Following the release of the hit TV series ‘Glee’ in 2009, show choirs became a growing sensation in the Midwest. These are typically co-ed groups that sing and choreograph dance moves to that song.
Nathan Schaefferkoetter, Choir Director, sponsors the show choir, OnStage! In order to join, students must audition during the spring of the year before. If they make the cut, they are required to take OnStage! as a class during their school day. The class is primarily led by the designated OnStage! leaders, typically upperclassmen.
This year’s OnStage! leadership group consists of seniors, Heidi Daffron, Avery Bengtson, Taylor Scaring, Audrey Clark, Liam McCauliffe and Nyle Rashdi.
“You have to have something to add to the group, whether that’s a skill or a talent or something. For example, Audrey and I were choreographers. Avery, she’s communications. Heidi, she’s the equipment and videography,” Scaring said.
Much like ‘Glee,’ the group is made up of a diverse group of students such as Jack Lange, who also plays football, Emerson Mathes, who runs cross country and Heidi Daffron, who is on the Eurekana yearbook staff.
“OnStage! is a very collective group. We have people from all around the school like theater, football, athletics, and Goldenline” McCauliffe said.
Even with their differences, when it’s time to perform a collection of all these diverse backgrounds creates the special dynamics within the group, which captivates their audiences.
“I think it just represents what OnStage! is about, a lot of different people coming together and singing and dancing and just having fun. And when leadership has that representation, I think the younger kids really resonate with that, and it just helps binds the group a lot more,” Daffron said.
The leadership team puts aside any differences when it comes to teaching the class; they work with Schaefferkoetter to pick songs for their shows. When choosing, they utilize a database that stores all of their previous songs. They also try to use new relevant songs that will engage students. This year leadership is focusing on including more genres.
“Audrey and I both have experience with dance and teaching. I’m a teacher for little kids at my studio and so is Audrey,” Scaring said. “But it’s just sometimes hard (because) you don’t realize how much you have to explain to a whole group. ‘oh, move your right foot and your left arm.’ You would think people could just watch you and they would pick up on it. You have to explain every little detail.”
The choreography is inspired from things such as previous numbers OnStage has performed, TikTok dances, dances from ‘Glee’, and Goldenline. The leaders allow juniors to choreograph a number, which prepares them for potentially becoming a leader themselves.
When teaching the numbers, leaders use terminology that everyone understands. The leaders agree that teaching dances and singing is not the hardest part of the class, but balancing relationships and still leading is more difficult.
“I have a lot of friends on OnStage! It’s hard to balance between they’re my peer, but I’m also having to show maturity and actually teach the class. Because if I don’t show that maturity, then that shows under preparedness,” Rashdi said.
“It’s definitely made us realize how hard it is to be in charge of a group of people and, like, maintain that respect while also being kind but being disciplined enough to be able to run class smoothly,” Clark said.
Although leadership does a great job of guiding the group, conflict can occur in any high school class.
“The leaders go to Mr. Schaefferkoetter’s office because he’s our advisor, we bring the drama to him. At the end of the day, we are children, and I think we all get a little emotional with our own issues or our biases towards others,” Bengtson said. “So we bring it to him, and he’s a pretty good, fair player in dealing with drama. So bringing it to him is probably the best thing we can do because we’re friends with all these people.” Leadership encourages students to try out if they are interested.
“I wish people knew that OnStage! wasn’t just full of one type of kid. We get such a bad rep because they’re like, oh, you guys are so weird,” Daffron said. “But we have people in dance, sports, other clubs and activities. Like, it’s not just a big theater production.”
If singing and dancing isnt your specialty, you can still support OnStage! by attending their winter and spring shows. In addition, OnStage! “goes on tour” to feeder middle and elementary schools to promote their summer camp.
An OnStage! show has a little bit of everything. “We just want so many people to come to our shows because these are songs that our peers definitely know and love. Parents know, parents love,” Bengtson said.
“We make sure that the shows are enjoyable for all ages and all different types of people. And that’s just the one thing I’m like, ‘you may not like dancing and singing yourself, but you will have such a good time in these shows because there’s just so much to watch.’”
