhibition. The “South High Street Singers” will perform at 5:20 p.m. in advance of the announcement of the showcase championship finalists. The “Lexington Singers” will perform at 10:10 p.m. in advance of the finals awards ceremony.
Those wishing to attend Saturday performances will find tickets sold at the door. The cost of an adult all-day ticket is $20, which includes preliminary and final performances. All-day youth tickets are $10. Those wishing to attend preliminaries only will find tickets sold at the door for a cost of $15 for the preliminaries only. Tickets for finals only are $10. Ticket for children 5 and younger are free.
Programs will be available at a cost of $5 each.
What is a show choir competition?
As stated in the release, show choir competitions focus on “spectacularly costumed show choirs,” as they perform a combination of “choral singing with intricate choreography, backed by a live band.”
Each group is allowed 25 minutes of stage time to set up, perform, and clear the stage. Show choirs are judged on vocal performance, including intonation, blend, rhythmic precision, and diction, and on movement, including choreography, intensity of presentation, staging, and costuming.
Stage crews and instrumental combos also are judged on their performances.
Each choir’s medley of songs unusually includes three to four choreographed, fast-paced numbers with one slower ballad to showcase the choir’s singing. Solo spots, dance breaks, and combo features are special parts of each group’s performance.
“The six show choirs who sing the best, perform the sharpest choreography, and show the most stage presence earn a chance to compete in the evening Showcase Championship,” the release stated.
Who’s from Fort?
As stated in the release, the Fort Atkinson High School prep show choir is the Lexington Singers.
This year, the all-female group of performers will be presenting a show titled: “Hollywood.”
Songs within the show include: “Hooray for Hollywood,” “I Hope I Get It,” “If I Own Today,” with solo performances by Kayla Teed and Emerson Hagner, “Hollywood Tonight,” with soloist performances by Faith Vasquez, Meredith Fast, and Maya Wenhardt, and “Glam/The Fame.”
The group’s Singer-dancers include: Paola Alvarado Ortiz, Clara Aparicio, Madalynn Dramlet, Meredith Fast, Emerson Hagner, Lydia Hoffmann, Lorena Luciano, Joely Mack, Emma Marquart, Breanna Merkt, Ava Recob, Lily Rottmann, Kayla Teed, Faith Vasquez, and Maya Wenhardt.
Combo members include: Emmet Fettig, Maddie Klauer, Eli Scheuerell, Leah Kincaid, Ashlyn Wadsworth, Lily Granec, Alexis Bigelow, Ayden Dale, Jim Athas, Lukas McGraw, Calvin Tamblyn, Phoenix Severin, TJ Bronson, and Jack Jonas.
Crew members include: Mackenzie Cramlet, Calvin Ficenec, Cloe Francis, and Daisy Heussner.
The group is directed and choreographed by Kiah Snow. Instrumental direction is delivered by Justin Steger.
Additionally, attendees of this year’s event will be treated to performances given by the South High Street Singers. This year, the group will perform a show titled: “Night Terrors.”
Songs include: “Escapist/Creatures of the Night,” “Ramalama Bang Bang/Hoodoo Voodoo Doll ,” with a solo performance by Hannah Behling, “Beautiful Delirium,” with a solo performance by Jackson Sitkiewitz, “Hungry Like the Wolf/Hot Blooded,” with a solo performance by Jack McDonough, “Bring Me to Life/Crawling in the Dark, with a solo performance by Ashlynn Hampton.
The group is director by Snow is the Director, with instrumental direction delivered by Justin Steger. Dallas James Pritt is the group’s choreographer.
Singer-dancer members include: Anna Amundson, Kate Andrews, Hannah Behling, Fernando Cervantes, Milla DeAses, Georgia Diagne, Jillian Dunham, Haley Dunne, Kayla Fehrman, Tiana Galeai, Garrison Gustin, Ashlynn Hampton, Sydney Ketterman, Megan Maas, Jack McDonough, Aubrey Meacham, Nora Nelson, Olivia O’Neill, Alayna Riddell, Vivian Riggs, Lily Rodriguez, Lexi Rottmann, Eli Scheuerell, Jackson Sitkiewitz, Eduardo Uscanga, Lorena Velazquez, and Mara Zanin.
Providing the instrumental accompaniment for both groups is the Combo Band. Members of the band include: Emmet Fettig, Maya Schwarz, Maddie Klauer, Liam Cosson, Leah Kincaid, Ashlyn Wadsworth, Lily Granec, Alexis Bigelow, Ayden Dale, Phoenix Severin, Logan Basler, Jim Athas, TJ Bronson, Calvin Tamblyn, Max Calvert-Minor, Lukas McGraw, Jack Jonas, Trenton Grant, Carla Hernandez Fercano, Mackenna Farrell, and Ainsely Copp.
Crew. Members includ:; Mackenzie Cramlet, Calvin Ficenec, Cloe Francis, Daisy Heussner.
In preparation
As noted in the release, choirs have rehearsing in anticipation of the invitational event since August. The competitive show choir season began this month.
This year, thus far, the South High Street Singers have participated in two show choir competitions. The group performed at the Burlington “Chocolate City” Showcase earning 2nd Place Runner Up, the release noted.
The Fort Atkinson High School groups will be performing this year at the Monona Grove “Silver Stage” Invitational, which will be held Feb. 18; the Churubusco Show Choir Invitational, which will be held March 4 in Churubusco, Ind.,, and the Craig “Spotlight Spectacular, which will be held March 11 in Janesville.
This year’s stage sponsor is PremierBank.
Concessions
Attendees to the invitational this year will find an array of concession items, along with t-shirts and sweatshirts, stickers and food items from local businesses, offered for sale throughout the event in the high school’s commons area.
200 volunteers
As noted in the release, some 200 volunteers will be on-hand this year to facilitate a smooth-running event.
“Without all of our wonderful volunteers an event like this would not be possible,” the release stated.
A photo album from last year’s event is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/fort-showcase-a-show-choir-invitational/.
Members of the Fort Atkinson High School South High Street Singers warm up in advance of their exhibition performance during the 26th Annual Fort Show Choir Showcase Invitational held last year. File photo/Kim McDarison.
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