The Mason-Dixon Chorus appeared to be ready for all kinds of sports, with some dressed in baseball threads, some in soccer jerseys, one wearing the obligatory shoulder pads and still others dressed for duty in the concession stand. Most wore North High red.
For their opening act, the chorus adapted its selections to follow a theme of high school, football - and other sports that might occur at a stadium. And before the group hammed their way through "Please Mr. Columbus," Mayer remarked that most of them had excelled in high school history.
"Of course, there wasn't much history then," he quipped. "What kids today consider ancient history for us was current events."
For some in the audience, hearing the Ricky Nelson tune "Hello, Mary Lou" sung barbershop-style was a first.
For the next group to perform, hearing "Hello, Mary Lou" at all might well have been a first.
Under the direction of Music Department Chairman Curt Shetler, the North High Concert Choir took the audience beyond barbershop nostalgia to traditional, mainly British and Irish standards, including a haunting rendition of Scottish poet Robert Burns' "O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose."
On tap for the second half of the show were the women of the Prospective Freedom Valley Chorus, Sweet Adelines Int.; a program of spirituals and a patriotic finale featuring all of the evening's performers - and, naturally, an appeal for donations to the stadium fund.
Didn't make it to the show? It's not too late to donate. For information, visit the capital campaign Web site at www.mikecallasstadium.com.
