By Aisha Espinosa

Staff Writer

@aishaespinosa1

As audience members walked into the Coppell High School cafeteria, their names and fictionary titles were announced.

Instead of the regular cafeteria, a grand hall, complete with Renaissance-era decorations and two thrones, welcomed spectators to the 2014 Madrigals choir show.

With the delicious aroma of Madrigal fare wafting from the kitchen, a stage is set for a king, his queen and a royal court.

When all the guests had been seated, the Madrigals took the stage. “Masters of the Hall”,  “Ave Verum” and “Sing We Now of Christmas” were just a few of the songs they performed throughout the night.

With a title like “A Loop in Time”, there was no doubt that the choir captivated the audience from the first moment they took the stage. After a song or two, spectators were entangled in a plot to overthrow the king (senior Joshua Kim) by the villainous and comedic Duke Dagon (junior Mukund Kuntimad).

Overhearing his plot, Team Muffin, the queen (senior Gabby Rouke), the jester (junior Adreesh Roy), Fiona (junior Victoria Kennedy) and the town crier (senior Savannah Patrick) worked to foil his plans. With an amnesiac king who forgot every event of the day once asleep, Team Muffin made a plan of their own – make Dagon relive the same day until he could not stand it.

With a humor for all ages, audience participation as Sir Lancelot and Lord Jasso, along with a hilariously oblivious king, the Madrigals show was not one to miss. As Duke Dagon was forced to repeat the same day, his frustration grew and his plot was finally revealed to the king and the royal court. Dagon was appropriately arrested, with his pink “villain’s journal” in hand.

“The drama this year was really interesting,” said junior Sarah Abraham, a member of the royal court and younger sister of an alumnus. “Adreesh really made the jester come to life, and Mukund and all the actors and actresses were really great. I think the audience really liked it.”

After a few more songs on Friday night, including “Away in a Manger” and “Throw Open Your Shutters”, the Madrigals were joined by the A cappella choir for a few songs.

“I conducted on Friday,” assistant director of choirs Casey Carruth said. “It was really great to see the A cappella choir perform. Each night was different, and special because of the things that were happening. They were both very successful in what we set up to do each night, so I was pleased with both nights.”

Though identical in the drama portion of the evening, Saturday spun a slightly different tale. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the group, making room for a very special set of events on Saturday.

“We had the creator of Madrigals come on the second night, Jolene Webster,” Kim said. “She conducted a couple pieces with people from the former Madrigal groups, including some from the very beginning.”

Webster, along with more than 50 Madrigal alumni, came back, getting a special peek at to what the CHS choirs are up to now. Before the performance on Saturday night, the former and the current 25 Madrigals along with Webster rehearsed for an hour and a half.

“It was really nice to be able to come back,”  said David Abraham, a 2014 CHS graduate and Madrigal alumnus. “Seeing the underclassmen [when I was there], especially Kim and Rouke as king and queen, was pretty cool. I still feel really connected to the choir, since my sister is in it.”

The spectacular Saturday was closed with five pieces from the combined current and former Madrigal choirs, resulting in an event sure to be remembered years down the road.

“This year’s Madrigal singers have done a really wonderful job,” head choir director Josh Brown said. “They have worked really really hard, and I think it really paid off. It’s the first year that I’ve been here that the kids have really been on top of their lines, in the drama part.”

With a memorable close to their 2014 annual Madrigals Feast, the choir is looking ahead to whatever the future brings.

“I’m glad we were able to finish really strong,” Kim said. “I do not regret anything that happened on stage this year. I knew all my lines, which was a first. But on top of that, everything just came together really well.”