Friends and family eagerly fill the auditorium seats. As people begin to settle, the lights dim and the first few students take their spots on stage. The show is starting.
The show begins in the decade 1960 and goes through the decades leading up to 2020. The show highlights popular songs from each decade.
On May 10, Bowie’s Choir had the opening night of their annual Choir Cabaret. The shows were held for two days and this year’s theme was Blast from the Past with songs from the 1960’s to 2020. Songs such as Dancing Queen, Dance the Night, and Can’t Help Falling in Love with You were performed.
“I’m on the Leadership Council and I’m one of the directors and so we all came up with an idea and decided on decades,” Choir Co-President Mason Cottam said. “It ended up being the most focused idea, decades was new and fun and it was a nice cohesive theme.”
Cabarets at Bowie have been performed since the school originally opened in 1988. Bowie’s first choir teacher Sheryl Jones began the tradition. Since then, every year the choir has performed a show where students get to sing pop songs.
“We’re doing a history section of our cabaret program and I reached out to Miss Sheryl Jones. Cabaret started back when she was here, one of her seniors that was in the class of the late 2000s [directed] it,” Choir Director Aaron Bourgeois said. “We have our Cabaret that we do every year but I think people don’t know how much of a tradition it is on campus.”
Despite the Cabaret being a tradition, things have changed since when it was established. Traditionally, the Cabaret had been a fall show but now it’s a show that takes place in the spring. However, other characteristics of the show have stayed the same such as it being student-led.
“I had a kid who joined me last year whose dad was originally a member of the choir with the first teacher who was here so people are aware of what used to happen in the choir program,” Bourgeois said. “And I’ve liked being able to establish that this is a continuation of a tradition.”
The Cabaret is an opportunity for students to perform the songs they love and remind them why they love to sing. It also allows students to show off their hard work in improving their voice throughout the year.
“ I like to relieve the pressure that we’ve had from [UIL] and also, a lot of these kids’ favorite ways to sing is to sing the songs that they know and love,” Bourgeois said. “It’s definitely our most attended show throughout the year so I love that they can get a little more recognition through that performance.”
Each student performing in the Cabaret sang different songs from a variety of decades. For sophomore Anusha Rudra, she’s looked forward to performing Falling For Ya by Grace Phipps and Dance the Night by Dua Lipa.
“When we perform it, I’m sure it’s gonna be fun, especially in the costumes and stuff,” Rudra said. “I am personally in Falling For Ya from the Teen Beach Movie and there’s also Baby by Justin Bieber. There’s a lot of fun songs being performed.
To prepare for the show, the students performing in the show are gathered after school, after school and during the weekends. In addition there were been rehearsals during class to help the students learn choreography and the songs.
“We’ve had class rehearsals for learning choreography and songs during class time and then after school or weekend rehearsals,” Cottam said. “Student directors have been working with other groups to bring out harmonies or just meeting up with them to make sure we’re on track to be ready for the show.”
Cabarets are also a great learning experience for the student directors if they intend to have a career in directing in the future. Through the support of Bourgeois, student directors are able enjoy the “good parts” and still have support from him if they need help with the music or fulfilling their vision.
“I let them have the fun parts of directing without all the bad parts of it. This directing experience is for them to enjoy and I’ve told them to let me be the bad guy and handle situations where students are not doing what they’re supposed to,” Bourgeois said. “The main way I end up helping is through helping them fulfill their vision while also managing expectations, being able to know what’s realistic so that we can make sure that we have a show that’s very good quality.”
For many of the students in the choir, singing or music is a passion for them. They also love the sense of community that they gain from being part of the choir program.
“I’ve been in the Bowie choir all four years and I’ve also been singing my whole life. Music is the thing I’m passionate about and I’ve settled on choir specifically because singing is my favorite way to express that,” Cottam said. “I love the choir community, it’s very welcoming, very full of love.”
