Looking for something to do Monday night? Not feeling like cooking for the family? Are you in the market for dinner and a show without having to break the bank to get it? All the while helping out a group of hard-working high schoolers?
If you answered yes to any or all of those questions—and why wouldn’t you given how expensive literally everything is these days—then head on down to St. Clairsville High School’s cafetorium Monday evening between 4-7 p.m.
It is there you can take an evening of food and musical entertainment, all for the cost of $8 per person.
The St. C. Singers, the award-winning high school show choir at St. Clairsville High School, is putting on its first of two annual spaghetti dinner fundraisers. The doors open at 4 p.m. and performances from Sweet Harmony, the St. C. Singers, the high school’s chamber choir, and middle school choir will begin in 30-minute intervals starting at 4:30 p.m. with Sweet Harmony.
“The spaghetti dinner is the first whole-group showcase of the year for vocal students in choir, Sweet Harmony, and the St. C. Singers,” said Lauren Florence with the St. C. Singers. “It gives parents, grandparents, friends, and community members a chance to hear what the kids have been working on up until this point in the year.”
In short, it’s a showcase for the musical talents found inside both St. Clairsville High School and Middle School. With food. All for $8.
The St. C. Singers, who close the show with a performance at 7 p.m., along with Sweet Harmony will each perform twice, with the Chamber Choir and middle school choir performing once each during the middle portion of the evening.
Florence noted that while some parents have children in both the middle and high school groups, it’s not uncommon for many attendees to stick around for the evening’s entirety.
“Many families stick around to see each of the acts and enjoy seeing what other vocal opportunities are available for St. C. students,” Florence said. “This showcases the musical talents of the students in grades 7-12. The middle and high school chamber choirs will showcase vocal pieces they have been working on in class.
“Sweet Harmony, our junior and senior vocal and instrumental group, will perform as a small group and highlight talented soloists, as well as student musicians.
“The St. Clairsville show choir and the St. C. Singers will give a vocal preview of their 2022-2023 show “After the Storm.”
A Fun-Filled Fundraiser
While attendees will certainly get their fill of food and musical entertainment, this is, after all, a fundraiser.
The St. C. Singers are a performance show choir, that is set up as an extracurricular activity, and unlike year-long performance choirs, must learn, drill, master, and be ready to perform their competition show in only a few month’s time.
With practices beginning earlier this week, safe to say, the group, and its co-directors Florence and Kristen Rateno, are extremely busy.
“In most school districts that have a show choir, it’s a year-long academic class instead of an extracurricular activity,” Florence said. “At. St. Clairsville, behind-the-scenes show design and concept begins months ahead of practice.
“However, show choir members do not begin learning and practicing the show until the first week of November. The group has two months to perfect the performance before hitting the road in January for competitions.
“The group’s talent and work ethic make up for the short practice season.”
There are costumes, entry fees, transportation arrangements, musical copyrights to purchase, musical arrangement and even a choreographer comes in to help the group prepare its competition program.
It’s a lot of work, and a lot of cost, running in the 10s of thousands of dollars. The school isn’t covering those costs, so the spaghetti dinners, along with a number of other fundraisers, help offset the costs the St. C. Singers’ parents and families shell out so their children can perform each season.
“The St. C. Vocal Boosters holds two spaghetti dinners throughout the performance season. They are also currently selling raffle tickets for a “Fill the Freezer” meat raffle from Jacob and Son’s Meats,” Florence said.
“Our biggest fundraiser is the show choir competition that we host in February. This year’s competition will be held at Buckeye Local High School on February 18.
“Schools from all over Ohio and West Virginia will compete against each other and the St. C. Singers will perform an exhibition. Show choir can be expensive. The fundraisers help offset costs for St. C. Singers’ families.”
New Era Dawns for Choir
Both Rateno and Florence are involved in a number of activities in the school district.
Rateno, who serves as the visual arts director for the Singers, is an art teacher in the middle and high schools. Florence too is an educator in the building, along with serving as an athletic coach and an occasional photographer you’ll see snapping pictures on the sideline at sporting events.
Both have been involved with Singers, but Florence role greatly expanded this year with the stepping down of longtime director Wayne Berk after the 2022 competition season.
Berk is still the choir director and music educator in the school and still runs the chamber choir. But he’s stepped back from the show choir and no Florence and Rateno are teaming together to run the show.
Admittedly, for Florence, there are some big shoes to fill.
“Kristen Rateno is definitely the visual artist in our directing duo,” Florence said. “She has an eye for what catches an audience’s attention on stage and she works for months ahead of the show season, designing costumes, and perfecting the “look” of our group.
“I have giant shoes to fill, as Mr. Berk has been the director for years and the group has had extreme success under his direction. It’s the musical director’s job to create a show concept, select music, and tell a story.”
The Singers have consistently made the finals at all of their competitions and placed well within the top schools each time out according to Florence. She noted they have a history of adding a “wow factor” that really gets the judges talking and the crowd excited about the performances.
She noted in the past, there’s been a full pirate ship, sword fights, an acrobatic Spiderman and even an acapella group, complete with beatboxer.
The group competes, wins medal, and accounts well for itself and its members. That’s a string Florence and Rateno hope to continue.
If you want a little preview of all that talent, energy, and excitement, stop on down Monday, enjoy some pasta and watch the show.
