Lights flash on, disrupting wondering eyes from searching the crowd and heating up nervously colored cheeks. The stage size; threatening. The number of people in the crowd is overwhelming compared to the crowds that normally gather for a choir concert. But the smiles that grace the faces of the chosen members of MacArthur’s choir spread from ear to ear in anxious excitement. They stand, clumped together in black apparel, behind the star they were chosen to sing for; Susan Boyle.
“It was really uplifting,” PFC and concert chorale member, senior Chris Hale said. “It just made me feel really cool that we were chosen as Mac Choir to represent Susan Boyle and be her voice.”
The opportunity to sing with Boyle was awarded to 26 members of varsity choir. It arose from a Tobin Center employee, who knew of Mac choir and suggested them to the individuals in charge of producing a backup choir.
“We didn’t ask them to be the choir, we were just chosen,” Hale said.
Despite not outright seeking the chance, the students were exhilarated to be picked and perform.
“It was absolutely the coolest thing,” concert chorale member, senior Brittany Aston said. “The house was packed with people, there was lights all over the place, people were playing things and there was absolutely nothing else on my mind. ”
The audience added to the experience, by remaining welcoming to the choir and encouraging the students with a plethora of applause and verbal praise.
“They gave us a standing ovation,” Aston said. “Honestly, I can say that entire night, in that moment specifically, was one of the single most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
The students not only enjoyed their time on stage, they were also inspired to the point it changed some aspects of their life.
“It peaked my interest in theatre tech,” Aston said. “It opened up an entire new branch to me. Never before had I actually thought about it. This experience actually made me want to be apart of it, it made me realize I could do this with my life.”
As well as giving the students career options to contemplate, this concert also helped them get closer with one another.
“You bond with the people you do that with,” Aston said. “The people that were with me in concert chorale now and at the Susan Boyle concert, they’re my family. I am just as proud of them as I am myself.”
Throughout all the bonding, and learning, and singing these students got the opportunity to experience something they may never get to again. Being picked to sing with a famous star was the opportunity of a lifetime for them, and it was almost possible for them to describe.
“[This experience was] awesome, fantastic, incredible, exhilarating, all the words you can think of to describe it,” Aston said.
