Get your Glee on with a show choir spread.
Photo credit: Flickr CC user Misty O’Dell
There are many reasons why I’m jealous of my roommate: 1) he’s from the Indiana town that inspired John Mellencamp to write “Jack and Diane,” 2) he can quote every line from every Batman movie (even the crappy George Clooney installment), and 3) in high school his school’s show choir went on to compete at the state level.
Now, I have to be honest here, growing up in central California, I had no idea show choir competitions even existed when I was in high school. It wasn’t until Glee finally made singing show tunes cool, and Anna Kendrick showed off her cup skills in Pitch Perfect that I learned about this amazing phenomenon. You mean to tell me there were kids dressing up in Cabaret outfits and singing Rocky Horror songs in unison, and they were considered cool?! I had been doing elaborate song and dance numbers in my bedroom for years and never had an audience. I missed my chance to really shine.
So you can only imagine how excited and enraged I was when my roommate causally mentioned the other night that he not only rocked out as a tenor in show choir, but he got to tour Indiana with his crew and they were considered the darlings of their school.
I want a high school do-over, please!
Anyways, I’m stoked that show choir is such an intricate part of many high schools and colleges around the country. You learn how to work as a team to put on an amazing show and also have a chance to shine as an individual.
It’s time to give your school’s show choir, and it’s singers their moment to shine in a yearbook spread.
In order to find some yearbook ideas, before you start designing the page and conducting interviews with the show choir’s members, do a little homework. How long has the show choir been going on at your school? Does your school have a tradition of winning competitions? What’s the audition process to get into a competitive show choir? Talk to the choir’s coordinator or instructor to find out these answers.
Once you have some backstory, it’s time to get creative with your layout. Here’s an idea, have fun showcasing the choir and make the page as fabulous and fun as one of their productions. Interview the choir’s members and learn their backstories–what was their audition song? Do they get stage fright? What has show choir taught them about themselves? Figure out the most compelling and interesting angles and go from there.
For photos, have the yearbook photographer shadow the troupe during one of their dress rehearsals. Make sure they get candid behind the scenes shots leading up to their performance as well as the actual show. Show the evolution of a performance from inception to completion and brainstorm how to showcase it in a unique way. You can also have the members share their personal photos and Instagram photos from their time on the road or during competitions.
