To do Monday: River City Men's Chorus
There's a second River City Men's Chorus show today at 7 p.m., following yesterday's matinee, at Trinity United Methodist Church (Evergreen and Mississippi). The show is free. Really, we're convinced conductor David Glaze could charge $10 and the room would be filled.
The show is dubbed "Just for the Fun of It," and when you're dealing with about 50 male singers having to cover the gamut for three or four shows a season, you've no doubt got to keep it fun, as apparently Glaze does. Here's what he tells us about the show:
We begin the program with "Lambscapes" --- Four Historical Settings of Mary and Her Lamb (I. Gregorian Chant, II. Handel, III. Schubert, IV. Verdi). The work was originally written for the Turtle Creek Chorale.
The second number is "Manly Men," and pokes fun at each section of the chorus --- tenor I down to bass II. In doing so, it incorporates things such as "La Donna E Mobile" and "The Toreador Song" from "Carmen."
There's a section of folk-based pieces, some traditional and some with contemporary settings, which make use of tongue twisters and nonesense words.
"The Auctioneer" is a fun piece that tells the story of a boy who grew up in Arkansas wanting to become an auctioneer. The bidding is fun and adds a lot to the piece.
"Just for Fun" (GALA Festival IV Competition Winner, 1992) is a suite that includes
I. The Chorus and Director's Rap, II. In Extremis (a blues number about a person's toes, III. The Rabbit, IV. Vacuum Cleaner, and V. Ode to Gaiety (has a jillion words about not being gloomy).
There's a section of songs about the sea, including Mark Hayes' truly beautiful "Song of the Tall Ship," and the set ends with a spoof, "Sick of the Songs of the Sea."
One of the most clever numbers is a choral arrangement of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," complete with the first tenors handling the always-fun piccolo part that is so familiar.
There are some pieces chosen simply because they are beautiful, not trying to be humorous --- those we are singing, as the title of the program suggests, just for fun of it.
