By Alex Boucher ’16 | Staff Writer

Flashing lights, sparkling costumes, and perfect harmony, all something straight out of an episode of “Glee,” but choir competitions are not like they are portrayed on the television screen.

“‘Glee’ certainly has raised awareness of performing choirs and show choirs in general,” said choir director Christopher Pratt. “But ‘Glee’ is nothing like the real thing.”

One of the many differences between “Glee” and real choir is the preparation, Alex Niforos ’16 said. South’s competition preparation is much more intense than what is shown on “Glee,” and that includes much more challenging dance routines.

“Despite those differences, the pre-performance inspirational speeches from the director are very real,” said Jack Daley ’14.

Choir competitions are invitationals where schools from across the country are invited to compete in the show choir division, the concert choir division and the solo divisions, Pratt said. There is typically a preliminary competition and a finals round where groups hope to make it into the finals on their first show and perform for final placement in the second.

“Each group from each school prepares a 25-minute, five-song set to perform at the hosting school with no prior rehearsal on their stage,” said Daley.

Most divisions are based on the type of group, Pratt said. Pointe Singers is a varsity mixed choir; Tower Belles is a varsity women’s choir, and South Singers is a junior varsity mixed choir. They all compete in their own divisions, not against one another.

“The Tower Belles ranges between elegant and powerful, stuff that’s very girl-power based,” said Niforos, a Tower Belles member.

There is a lot of hard work that goes into preparing for a competition, Pratt said. It takes weeks to refine all of that work to get it to the competition level. First the choir learns the music in class, then the choreographer comes in to stage and choregraph the number.

“Eventually we spend time putting costumes, band and refining transitions into the performance, so everything seems seamless,” said Pratt.

When it comes to the music performed at the competitions, our groups do a variety of musical theater styles, Pratt said. There is some pop and some classical music. However, it varies from school to school.

“The performances are extremely tiring, you don’t really know what to expect from the audience before you walk out onto the stage,” said Daley. “Once you’re onstage a wall of applause and cheering hits you and you begin to run on only adrenaline.”

As director, much of his role is spending time in the background ensuring logistics and making sure everything is ready to go for the students, Pratt said. He also gets the band and singers ready for their performances and directs the show when it is live on stage.

“I like the adrenaline rush of live performance demanding a high level from all involved,” said Pratt. “We did well last year and now that many have been through the experience they get the benefit of that experience.”

Competitions are judged by three main categories, Pratt said. Those are choral sound, choreography, and show design.

One thing the students don’t have a lot of once the day begins is downtime, Pratt said. Students obviously perform and then they watch other groups to see what the competition is doing.

“Overall, I’d say that show choir competition is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” said Daley. “Despite the long hours and the intense preparation, it’s a really cool experience and I can’t wait to do it again.”

[info] To read more on South’s choir’s performances, check out this article on this weekend’s competition and this article to read about all of South’s musical groups. [/info]