Members of the RHS choir program, alongside members of the drama club and RMS Canzonetta, showcased their talents to a delighted audience at the 12th Annual Cabaret Night, held at the high school on Friday, Feb. 9.
“I love the sense of community it brings,” junior performer Gerald Creighton said. “We have food from all sorts of restaurants, we have people who come back every year to see the show and we have people from the drama club help out and volunteer their time. It’s just nice to see everyone come together for one big event.”
Cabaret Night, which this year combined a catered dinner from local restaurants with a revue of well-known music from films and Broadway shows, is a beloved staple on the choir program’s annual schedule.
After dinner and a tricky tray raffle, the audience was led into the auditorium to enjoy a wide array of musical numbers, which were selected by the performers themselves and presented by various choir members as either solos or in small groups.
These numbers were the most unique aspect of the performance, as they highlighted the work and musical style preferences of specific individuals within the choir program. Cabaret is one of two annual choir concerts—the other being POPtoberfest in the fall—that present choir members with the opportunity to select their own songs, which are then approved through an audition process.
Selections ranged from classic Disney songs such as “In Summer” from “Frozen” to the classic Sondheim number “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” and everything in between, all of which were hits with both performers and audience members alike.
Creighton reminisced about his and his friends’ performance of the unique barbershop quartet, “It’s You,” from “The Music Man,” saying, “I found that the most memorable part of the barbershop quartet was the first time we actually put it all together with the movement and the singing because that’s when I realized that something I had wanted to do since my freshmen year was actually happening.”
Additionally, the choir ensembles were well represented with full-ensemble performances sprinkled throughout the evening. These included the Concert Choir’s show-opener performance of “20 Million People” from “My Favorite Year,” the “Sound of Music” classic “My Favorite Things” by the Treble Choir, “Little Shop of Horrors” by the RMS Canzonetta, an A Capella rendition of “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from “Hairspray” and the show finale consisting of all choir members singing a mashup of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from “The Sound of Music” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel.”
“I think the choir as a whole did really well on the finale song, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone/Climb Every Mountain,’ ” junior choir student Harsh Magdum said. “This was our combined piece for the concert, and even though it was difficult to learn and perform because of the high notes, the time spent practicing and perfecting it really paid off.”
Drama club member Pooja Das also gave a preview of the musical number “On the Steps of the Palace” from “Into the Woods.”
Overall, the night was a rousing success for both the performers and the audience. Looking ahead,“Into the Woods” premieres on March 21 and the Spring Choir Concert will be staged in May.
