The moment comes fast and furious, almost without warning. Grand Finale transitions from its mid-show ballad to the song “El Mismo Sol” complete with flowing skirts on the female members, snazzy red and black jackets on the males and a loud exclamation from the entire group seconds after closing the mid-routine ballad.
It wakes up the crowd, dazzles everyone with energy and helps bring home a rousing performance that has audience members clapping along at the end and the entire troupe beaming big smiles of pride.
“I love so many moments of this show, but I think one of my favorite parts is when we end the ballad with these two beautiful songs that everybody knows. We kind of put it to bed with a soft closing and then the next song is the Spanish song (“El Mismo Sol”) and everyone yells, ‘Hey!’ I wonder if anyone out in the audience jumped in their seats,” Grand Finale Director LeAnna Iddings said moments after the Rome High School show choir finished its 2022 roll-out show performance at the Rome High School Performing Arts Center on Friday, Jan. 21.
Iddings who helps direct the band during the performance wore a big smile and seemed super pumped by her group’s performance.
“When the choreographer demonstrated the show on a video, I think he was just trying to get the point across that this is a big part and we are going to have fun. The students asked if they could actually do that on stage, and I said told them they absolutely could. We are going to scare the audience out of their seats by doing that. So that is kind of a surprise that has become one of my favorite parts of the show,” she said.
For those unfamiliar with show choir, the group mixes male and female performers who sing and dance through multiple numbers throughout 20 to 25 minutes. Both the males and females get highlighted in numbers, and several members have solos. But each one is tasked with remembering advanced dance moves as well as knowing the lyrics for multiple songs all while keeping a big smile on their faces, all in an effort to make the entire routine look effortless.
For Iddings, the fourth-year director and her charges, the show entitled, “Light Up the World” mixes slow and fast songs combined with furious dance moves while the troupe carries the audience through several countries via their songs and dances.
The idea behind the show had been percolating in Iddings’ mind for several years.
“I’ve always thought this would be a really cool show, but I never knew exactly what direction I wanted to go with it. The opportunity came this year, because we have such a diverse school and group,” she said. “Within our group of 34 members, we have a lot of different cultures represented and different languages spoken at home. I thought it was the time to pull this show out and do something fun with it.”
And the final word of her quote comes through in every number the 35 performers bring to the audience during the routine. Their faces and their moves echo the word and even the audience can’t help but feel the fun it brings.
“I thought we could really pull in this kind of whole cultural thing that we have, and we’ve had a really great time with it,” Iddings said. “I think this was the right year to work on this show. These kids have really enjoyed themselves and put a lot of work to make it awesome.”
The work for the group began on the first day of school, learning the lyrics to the seven-plus songs they perform during the routine. Later came choreography camps both through video and in person to learn the dance moves. Add in some snazzy costumes complete with a couple of costume changes mid show for both male and female performers, and the show began to coalesce.
A week ago, the troupe put some finishing touches on it in their dress rehearsal and on Friday they showed a lot of polish and poise from the almost six months of constant work preparing for the competition season which kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 5 in Albertville, Alabama at the Diamond Classic.
The group plays the part of road warriors all season, traveling to Alabama for two shows as well as making the journey to Nashville, Tennessee and the long hike to Biloxi, Mississippi. The group will perform once more in Rome on March 7 a few days before the Biloxi competition.
This is Iddings fourth year as director and the fifth year that Grand Finale has existed as Rome High’s Show Choir. During that time, they’ve begun to earn a name at competitions moving up the standings and even grabbing a trophy or two along the way. But the competition isn’t all about winning or earning a trophy.
“I’m really hoping that we can go out and make ourselves proud and put a product on the stage that we are happy for people to see. We hope they notice that we really have something good going on at Grand Finale,” Iddings said. “Of course, it would be amazing if that comes with trophies, and we hope that it does. But there are a lot of incredible groups out there that we are up against, so we are just hoping that we will do something special because, first and foremost, that’s what we’ve worked hard for.”
While the show journeys around the world, starting in the United States with visits to Ireland, Greece, the South Pacific Islands, Spain and more along the way, the group and Iddings have had quite a journey themselves the past few years.
“This is my fourth year as director and fourth year with Grand Finale under the choral department umbrella at Rome High. I joke with the freshman that we were freshman together,” she said. “We both came in scared and only halfway knew what was going on, and we have all really grown together and grown in who we are and in our confidence over the last four years. It’s been amazing to see this senior class blossom, and I feel like they have given me a lot of grace over those four years, because I have also learned and blossomed myself. That’s the fun part.”
Now the confidence they’ve all gained over the past few years shows off, and so do the big smiles from each member during the routine displaying the fun they are having. In many ways the routine tells the story of the group, and their journey.
The ballad in mid show mixes two classic Disney tunes “Go the Distance” from Hercules and “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. The lyrics of both talk about performing well and wondering how far their journey will go. On this night, with smiles and high fives around after a performance the answer seems clear.
Grand Finale’s journey has just started, and if they continue to bring the energy, enthusiasm and most of all fun, they will not only go the distance but accomplish some amazing things along the way.
Go Wolves!!!
