By Kristen Shepard
Staff Writer
In their annual Spring Show, Vivacé stayed true to their theme “Bring the House Down” and with it they brought the audience out of their seats, brought upbeat surprises and brought a variety of emotions and music. It is safe to say that Vivacé left the crowd both cheering and speechless.
The show kicked off with an introductory video of the cast to the tune of ‘I’ll Be There For You’ by The Rembrants (made popular as the theme song of hit TV show ‘Friends’). The crowd eagerly shouted out the names of the cast members and cheered at the many impressive moments of the show.
There was not a single number that appeared unpolished or dull; throughout the entire two-hour show the audience remained engaged and nothing short of amazed. Senior Katie Nall blew the crowd away in her solo, ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’. The crowd smiled as the ensemble came together in ‘Hey Soul Sister’, and seniors Ben Varughese and Chase Worthington melted girls’ hearts in ‘Wanted’.
Several impressive solos and duets were a part of the show as well. Senior Captains Sarah Bauer and Aubrey Kennedy stood out as leaders on stage and off stage throughout preparing for the show.
Besides the extraordinary talent evident in this year’s group, it was the charisma between members made the show so impressive.
“We’ve grown so close together this year,” Vivacé Senior Keaton Looney said. “We spend a lot of time together outside of rehearsals and actually were not supposed to have rehearsal during TAKS testing week but we met up anyways.”
The dynamics of the team this year are also very interesting, with 18 of the 24 members being seniors, the team is overwhelmed with leadership and experience. The overwhelming presence of seniors was evident in ‘Change the World’, where all seniors introduced themselves and shared their plans following high school.
“It has almost been a power struggle,” Looney said. “It really has been great though and having so many seniors has made our team stronger and with more fresh ideas. We have been doing a lot of recruiting and have a big space to fill.”
Further proof of the deep friendships that grow in Vivacé were evident in the Alumni number, where current and former Vivacé members joined together to perform ‘Come Sail Away’. The Alumni number specifically brought out the Swaldi family as Class of 2012 graduate Rachael Swaldi joined the ensemble while her sister junior Holly Swaldi watched from the audience.
“I’ve been watching the team practice from KCBY and couldn’t wait to see the final show,” Holly said. “My sister did Vivacé for three years in high school and my little brother wants to join when he gets to the high school, so as a family we really love the group and the performances.”
The Spring Show is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the hours spent preparing for the show. In balancing school, sports and practices, Vivacé members endure long weekends and late night rehearsals to produce these shows
“Lots of hours of preparation, lots of late nights of homework after long rehearsals, but come showtime it is all worth it,” Vivacé parent Amy Szalkowski said. “[Junior Wesley Szalkwoski] lives for the stage, she comes alive out there. Over one hundred kids try out each year, and Vivacé really touches the community of Coppell and brings kids and parents together.”
Their hard work was not without reward, however, as nearly half the crowd waited for the cast to come out from the dressing room with flowers and words of praise. Vivacé delivered talent in their two showings, one on Friday May 3 at 7:30 p.m. and another on Saturday May 4 at 2 p.m.
Vivace Spring Show from KCBY-TV on Vimeo.
