This page is maintained by Tom Arneberg ( toma@arneberg.com)
(Last modified: $Date: 2003/10/23 20:31:41 $)
For more info about MHBQA, email Kim Orloff at korloff@ix.netcom.com
Alaska Millennium Magic
with Jim Clancy & Freddie King
May 14 to May 21, 2000
It was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Onboard the Norwegian Sky, from Seattle to Glacier Bay (Alaska) and back, there was a week of nearly non-stop harmony, barbershop style. There were 604 in the total group (nearly 1/3 of the total ship's passengers), with about 300 participating in the "Millennium Magic Chorus," and over 400 barbershop singers (SPEBSQSA, Sweet Adelines, and Harmony Inc.) on board. In the performing chorus, directed by JIM CLANCY of the Dallas Vocal Majority Chorus, there were 40 tenors (both men & women), 100 leads (both men & women), 68 baritones (both men and women), and 79 basses (78 men and one VERY low-voiced woman!) All of the arrangements were sung in the normal men's range, with any ladies singing their part in the same octave as the men. Assisting Jim was that master of emcee humor, famous gold-medal chorus director (1971) and gold-medal quartet man (1972, the Oriole Four) in his own right, FREDDIE KING, from Maryland. Freddie also managed the on-board "mix 'n match" quartet contest (results posted below), and served as MC for the onboard show in the 1000-seat Stardust Lounge Theatre. Another highlight of the week was a group of 120 mixed voices singing the 8-part "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Miserables, directed by it's arranger, the legendary Renee Craig.
Music performed by the Millennium Magic Chorus included "On a Wonderful Day Like Today," "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie," "Sweet Hour of Prayer," "God Bless America," "Darkness on the Delta," the "Floatin' Down/Alabamy Bound" medley, and the two 8-part numbers, "And So To Sleep Again," and the "Lida Rose / Will I Ever Tell You" medley. (Music and learning tapes had been sent out four months previously.) Registered quartets on the cruise performed in various venues at the request of the cruise entertainment director; those quartets were: "HARMONY CHIEFS" (SPEBSQSA, from Indiana), "KINDRED SPIRITS" (MHBQA -- John & Gwen Smith, and Brian & Holly Beck, from Texas), "FATHERLY ADVICE" (SPEBSQSA '96 Seniors Champs, from Washington), "CHORDIAC ARRHYTHMIA" (SPEBSQSA, aka "Code Blue"--four doctors from California), "TOWN SQUARE HARMONIZERS" (SPEBSQSA, from California), and "MIXED METAFOUR" (MHBQA, Kim & Jerry Orloff plus Bev Wesley from California, and temporary lead Dave LaBar from Florida.)
Twenty-one "Mix 'n Match" quartets were randomly assigned 3 months before the cruise, and met for their first live rehearsal on board. They competed in a friendly contest on the final day of the cruise. The panel of judges included Brian Beck, Dave La Bar and Renee Craig (Music), Don Amos, Burt Staffen and Marilyn Rose (Presentation/Showmanship), Darryl Flinn, Jim Richards and Holly Beck (Singing/Expression/Sound), plus professional singer/entertainer Jane L. Powell (ten points for audience entertainment.) The results were: