White Sox, Red Sox, Indians, Yankees, Padres, Cardinals - feh! Baseball took a back seat to barbershopping in Wildwood, NJ, the first weekend in October.
Hundreds of vocal athletes competed for the right to move onto the next round of competition at the Mid-Atlantic District Chorus Competition. Because of the new rules regarding wild cards, the possibility existed that as many as four choruses from the Mid-Atlantic District could qualify for the 2006 International competition to be held in Indianapolis.
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Of course, the handicappers expected the major shoot-out to be between the defending champion Alexandria Harmonizers and the upstart Big Apple Chorus. But the Easton Brothers of Harmony were also expected to contend for a medal, as well as the 104-man Bryn Mawr chorus and the up-and-coming Westchester Chordsmen.
The Harmonizers brought their usual A game to the competition. Even with a competition set that rumor had it was "stale" from being used in 3 consecutive District and International competitions, the trademark smooth singing and disciplined choreographic approach was enough to bring home the gold.
But even though the Harmonizers scored the most points, the biggest impact of the competition definitely belonged to the BAC, under the directio n of Joe Hunter. With a new "ballad" that featured a choreographic plan seldom seen in men's competition, the BAC wow'd the crowd (especially the ladies) with an Elvis Presley tune, "Love Me".
The BAC's second song - "Make 'em Laugh" - certainly did. A special treat for the district crowd was the cameo appearance of Freddie King. Fred is one of most beloved members of the Mid-Atlantic District, if not the entire Barbershop Harmony Society. He agreed to appear onstage as the newest member of the BAC to help raise the anticipation for the appearance of "Jelvis" Joe Hunter. A standing ovation from the audience meant as much to the chorus as the strong second-place finish. The BAC is now almost assured that it will make its second consecutive appearance at the International Competition.
When the dust cleared, the Easton Brothers of Harmony finished third, probably just out of the running for International honors. Bryn Mawr and Westchester continued to show steady improvement as well. Future MAD chorus contests have the potential to be "little internationals".
The BAC also provided the highlight of the evening jamboree. Word has it that the powers-that-be changed the rules so that the top three scoring choruses overall would sing on the jamboree, rather than the large, intermediate, and small chorus winners, as was the case in previous years. This ensured that the BAC would be onstage for the whole district to enjoy.
In addition to encoring "Love Me" for the jamboree audience, the BAC featured charter member and lead singer extraordinaire Cecil Brown in a rousing version of "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat" from the musical Guys and Dolls. Well, the audience certainly couldn't sit down after that performance, giving Cecil and the BAC its second standing O of the day.
There's a lot of work to be done between now and July when the BAC will compete again. But the performance gave everyone in the BAC confidence that the hard work that has been done over the past 3 years with singing coach Ron Meixell is certainly bearing fruit. Coupled with a daring new choreographic plan from Christine Oberc and steady leadership from Joe Hunter and the rest of the BAC music team, the anticipation for the next 9 months is keen.
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