Halls High Chorus gears up for ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’

Shannon CareyHalls, Our Town Arts

Every other year, the Halls High School choral music department takes audiences straight to Broadway with a favorite musical. Past productions have included “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

This year’s musical will be a backwoods frolic with “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Sporting a cast of more than 100 students, the production is set for 7 p.m. March 23 and 24, and 2 p.m. March 25. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and free for children age 5 and younger.

Halls High choral music director Elizabeth Williams said this is the perfect year for Halls to do “Seven Brides.” Blessed with more male singers than usual, the choral music program has the right mix for the play. Plus, Williams said she wanted to balance the serious “Fiddler on the Roof” with a more lively musical this time around.

“The music is a lot of fun, and the men’s songs are hilarious,” said Williams. “It’s just off-the-cuff humor. I go with what I think the kids need and what I think they’ll enjoy.”

There’s a lot of work to do, including choreographing a lengthy barn-raising dance scene. Williams relies on husband Ted and parents of students to build the set on the Halls Middle School stage. Costumes are sourced from Designs by DeWayne.

Williams said music, and especially musical theatre, is beneficial to students as a confidence-builder, and the audience will see a truly student-run production.

“I think the audience gets a lot of enjoyment out of it, seeing what kids can do,” she said. “I am not backstage with them at all during the shows. It’s student-run, and they take ownership of the show. You have kids that shine in performances like this because they’ve never done anything like this before. You get to see kids break out of their shells.”

Williams has been teaching choral music at Halls for 13 years, and before that she taught music at Gibbs Elementary for seven years. Halls High has four choirs, including Mixed Chorus, Concert Choir, Madrigals and Ladies in Red.

“I enjoy every day seeing how kids express themselves through music,” she said.

If you would like to help get “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” off to a great start, or help fund Halls High music students’ travel to local competitions, visit their online fundraiser with this link: https://app.snap-raise.com/fundraisers/halls-chorus-2018. They’re also looking for people or businesses to provide meals for students during tech week, and fundraising ads are available in the play’s program.

For information or to purchase tickets, call Williams at 865-925-7729.

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