The Joy of Music

Yesterday the cast of Our Town watched a screening of John McGivern's Around the Corner in the Young Auditorium on the UW Whitewater campus. Why? Well because John is playing the role of The Stage Manager in our production of Our Town. Exciting as that is (believe me, it's pretty darn exciting), that's not what this post is about. This post is about an event that went on before the screening of the show.

While the cast and other audience members were mingling in the lobby, a large group of older men wearing red sweaters started to gather at the front of the room. Nobody really paid them much attention until they all started lining up in a choir formation and a single note was played from a pitch pipe. They started to sing and a crowd slowly gathered in front of them. We stood and watched as they began their first song and the director introduced the group. This group was called The Country Gentlemen and they were a barbershop chorus. Not a quartet. A CHORUS! They were delightful to listen to and the great thing about this particular experience is that it brought the old people and young people together. Everyone was enjoying the performance, I saw smiles from all age groups. I even got to polka with a fellow castmate when the group performed Roll Out the Barrel; which was fantastic because you all know how much I love to polka (and if you don't, lets just say that I absolute love it).

The whole audience had so much fun. I think it is so incredible that music can be such a bond building thing. The college aged cast loved it, the elderly loved it, the middle aged adults loved it, there were even a few young children there who you could tell were also completely enthralled. And even better than that, you could tell that the men performing enjoyed this more than anyone else. They were in their own world while singing and their faces absolutely lit up during the applause.

The fact that music brings people together is just one of the many reasons why I love it.

-Jackey

Also, John's show was awesome and you should all come see Our Town the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of April at the Young Auditorium in Whitewater, WI. Hope to see you there!