This page is maintained by Tom Arneberg ( toma@arneberg.com)
(Last modified: $Date: 2002/12/13 20:44:04 $)
For more info about MHBQA, email Kim Orloff at korloff@ix.netcom.com
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August 18 - 25, 2002 |
(Last modified: $Date: 2002/12/13 20:44:04 $)
It was a fun week with the mixed chorus aboard the brand-new Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, Norwegian Star. Directed by Jim Clancy, the famed director of the Dallas SPEBSQSA chorus Vocal Majority, the 37-member chorus included 14 members of MHBQA. The chorus entertained the cruise passengers in the largest theatre on board (seating over 1000), with full lighting and sound systems provided by the ship's professional theatre staff.
Songs the chorus included in the show were On a Wonderful Day Like Today, Coney Island Baby Medley, Home on the Range, Darkness on the Delta, I'll Remember You (a Hawaiian song), Nellie, Beyond the Reef (another Hawaiian song), God Bless America (with a mixed quartet singing the introductory verse), and Let There Be Peace on Earth. Quartet spots on the show were filled by Just 4 Fun (MHBQA quartet, with Jeanne & Al Drouin and Tukey & Dave Seagraves) and Mixed Metafour (MHBQA quartet, with Kim & Jerry Orloff & former lead Elmer Fairbanks, plus "loaner" tenor Jeanne Drouin.)
The Mix & Match Quartet Contest was also a source of much hilarity. Judges were Dick Girvin (barbershopper and judge from the FWD), Kim Orloff (contest administrator), and two members of the ship's crew. Contest winners, listed tenor-lead-bari-bass, were (with MHBQA member names in italics):
MOST IMAGINATIVE: The Land-Locked 4 - Ruby Rhea, John Higgins, Dave Seagraves, Milt Rhea
MOST HUMOROUS: C to C - Alice Silva, Milt Christensen, Bonnie Cooper, Elmer Fairbanks
MOST OUTRAGEOUS: The Unsung 4 - Dolores Mendenhall, Glenna Markle, Dave LaBar, Tom McNutt
BEST SINGING: Today's Winners - Judy Kimball, last-minute substitute lead John Higgins, Bill McGonegal, Jim Kimball
BEST LOOKING: Spur-of-the-Moment - Jeanne Drouin, last-minute substitute lead Elmer Fairbanks, Bruce Curler, Al Drouin
NAVIGATIONAL SAVVY QUARTET AWARD went to Hawaii Four-Oh - Alice Silva, Les Stagnaro, Dave LaBar, Jerry Orloff
Of course, there was sightseeing, too. We sailed from Honolulu (after a pre-cruise dinner and party hosted by the local Sounds of Aloha Chorus) to visit the port cities of Hilo (Big Island of Hawaii), Lahaina (Maui), Nawiliwili (Kauai), and Fanning Island (in the Republic of Kiribati.) Lots of play time on board ship, too - and the usual fantastic cruise-ship food (another meal or midnight buffet every time you turned around), but the best times were involved with singing barbershop, hour after hour after hour!