The Odessa High School Broncho Legacy Choir will sing through the decades for their spring show at 7:30 p.m. April 26 and 27 at the OHS Performing Arts Center.
Titled Rock of Ages, the show will include rock songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. It will also get into some subgenres from the 50s. Director of Choirs Ginger Storey said they will sing blues, folk rock, indie rock and hairband tunes from the 80s.
“We have some grunge and post-grunge and some heavy metal, so it’s going to be a really good variety of songs. The kids are very excited about it and almost everybody I talked to is really excited about it,” Storey said.
Tickets are available from ohs.ludus.com and at the door. Premium seats in the center are $15. It’s $10 for adults and $5 for students and children in the remainder of the seats.
The format will be like a call-in radio show and it will include skits.
“Our theater (department) is super involved in this. … One of the theater kids is going to be our DJ. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. We have a lot of skits and things planned,” Storey said.
There are 13 vocalists, an ensemble manager and sound technician that are part of the class. In addition, there are several theater students involved helping backstage and with lighting.
“Our theater department is pretty awesome. They always pitch in and help us out a great deal,” Storey said.
Storey said they had planned to stage a show like this before COVID hit. They have been working on the show since January.
“We never really got to do it and I was … wanting to bring that back. I’m a fan of the rock genre and I was excited about some of the songs we were going to do and didn’t get to do. The funny thing of it is we’re not even doing those songs. We’re doing a whole different set of songs, but I’m still very excited about it because I enjoy that. I think a lot of people do miss that style of music because it’s not as it’s not as mainstream as it used to be,” Storey added.
The show, she said, is going to be great and everybody should plan to come see it and support the students.
She noted that this group of kids is great.
”They’re hardworking and they work well together as a team. They’re just in general a fun group of kids,” Storey said.
Tammie Locklar is the choreographer. Johnny Saldivar is playing guitar; Caleb Williams is on bass; Ian Chavez, a student at Compass Academy Charter School, is on drums; and Damian Christian is on keys; and Stephanie Carter on piano.
Associate Choir Director Stephanie Burton said the fact that they will be performing rock music and not watering it down is “going to be really exciting.”
“I think anytime you’re putting on a show (and) you finally see the product, it’s just it’s a powerful experience for kids,” Burton said.
She agreed with Storey about the students involved in the show.
“(They are) really hard workers. Really high level of musicianship; quick musical learners; fun, we have a lot of fun together,” Burton said.
As the show title suggests, Burton wanted the music to take people through the history of rock.
“We’re starting all the way from the 50s style all the way to more recent 2010s. Then you’ve got all different genres of rock. You’ve got pop rock; you’ve got folk rock; you’ve got heavy metal that we’re doing. We’ve got hair band … We’ve got it all and that way it kind of represents the history of rock to me, which is fun,” she added.
The choir will be singing entire songs. Each vocalist sings a solo and there are boy numbers and girl numbers.
She added that they try to help students select their solos and try to fit what their voices are capable of doing.
“But really, it’s their choices. I say submit to me your three choices and then I listen to the three choices and I listen to them saying and I say this one suits you the best,” Burton said.
She noted that there will be something for everybody.
“I wanted my parents, who are grandparents who listened to the Eagles … to be just as happy as a student that’s in high school when they sat down and listened to the music; that they they felt represented almost,” Burton said.
Seniors Joshua Brindley and Isabella Carrasco are two of the show participants. Brindley is 17 and Carrasco is 18.
Brindley said this will be the second time he has performed in a spring concert.
“But my sister was in it and so I worked backstage for years,” he added.
Carrasco said this is her first spring concert.
“I’ve done theater for a while, so it’s kind of the same thing. Just you know, there’s no lines really, just music which is also really fun, too, so I’m not too nervous,” Carrasco said.
Brindley said they are very well prepared.
“It’s a lot easier to get into the music and go through the music when we don’t have to worry about our blocking and our dancing … I like that we’re very far ahead in terms of dancing, in terms of working together as a group. It’s been … a good year for this particular show,” Brindley added.
Having worked on the spring show the past three years, Brindley said it’s fun to see how it has grown and changed while realizing this is the last one he’ll get to be part of.
Carrasco said she is really excited about getting to do the concert during her last year of high school.
“I feel like this was like a really good … closer to the year for me at least … Overall, it’s nerve wracking, but just … exciting, too,” she added.
Carrasco said she had auditioned for the Legacy choir her sophomore year, but forgot the lyrics to the song as she was trying out.
She took a step back, but realized it was something she really wanted to do and thought it would be a really fun thing to do her last year of high school.
“My year so far has been really busy, but honestly, I’d rather it be busy than boring. That’s kind of how I see it. I just want it to be full of all kinds of memories. That’s definitely something that I’m lucky to have had been a part of,” Carrasco said.
Brindley said he saw a lot of his friends from middle school that were in high school join the choir and he thought it was cool to go the shows and see how well they worked together.
“And so I was like, you know what, this might be fun. So I went in two years ago, and so it was nice,” he said.
He added that he’s excited to show the audience the variety of songs they have been working on.
“I think the audience will really like the variety because it’s not one specific genre, or subculture of rock, it’s all sorts and so it’s going to be a little bit of something for everybody. I feel like everybody will enjoy this show,” Carrasco said.
