Peppy contemporary tunes. Stellar dance moves. Well-blended singing. A show choir combines its members’ talents for both song and dance into performance numbers similar to musicals.
This semester Mississippi State University will finally have its own 22 member show choir.
This new club is the brainchild of two MSU students, Blake Garrett and Maureen Hughes. Garrett, a sophomore biochemistry and theatre major, said he originally envisioned the organization as a MSU dance group but later realized including singing would make the club more inclusive.
He said he later asked Hughes to help him bring the club to life. To find advisers, Garrett and Hughes looked for professors with a dance and performance background.
Giselle Thibaudeau, MSU associate professor and director of the electron microscope center, and Annie Coggan-Crawford, interior design assistant professor, were asked to become the show choir’s faculty sponsors.
After creating a Facebook group and holding an interest meeting this semester to spread the word to students, auditions were scheduled for Jan. 23.
“We were looking for people who have a good personality, moderately good singing voice and dance technique. Overall, the person should love to perform,” Hughes, a freshman accounting and theatre major, said.
Over 30 people auditioned and were judged on their attitude, vocals and movement skills. The panel of judges included Garrett, Hughes, Thibaudeau, Coggan-Crawford, MSU vocal professor Gregory Wascoe and Starkville Daily News editor Brian Hawkins.
Those auditioning learned simple dance steps to “Bust a Move” and then performed them in groups before the judges. Individuals later performed a song of their choice during a short vocal tryout.
While there were only a select number of slots, Thibaudeau said she was amazed by the range the students had.
“The talent of [MSU’s] student body blows my mind. The students trying out had diverse majors, were male and female and were of different races. I am proud to be [working with] a well-rounded student body,” she said.
Members of the show choir said they believe the group is a way students can express themselves.
James Hemphill, a freshman accounting major, said he was excited for this opportunity.
“I have always wanted to be in show choir. My middle school had an all-girls-show choir, but my high school didn’t have one. This is my way of coming out of my shell to sing and dance,” he said.
Blake Ulmer, a freshman music education major, said he believes having a show choir provides benefits for the community as well.
“I think it provides an opportunity to expose people to something new. Not many people are exposed to show choirs as a kid,” he said.
Chelsea Brock, a freshman industrial engineering major, said she has been involved in musical theatre from a young age and was glad to have a similar opportunity.
“I wanted to have a chance to perform,” she said. “There is only a musical here once every two years, so musical theatre opportunities are scarce.”
Brock also said she believes the members will gain more than performance opportunities.
“You definitely develop close friendships with people in the group because you work hard together.” she said. “By being a part of something like this, you can help each other hone musical and movement performing skills.”
The new choir may bring new students to the university. Hughes said she has already received messages from high school students excited about joining.
Garrett said he knew people who chose to attend college elsewhere because State did not have a show choir program.
The show choir will meet once a week and plans to perform when opportunities arise.
The choir had its first meeting on Tuesday. The members discussed rehearsal times, song choices and officers were discussed.
Though MSU’s show choir has just been officially established, the members have said they are excited about the future of the program.
Garrett said organizations around campus have said they are willing to co-sponsor the show choir’s performances.
“It’s great to have support for the arts, as it is grossly undervalued at our university,” Garrett said.