Volunteering at the Choir Variety Show: How did it go?
Context
I am a student at OPHS and the president of the performing arts student body (IMC). As such, I must attend any performances hosted at the high school and support the program. One event the department puts on every spring is the Choir Variety Show. All 3-4 choir groups perform a set of tunes with each other, and students create barbershops/do solos/duets as well.
How it went
I drove to the school and arrived at around 6:30 pm. I updated the Emcee doc first.
The emcee document is a document that is displayed on a monitor in front of the emcees. This document displays a list of topics to be announced to the viewers, be it a simple “check out concessions!” or “sign up for OPIMA (parent volunteering)!” I then ran over to the pavilion and grabbed 4 programs; 2 for emcees, 2 for AV/Tech.
I went around getting pictures for social media and historians with what time remained.
I made an Instagram post on the Oak Park Music account to hype up the live stream a little bit.
Once that was done, I sat down with AV/Tech and there was a bit of chaos with the live stream, from microphones to audio mixing, but once all was said and done, we all enjoyed the show from the band room.
At one point I had to run to the pavilion to let the AV/Tech lead know that the microphones were working and we mistook the timing for the start of “Pretty & Popular.” I think the speed at which I took off to let the lead know so we can avoid adjusting mics on a mistake scared them a little bit. They were all wide-eyed when I got back. But, I wanted to run anyway, so it worked out for me.
After that, I updated the band room calendar, and then enjoyed the rest of the show until intermission. During intermission, I reminded AV/Tech about interviews and then went off to recruit interviewees. After that, the show seemed pretty settled down, so I went home and enjoyed what remained of the performance via livestream.
The band room during the variety show.
The choir is a lot less chaotic and problemed in comparison to concerts. Whatever they do differently, they are better at following directions/listening and are more systematic and organized. The band concerts aren’t bad by any means, but I notice that the choir events rarely have an occasion where a performer forgets their attire or talks behind the stage. It’s interesting, although not much.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed helping, in whatever ways I could. The choir did an amazing job, and my favorite song was the duet “Pretty & Popular” from Wicked. Be sure to check out the stream, and thank you for reading :)
