"Are you from here?"
I'm too tired to ask people about their favorite show tunes. I know this because I don't notice the bus pull up next to me and open its doors. I also know this because I don't immediately know the answer to the question being asked to me by a red-haired man who is standing just inside the bus.
"Excuse me, are you from here?" he asks again.
"I, uh, no. I am not. Why are you asking?"
"Well we're from Bemidji, MN, and we wanted to know if there was any music store in town where you can buy a harmonica."
I blink, and it seems to take a long time. I tell him I'm sorry but I don't know of where one can acquire a harmonica in the city of Marion. The bus from Bemidji continues on its quest.
This is the Supernova Show Choir Competition at Linn Mar high school, and I have been dispatched by my editors to find out the answer to this question:
"What is your favorite Show tune, and why?"
It seems like a simple enough question, but it seemed to be met by some resistance when I asked people about it. Whenever I asked the question, people would squint and pause for a few moments, as if they were rolling the question over in their minds.
"Show tunes...show tunes? How can I possibly answer this question in a way that will make me look good?"
I think the difficult part of that question lies in the reality that there is no way to answer that question and look good doing it. Although "Rent" and "Wicked" seemed to be the most popular musicals for those that I asked, I must admit to being a traditionalist. Give me some "Singing in the Rain" or "Music Man," and I'll be happy. Also, cheesiness aside, I think "West Side Story" is genuinely a good movie.
Go ahead and judge me.
Speaking of West Wide Story, one of the interesting things about attending a show choir competition is mingling with hordes of pre-teens who are dressed in matching outfits. They were like street gangs, but with shinier shirts.
I waited to buy food behind a team of yellow-clad youths from "Happiness, Inc." a team from Cedar Rapids Kennedy, and ate luke-warm pizza while sitting with the members of "Studio 2008" out of Urbandale. Later "Infinity," out of Des Moines Lincoln, sang a rendition of "Tainted Love" that while good, was neither tainted or like love.
Later, as I was roaming the halls looking for people to interview, I saw two young girls, identically dressed, with their hair filled with curlers, walking by and sharing one pair of headphones between two heads-- a sight that was so ridiculous that it transcended reality and was instantly transfigured into myth.
Did I mention I was tired?
My favorite team, however, was Vocalmotive, out of the aforementioned Bemidji, MN. Apparently there is such a dearth of serious show-choir competition in Northern Minnesota that the team takes to the road, competing in high-class venues in Wisconsin and Iowa-- where, and this is again news to me, show choir is a much bigger deal. For travelling ten hours by bus to get here, Vocalmotive gets my "Spirit of the Show" award, which I made up just now, and is worth just as much as that would suggest.
On a side note, I also like Bemidji, MN, because I have never met someone from there who didn't introduce him or herself as being from "Bemidjiminnesota." A stream of words accompanied by a wide and friendly, Midwestern grin.
But I digress. Good luck at your competition in Orlando, Vocalmotive!