Show choir is something that has been taking the world by storm, but believe it or not, show choir existed before the days of "Glee." As someone who was involved with this insane thing we call show choir, I will be the first and not the last to tell you that show choir is not "Glee." So, the next time you hear someone say they were involved with show choir please be sure not to say, "Oh, so like 'Glee?'" because I'm here to tell you that is the last thing we want to hear.
And heres why.
1. Show choirs have one and only one show they perform at competitions for the year.
Unlike what "Glee" portrays, it would be impossible for a show choir to learn a new show, with new choreography and new costumes every single week because that's the amount of time they have between competitions. Show choirs focus on their one show for the year and start learning it in the summer and attempt perfection with that one show. With the amount of time it takes to put a whole show together, it would be impossible for these show choirs to do what "Glee" does successfully.
2. Two soloists do not sing the whole set.
What I'm saying here is that there are five or six songs total in which the whole choir sings in their designated part. Weird, right? That a whole choir would actually sing and not have two soloists sing the whole set while the rest did a few 'ahhs and ooo's' in the back. Mind blown.
3. Choreography.
All that can be said about this is that choreography is much harder, more advanced and completely thought out by a hired choreographer.
4. Sorry, the pit band won't play any song on command.
I feel like I don't really need to go into much detail about this one, but the pit band is made up of students, and they're not always just casually sitting around in the music room waiting for when a song needs played. Oh yeah, and they don't just play any random song whenever you need it.
5. There's more than just the show choir. There's the the backstage crew.
Wait, what? Who are they? Yes, there is a backstage crew. They are at every rehearsal doing as much as they can to make the show perfect. From getting up the set to helping performers change the stage crew is always there even though you may not know it and especially since "Glee" does not show it.
6. There are more awards than just Grand Champs.
Best Crew, Best Set, Best Combo, Best Costumes, Best Vocals, Best Choreography, Best Female/Male Soloist, Best Show Concept, Peoples Choice... yes these are all trophies you can win at a show choir competition, and all are caption awards a group can take home without winning Grand Champs. And most of the time, you fight to the death for all of these awards because, I mean, the more hardware the better, am I right?
OK, but here's the deal, we loved "Glee." It was a great show with great renditions of songs, moving characters and ridiculous things happening in every episode. But, please next time you meet someone who was a part of show choir do not ask them if it was anything like "Glee" because it was not.
