LOS ALAMITOS, CA– Los Alamitos High School choir held its first concert of the year in the Performing Arts Center with the theme of Broadway. Los Al choir had four show times this year: Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., Friday the 29th at 7 p.m., and Saturday the 30th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. This year, a variety of Broadway songs and performances took over the PAC as choirs performed songs from “Hamilton,” “Six,” “Footloose,” “Cabaret,” and more, accompanied by a live band behind the stage.
Act One started with the widely-loved opening song “Hamilton,” performed by Sound FX and Connexion. Next, the “Hamilton” story continued with “Your Obedient Servant” sung by Jake Dingillo and Ben Vandermost, with featured dancers Myley Fox and Arron Meyers. Finally, Bobby Medina, dressed as King George III, closed the “Hamilton” set with “You’ll Be Back.”
From there, the show moved backward in time as Soundtrax took over the stage with “Ex Wives” from the musical “Six,” followed by “No Way” and the emotional “Heart of Stone.” After asking the audience if Los Al wanted to hear one last song, the lady Griffins gave an exuberant performance of “MegaSix.”
The choir show was awesome; they’re all so talented. I don’t want to seem biased, but when they performed ‘Six,’ I was astonished!”
— Sophia Lopez, sophomore
Next, Tony Hamashita gave a spunky solo performance of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” from “Mowtown: The Musical,” followed by an Xtreme and Sound FX group performance of “My Girl” from “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” Afterward, Sam Bikov soloed in the lovely “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific,” followed by an Axcent performance of “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.”
“I think this show was probably my best show, performance-wise,” said freshman Brynnley Evink, a member of Axcent. “I think our choir did amazing; we had some bumps along the way, but I think we did pretty well.”
After the Xtreme choir gave a spunky performance of “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame” to close the “South Pacific” number of the concert, Sophie Lu delivered an emotional solo performance of “I’d Give My Life for You” from “Miss Saigon.” Then, Perfexion members Amanda Ferguson, Kendall Powers, Jayla Rowland, Mayah Tolosa, and Jasmine Yune gave a harmonic a cappella performance of “Holding Out for a Hero” from “Footloose,” followed by a solo of “Corner of the Sky” from “Pippin” by Barron Bliss-Frisinger.
“My favorite song was ‘There is Nothin’ Like a Dame’… It was super funny, and every time I watched it, I was laughing so much,” said Evink.
Finally, Xpressions claimed the stage with songs from the musical “Come From Away.” A vibrant “Welcome to the Rock” opened the number, followed by a hymnal performance of “Prayer.” Next, Xpressions sang “Heave Away,” “38 Planes/Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere,” and closed Act One with the musical’s “Finale” song.
“I am super proud of this performance,” said Los Al choir director Mr. Moellenkamp during intermission at the Friday night show. “The students have really worked incredibly hard to perfect all the music and choreography that we’ve given them, and they’re executing everything at such an incredible, professional, strong, amazing level.”
After intermission, all of the Los Al choirs opened Act Two with lively “Oklahoma,” followed by a humorous Sound FX performance of “Corn Puddin’” from the play “Schmigadoon!” Then, both Sound FX and Soundtrax sang “Maybe Love” from the comedy “Shucked.” Afterward, Lea Guijarro gave an empowering performance of “Independently Owned.” Another solo performance followed with Jenna Currey singing “The Light in the Piazza.”
Then, Xquisite performed “Be Italian” from “Nine,” using tambourines to enhance the song, and was accompanied by featured dancers Katelyn Chen and Jasmine Yune. After, Connexion sang “Cinema Italiano.” Next, Aden Cajudo stood in the spotlight and soloed in “Rewrite the Stars” from “The Greatest Showman,” followed by another solo performance of “Cabaret” by Hayley Dunn.
“I thought we were very strong as a group, and we really came together. I myself gained a lot of friendships in choir this year already,” said Connexion member Mac Eagen, a sophomore. “In my opinion, my favorite song was ‘Nothin’ Like a Dame’ or ‘MegaSix.’”
After, Sound FX took over the stage yet again with a riveting performance of “What Are You Thirsty For?” from “Some Like It Hot.” Then, X Force performed “Dancin’ Fool” from “Copacabana,” with featured dancer Arron Myers. Then, Sound FX gave its last performance of the night – “Some Like It Hot” – before all choirs filled the PAC and sang “Feel the Light,” closing the concert.
“I really enjoyed the choir show,” said junior Bella Kim, who attended the 2 p.m. concert on Saturday. “I try to go to the Broadway one every year. It’s my favorite because their sets and costumes are always so fun. I think their best songs this year were ‘Ex Wives’ and ‘Welcome to the Rock’.”
Mr. Moellenkamp commented on how he loves seeing the different choir groups perform together in multiple songs.
I think [the students] performing all together gives them a lot of strength. It’s a very strong, powerful experience when you get to sing in any choir – it’s life-changing. But the fact that they all get to do a couple numbers together is really special.”
— Mr. Moellenkamp, Los Al choir director
Los Al choir’s first show of the year, “Feel the Light,” kicked off their season with a bang. The selection of Broadway songs was executed perfectly, with goosebump-inflicting vocals and awe-inspiring choreography. Los Al cannot wait to see what else these choirs have in store for the future!
