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Capital City Classic returns
By Leigh Anne Butler
Tallassee High School show choir groups are back and prepping for full shows with the intent to compete in a more normal year following two seasons complicated by the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tallassee High School’s show choir season kicks off this weekend at the Capital City Classic, a premier show choir competition held in Montgomery and hosted by Tallassee High School. Show choirs from across the southeast participate in the annual event that is slated for this Friday and Saturday at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center (MPAC) located in downtown Montgomery.
“We have over 40 groups from five states that will be involved in this year’s competition,” Jerry Cunningham, Capital City Classic coordinator stated. Last year the competition was canceled due to Covid. “I’m just so glad we are going to get to host it this year.”
Michael Bird, music teacher at Tallassee High School explained, “The Covid pandemic has caused many school programs to enter a crisis management mode and yet some programs have grown stronger through all the adversity. What we are seeing is that there is a real hunger for people to see and participate in live performances again, and the Capital City Classic is a great example of that.”
The festival begins Friday evening as 13 middle school groups from Alabama and Georgia compete in three different categories. 28 high school groups take the stage on Saturday performing in eight different categories. There are four women’s groups, two men’s groups and 22 mixed groups in the high school category.
Tallassee’s three show choir groups, Divas, Voltage and Gold Edition will perform at the Capital City Classic but not compete since Tallassee is the host school.
Students from all grades participate in Tallassee High School’s show choir groups. The pandemic-induced gap between normal show choir seasons means that underclassmen have yet to experience the excitement of the Capital City Classic.
Lane Aldridge is a senior and captain of the 31-member men’s group, Gold Edition. “It has been a while since we have been able to put on a show at the Capital City Classic. All I can do is try my best to steer the younger members of Gold Edition to continue to keep this amazing group we have. I am really confident in the group of guys we have this year participating,” Aldridge explained. Gold Edition’s exhibition performance will be Saturday evening at 9:55.
Senior show choir member, Georgia Anne Butler is captain of the 37-member women’s show choir group, Divas. “We have a lot of fresh, new faces who have yet to experience performing in front of such a large crowd. The MPAC seats around 1,800 people and it’s always a packed house for the Divas performance since it is right before the awards ceremony. There is always such a buzz before every performance but especially this one,” Butler stated. “I’m so excited for the Capital City Classic and am looking forward to seeing our hard work come to fruition.” The Divas take the stage Friday night at 10:10.
Butler also serves as captain of the 29-member group, Voltage. “Voltage is an advanced, mixed show choir group. We’ve put in a lot of sweat and tears to bring such an exciting show and can’t wait to perform it,” Butler added. Voltage performs Saturday at noon.
Tickets may be purchased at the door. Adult tickets are $15 each per day, children ages 5-12 are $5 each per day and children under five are free.
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