For the past nine years, the McIntosh chorus program has hosted the Spring Gala to showcase the talent of our many choral students. All three performances of the show were completely sold out, with good reason. The show maintained a fun energy, with fun and lively performances that filled the stage with an incredibly talented chorus group as they sang and danced.

This year’s theme was titled “A Night At The Movies,” with performances centered around iconic songs from a variety of movies, including “Johnny B. Goode,” which was featured in the movie “Back To The Future,” “The Greatest Show” from “The Greatest Showman,” the Bellas’ final from “Pitch Perfect,” and many others. 

The Gala began with an opening message concerning what not to do during the performance, such as answer a phone call or get up during the middle of a song. Then the actual performances began, starting with the song “Circle of Life” from “The Lion King.” The crowd favorites from the first act were “Ghostbusters,” “Footloose,” and “9-5.” There was an intermission, and with everyone flooding out of the auditorium, the tremendous amount of people there became obvious to other audience members.

Act Two opened with “The Greatest Show” from the hit musical movie “The Greatest Showman,” with choreography and choral talent that greatly impressed the audience. The crowd favorites from act two, not counting the opening song, included “Eye of the Tiger,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Never Enough,” with the last being a stunning solo by sophomore Lydia Campbell.

Senior Perry Cox is in both Cantabile and the Men’s chorus this year, and he said that though it was a close call, this year’s Gala was his personal favorite. His favorite song to perform was the theme song from the movie “Ghostbusters.”

Cox said, “It [Ghostbusters] was a surprisingly fun dance and it always got a great reaction from the audience.”

Junior Clay Lawhead is in Cantabile and had a solo performance for the song “Those Magic Changes” from “Grease.”

Lawhead said, “This years’ Gala was special because there was so much nostalgia to it. There were songs from movies that appealed to all kinds of people, especially the senior song from Tarzan, made me feel warm inside because of the many memories it evoked.”

Junior Magan Briscoe is in Cantabile this year, and she said that performing songs from “The Greatest Showman” was exciting because the movie had been among her new favorites.

She also said, “My favorite moment from this Spring Gala is when Jerrod, our choreographer, surprised us before our last show. We didn’t think he would make it to any show but he surprised all of us at our prayer circle before the show and it was such a great moment because he is so important to us all and we love him so much. I also love the feeling you get after performing your first number for the first time at the Friday night show. It’s a huge rush and we always get so pumped when we kill it.”

Since freshman year, Spring Gala has been one of my favorite school events because it gave me an opportunity to see my friends doing something they love, but also because the performances are also just incredible and fun to watch. This year’s performance increased the standards for next year, because “A Night At The Movies” will be hard to top.