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MRH Musicians Treat Audience to Holiday Tunes at Showcase

The 2010 Winter Showcase at Maplewood Richmond Heights High School featured bands, choirs, videos and strobe lights.

Despite the icy weather, students and families enjoyed the entertainment from the safety and warmth of the Maplewood Richmond Heights High School theater during the 2010 Winter Showcase, held Wednesday.

Students and their instruments filled the stage. The students looked like professionals sitting in the blue stage lighting and dressed in black. Behind them, a huge projection screen displayed images and colors.

Before the performance, director Jason Harris warned the crowd that anyone prone to seizures should leave the theater because strobe lights would be used. He also asked for the crowd to stay particularly quiet—Wednesday's performance was captured by a professional sound recorder. The crowd at first adhered to this request, though small murmurs from children and coughs from the crowd grew louder and more frequent throughout the night.

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The production started with a song that included vocals and a display of Cirque du Soleil dancers on the screen.

The middle school choir performed next under the direction of Nick Urvan. The singers stood at the foot of the stage with no lights on their faces, so the crowd could only see their silhouettes. They started with a Spanish piece and ended with You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch arranged by Jeff Funk.

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The seventh-grade beginning band played a couple of seasonal songs, including The Little Drummer Boy, and the students' nervousness over one of their first big performances could be heard in the sounds coming through their instruments.

"It's a little scary up here isn't it, kids?" said Harris, who admitted to the crowd that he still gets nervous during live performances.

The high school concert band came next and played Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The rendition of the song sounded professional. The big-band style brought with it a sense of nostalgia.

The eighth-grade band played Greensleeves next while pictures of snowy landscapes were projected on the screen behind them. This led into a medley of football songs, which the eighth-grade and high school students played together.

The concert choir then lined up at the front of the stage, silhouetted in the absence of light. It began with Ave Maria. Some vocalists stood away from the main group, creating a layering effect.

The Blue Devil Big Band ended the night with three holiday songs and a tribute to The Beatles. The students plugged in for a Tran-Siberian Orchestra-esque version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

The grand finale, The Beatles tribute, proved to be a hit with the crowd. The band played a handful of songs, including Can't Buy Me Love, Penny Lane, Imagine and Hey Jude. The crowd stood and danced along to Hey Jude as choir director Nick Urvan joined the students on stage.

"I didn't know (Hey Jude) was going to get that much of a reaction," trumpet player Will Tipton said. "It was crazy. It was like a stadium."

The MRH bands and choirs are scheduled to perform again at the Soul Food Supper on Feb. 22. 

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