Celebrate America
Dinner, dancing, singing and a live band are all included in what people from all over the country come to USU for, the annual Celebrate America Show, being performed this week.
The program director, Brenda Anthony, said some people travel 1,200 miles both ways for the performance, and those people say the show is better than a Broadway show or any show in Las Vegas.
“You don’t just find dinner and a show and dancing,” Anthony said. “You just don’t find it.”
HISTORY
Originally the dinner and dance performance was called An Evening with Glenn Miller and was run by the programs and entertainment department at USU. After nearly 30 years of performances, the university had to remove the special department and consequently drop the Glenn Miller show because of financial issues. When the community found out, some were upset and wanted to keep the show going. So they rallied together to create the same type of show, with a new name and new cast members.
Anthony said she has been directing the performance for the past nine years and oversaw the program’s change. She said very little has changed – the talent is still outstanding and the band is the same.
THE CAST
The cast features college students who sing and dance, 12 male and female singers and 10 female dancers.
“They don’t have to be in college, but they have to look like they are in college,” Anthony said. Before the rehearsals begin, Anthony said she and other committee members go to several events on campus and in the community to scout for exceptional talent.
One of the dancers, Cassie Finch of Salt Lake City, said this is the type of show she’s always wanted to do, and her favorite part is dancing to the old time music and feeling like she’s on Broadway.
“The cast is great. We love being around each other and just goofing off and having fun,” the sophomore said.
It’s a good thing the cast gets along well, because they have to practice 20 hours a week and rehearse all through the summer for the one-weekend performance. The cast first meets at the beginning of the summer, when they are given a CD of the music to practice on their own, and then they meet up again for 30 rehearsals throughout July and August.
Once the performances draw near, the rehearsals are held more often and take more time. A singer in the show, Katie Freeman, said they practice three times on weekdays for four hours and on Saturdays for eight hours.
“It’s a huge time commitment,” said Freeman, sophomore in vocal performance and choral education.
And due to the time spent with each other, Freeman said the cast has become close.
“I think the cast itself has grown into a family, and I think you can see that on stage,” she said.
Anthony agrees.
“They are so ready by the time performance comes around, and there’s such a camaraderie that develops between the cast. It’s a very strong group of friends,” Anthony said.
REHEARSALS
Once the initial stress of learning the dances and songs is over, the group rehearsals begin, and the detailed costumes are tried on.
“Some of (the costumes) are really flashy, and you really feel like you are a rocket in Radio City Music Hall,” Finch said.
It’s her first year in the production, and she said it’s definitely a different experience from the other shows she has done. For one of the songs, “Pennsylvania 65,000,” she said the performers dress up like telephone operators with polka dotted dresses, white gloves, blond wigs and headsets.
“It really just adds to the dances,” Finch said. “With wearing the blond wigs and everything, we really feel silly out there, but it’s just a lot of fun. It just really adds to the show.”
In her 15 years of experience, Finch originally studied ballet dance but has since learned others.
Although her major in political science is far from dancing, her dream in the dancing world would be to dance on Broadway.
From the musical side Freeman, 19, said she loves what the music says about the people and the history behind it.
“The music is designed in such a way that it shows different types of music people listened to (and how) it affected them throughout (that time),” she said
INFO
The program starts Wednesday night with a college night for all students for $7 per person. No food is included on that night, but following the performance there will be an open floor dance.
Thursday through Saturday will feature a buffet dinner, a performance and dancing afterwards for $42.50 per person.
Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets early because of the demand and also because many of the tickets have been reserved a year in advance.
All productions are held in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom and only 420 seats are available. Tickets can be purchased at the TSC Ticket Office or the Spectrum Ticket Office.
Freeman encourages all students to attend even if they are not familiar with the music of the era.
“Jazz music was not only entertaining at the time, but it was also a way that people were able to kind of express (emotion) and lighten their moods for hard times when we were at war,” Freeman said.
-ranaebang@cc.usu.edu