What were your thoughts on the other three schools, most specifically Prairie? They were the only group I was unable to see this year (all the other groups are on YouTube) and it would be neat to see how they compared with the other four groups (five if you include Xavier). Thanks!
Through fate of scheduling and weather (and my sheer bad luck), I didn't get to see a single Cedar Rapids school this season, even though I'd been hearing a few good things about them. I was sitting on my couch last night idly flipping channels, and when I got up to get a drink, my TV landed on Mediacom's channel, which had JUST started showing a broadcast of this year's Fab Five show! After being mildly shocked, I happily spent the next 2 hours watching it. It was nice to finally see some of the things I'd heard people talking about just so I understood. I was very surprised by Washington- that is a dynamite show.Good dancng, great singing, and lots of energy all the way through. I wasn't a big fan of (most of) Kennedy's show this year, but they performed it quite well, and looked like they were having a fun time on stage.
Good job, Cedar Rapids! Looks like it's a pretty close race over there.
Anyone who was at the show - how long was it? Of course Fab Five isn't exactly the shortest event in the world, but I was wondering if it was ridiculously long, or simply looooong.
hmmmm well each group takes about 20 minutes to perform, so multiply that by 5 and you get 100 minutes. The finale takes about 10 (maybe even 15?) minutes to get everyone onstage and then perform the song. There are 5 solo/ensemble acts which I would say are about 20 minutes total. Add another 20 for an intermission. Then add another 20-30 for filler time (although everyone is getting much better about setting up faster). So I would say it is about 2.5 hours long.... I think it usually gets over like 10/10:30 if the show starts at 7:30. I could be completely wrong but that is what I feel.
Anyone who was at the show - how long was it? Of course Fab Five isn't exactly the shortest event in the world, but I was wondering if it was ridiculously long, or simply looooong.
Scott Muters. Yes, the director of Cedar Rapids Roosevelt, was the Emcee the very first year. All I remember about that was that he kept talking about having to fill the time, and that he didn't know who "Phil" was. At one point, a backstage crew person came out ad swept the floor and thus was deemed, "Phil".
There were no solo acts at that time, so there was a great deal of dead time between groups. The emcee really had to be creative to keep the audience happy!
Scott Muters. Yes, the director of Cedar Rapids Roosevelt, was the Emcee the very first year. All I remember about that was that he kept talking about having to fill the time, and that he didn't know who "Phil" was. At one point, a backstage crew person came out ad swept the floor and thus was deemed, "Phil".
Since I am not going to evaluate and critique the lovely show choirs (like I have the past two years) out of respect for Mr. Ziegler and all of the other Cedar Rapids show choir director's apparent wishes... I'll just share my wonderful Fab Five Story.
So... this year, as some read... I told Mr. Chris Stolba that if he attended Fab Five on Tuesday, that I would buy his ticket. Well... I bought our two tickets online about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday, I was all prepared to leave Luther when I was talking with my friend who was going through a rough time, and I didn't really think the person wanted to be on campus, so I invited him to come along with me. I said that I would give him my ticket, and Chris could have his own and then somehow I was going to see if they sold tickets at the door or not. Essentially, I gave up my ticket because I'm such a kind hearted gentleman ( ) and risked not even getting to see the event.
So... we arrive at the Theatre, and it's five minutes before show time. There is a long line by the ticket booth, and we didn't know if they were selling tickets or people were picking up their reserved tickets. We just stood in line, and figured we would find out once we got to the booth. While standing at the back of the line, I saw a lady walk out from already being in the theatre, and she just stood there looking around like she wanted to find someone. She did this for about a minute before approaching me. She looks and me and says, "Do you need a ticket to get in?"... I started laughing and said, "Actually, yes..." and explained the story to her. She then said, "Well... I figured I had this extra ticket, and I could help a poor high school student out. It hurts a high school kids pocket to shell out that kind of money for a show." I laughed, because I wasn't a HS student... but nodded anyways. I said my goodbye's to my two guests... and proceded to follow my new friend to our seats.
She asked me, "What high school are you from?"... I said, "Well, I'm not actually from a high school... I'm a freshman at Luther college." She said... "Oh my! My husband and I met at Luther College!"
From there... we started discussing show choir and her son who was in... :drum roll please: ........ guess.... just guess..... Yep... my favorite show choir of all time "Happiness, Inc."!!! I sat with her the entire first half of the Fab Five and then went to sit in some open seats in the balcony with my guests.
I know... you are thinking, "Who cares?" or "What a long drawn out story!" (haha)... I just think it shows how awesome show choir parents can be, and more importantly it shows that these parents are fine ambassadors (no pun intended) to outsiders. This is my third Fab Five... and this is my third story of something really nice that has happened to me while attending this event. The first two (2005 and 2006) were just some really nice people I met while sitting. This one takes the cake! Thank you to Mrs. Sharon Bertroche. You're a life saver and an amazing parent!
Critique and ranking are different things. I think everyone likes constructive critique. I meant only to ask to resist the urge to rank the schools. So, critique away...
Gotcha! Those "ranks" weren't mine anyways... they were a friend of mine that had gone the day before.
When I get time later... I'll delve into my thoughts.
Since I am not going to evaluate and critique the lovely show choirs (like I have the past two years) out of respect for Mr. Ziegler and all of the other Cedar Rapids show choir director's apparent wishes... I'll just share my wonderful Fab Five Story.
Critique and ranking are different things. I think everyone likes constructive critique. I meant only to ask to resist the urge to rank the schools. So, critique away...
Since I am not going to evaluate and critique the lovely show choirs (like I have the past two years) out of respect for Mr. Ziegler and all of the other Cedar Rapids show choir director's apparent wishes... I'll just share my wonderful Fab Five Story.
So... this year, as some read... I told Mr. Chris Stolba that if he attended Fab Five on Tuesday, that I would buy his ticket. Well... I bought our two tickets online about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday, I was all prepared to leave Luther when I was talking with my friend who was going through a rough time, and I didn't really think the person wanted to be on campus, so I invited him to come along with me. I said that I would give him my ticket, and Chris could have his own and then somehow I was going to see if they sold tickets at the door or not. Essentially, I gave up my ticket because I'm such a kind hearted gentleman ( ) and risked not even getting to see the event.
So... we arrive at the Theatre, and it's five minutes before show time. There is a long line by the ticket booth, and we didn't know if they were selling tickets or people were picking up their reserved tickets. We just stood in line, and figured we would find out once we got to the booth. While standing at the back of the line, I saw a lady walk out from already being in the theatre, and she just stood there looking around like she wanted to find someone. She did this for about a minute before approaching me. She looks and me and says, "Do you need a ticket to get in?"... I started laughing and said, "Actually, yes..." and explained the story to her. She then said, "Well... I figured I had this extra ticket, and I could help a poor high school student out. It hurts a high school kids pocket to shell out that kind of money for a show." I laughed, because I wasn't a HS student... but nodded anyways. I said my goodbye's to my two guests... and proceded to follow my new friend to our seats.
She asked me, "What high school are you from?"... I said, "Well, I'm not actually from a high school... I'm a freshman at Luther college." She said... "Oh my! My husband and I met at Luther College!"
From there... we started discussing show choir and her son who was in... :drum roll please: ........ guess.... just guess..... Yep... my favorite show choir of all time "Happiness, Inc."!!! I sat with her the entire first half of the Fab Five and then went to sit in some open seats in the balcony with my guests.
I know... you are thinking, "Who cares?" or "What a long drawn out story!" (haha)... I just think it shows how awesome show choir parents can be, and more importantly it shows that these parents are fine ambassadors (no pun intended) to outsiders. This is my third Fab Five... and this is my third story of something really nice that has happened to me while attending this event. The first two (2005 and 2006) were just some really nice people I met while sitting. This one takes the cake! Thank you to Mrs. Sharon Bertroche. You're a life saver and an amazing parent!
While I understand the urge to rank everything, some of the main reasons to do The Fab Five is to celebrate camraderie among the performing groups, performance for the sake of performance, and a complete lack of competition. I'm sure I speak for the other CR area directors when I humbly ask everyone's cooperation in keeping at least this one event free of the usual prediction/results/arguing cycle. The season is so long, and there are so many opportunities for that kind of analysis.
Help us celebrate what the five varsity Cedar Rapids public high school show choirs offer in terms of talent, creativity, and fun! Let's save the rankings for the contests...
Thanks!
Storm
I don't agree with this at all. But since I respect you, your show choir, and Kennedy High School so much... I suppose I'll shut my mouth.
I just got back to UNI from Fab 5, and I have to say the quality of the CR groups this year is outstanding. And I am VERY excited to see how all the groups are next year, they can only get better (in my opinion)
Good job to all the groups and I'll see you all next year
Ugh I wish I could have come today. The only group I haven't seen live of the Cedar Rapids "clan" is Jefferson. I would have liked to see them all one last time. There were so many great CR shows this year.
Cedar Rapids Fab Five 2007
) and risked not even getting to see the event.
