Ding Dong! Members of the Rancho Cucamonga High School Choir built their own yellow brick road for their audience to follow right down to their concert musical, “The Wonderful Music of Oz.” The performance took place on Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the auditorium and was a showcase of songs from “The Wizard of Oz,” and musicals “Wicked” and “The Wiz.”
“The Wizard of Oz” has been a world-renowned show, adapting all kinds of different renditions of the fantasy land of Oz. As time passed since the movie was first released, it earned many different kinds of productions on stage and off. It also gave birth to all kinds of music surrounding Oz, such as the award-winning Broadway musical “Wicked.” The RCHS choir decided on this theme for the concert for its familiarity, nostalgia, and as a tribute to a well-known masterpiece in the world.
Leading up to the concert, choir members rehearsed. Junior Emily Coppell shared what preparations she does before the concert.
“We have tracks that are split up per part. So, just listening to those a lot and practicing,” Coppell said. “Also, singing together a lot. We do sectionals as well. Which is just singing in our sections, such as sopranos, altos, tenors.”
With the flu season, the choir had to take more precautions than usual leading up to the day of performance. Junior Dawson Hyde brought up what precautions he took leading up to the day of the concert.
“We had to make sure we knew all of our dances, and specifically where we were supposed to stand,” said Hyde. “I was actually one of the people who got sick; then, it started going around. We were all tired and couldn’t sing, but we got better in time for the show.”
After all that prepping and precautions taken, the show was a smash. The auditorium was also filled with both the students’ families, friends, and faculty cheering them on. The choir was also joined by a few special guests from different middle schools who sang alongside the RCHS Choir.
The show began with all combined choirs singing the beginning of the song, “No One Mourns the Wicked,” from the Broadway musical, “Wicked.” Then it segwayed to the Cougar Chorus singing, “Dancing Through Life,” and “If Only I had a Brain.” Soon after, Bella Voce, a group in the RCHS Choir, came on stage and sang their pieces, which featured “Popular,” from “Wicked.” Afterwards, the junior choir came out singing, “Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead.” Finally, Chambers came on and ended the show with a number of songs with their closing being a combination of “Defying Gravity” and the ending of “No One Mourns the Wicked.”
Junior and soloist Grace Jourieh spoke about the overall feeling after the show and performing a big solo she had.
“I’m feeling fantastic after the show; it was phenomenal,” Jourieh said. “It truly felt amazing because once you get up there on stage, your nerves just fly away. It’s really such a fun experience, and I’m so glad that this got to happen.”
Dr. Joel Wilson, the RCHS Choir Director, shared how proud he was of all the students residing in the choir program.
