With four days to go before Let’s Hear It For The Boys opens, and the Chorus is shifting into high gear getting ready. Tomorrow night is Tech Rehearsal, where we work out the issues with the sound, lights and other logistics. Then Thursday is the dress rehearsal, where we make sure there won’t be any wardrobe malfunctions and that everything looks the way we want it to. That’s also the night Paul Nixdorf wanders around the stage with his camera, getting the pictures we use in our promotions, so we want to look like we will at the actual performance. And he knows how to do it without being too much of a distraction.
You gotta come see this show. It’s going to be very exciting. There’s over 130 songs by about 70 bands. The show opens with a movement called GuyTunes, though I’m not sure why. It’s a medley of several songs by The Beatles, The Doobie Brothers, The Four Seasons, The Knack, The Spinners, Queen and Backstreet Boys, The spectacle of watching a hundred gay men singing “My Sharona” alone is worth the ticket price.
Then we move on to those bands we consider to be PowerHouses. At least David Maddux, who arranged all this for us, thinks so: Blood, Sweat & Tears, more Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis & The News, Journey (“Don’t Stop Believin’” will make the Gleeks happy) and Kiss.
Next comes Boys In Twos, like Hall & Oates, Seals & Crofts, Loggins & Messina, Jan & Dean (“Dead Man’s Curve” – an old favorite of mine), Righteous Brothers, Erasure, Air Supply and Wham. Then it’s those California Boys like The Association, Beach Boys, Eagles, Sugar Ray… and Toto, too!
A smaller ensemble performs a medley of songs by The Bee Gees, which was one less movement to have to memorize, which is fine with me.
Chicago gets a movement of its own, as do The Jackson Five. The latter is another ensemble piece, so I don’t have to learn that one either.
Act One ends with a medley called Gallery of Guys which I think was just a catch-all for all the songs they had left over, by Little River Band, 10cc, Orleans, America, Allman Brothers, The Four Seasons, The Monkees, the Osmond Brothers and Three Dog Night.
After intermission, we start Act Two with a medley of Queen hits, then move across the pond for the Brit Boys: Pet Shop Boys, Vulture Club, Tears For Fears, Duran Duran, The Police, Depeche Mode, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and Herman’s Hermits. Oh, I’m ’enery the eighth I am…
The R&B movement seems to go on forever, which it almost does but it’s only 11 minutes, and you won’t even notice the time passing while you hear our take on hits by The Temptations, Spinners, Four Tops, Drifters, Stylistics, Manhattans, The Commodores, Kool & The Gang, Isley Brothers, The O Jays and the Trampps. Stan, in his infinite wisdom, separated this movement with smaller ensembles to sing some of it, so the Chorus doesn’t have too much to learn.
The Village People get the spotlight next, and you just know the Chorus is going to come up with something creative. I just hope I can get the Y-M-C-A hand signals right) followed by a medley of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (though I think “Marrakesh Express” was after Neil Young left and they became just Crosby, Stills & Nash). Then to keep the younger generation happy we perform some songs from The New Breed of boy bands, like Backstreet Boys, Hanson (how ever will I remember all the words to “Mmm Bop”?), Boyz II Men and N’Sync.
We end the set with the one full song we’re doing in this concert, fittingly, Bye Bye Bye by N’Sync. And as always, we close the show with our signature song, Walk Hand In Hand. Since this is the Pride concert, which is a special occasion, we’re bringing out the disco version.
And all in a 90 minute show. This is a concert you don’t want to miss. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into it, and would love to have you come enjoy the fruits of those efforts. You can get your tickets here. And yes, I’m going to nag you all week until you do.
Share
