The Portage High School auditorium has been home to many events since it was built, but none quite like the one that took place on Friday night. Nine different groups took the stage in the 2012 PHS Air Band Competition.
The PHS Thespians came up with the idea and partnered with the Pow Wow student newspaper and Legend Yearbook to help put on the production. Senior Jacob Cherry and junior Emily Evans, both members of the theatre department, helped organize the event.
“Jake did a bunch of announcements and he had the callout meeting, and I designed the t-shirts and contacted the printer. Jake got all the prizes for the first, second and third place winners. I mostly handled the t-shirts and PR,” Evans said.
Both Cherry and Evans also performed in Air Bands. All proceeds from admission benefited the theatre department, while Pow Wow garnered all the profits from the t-shirts.
All nine groups that performed wowed the crowd with air-drums, air-guitars, lip singing, dance moves and creative costumes. The audience played a pivotal role in deciding the outcome as an Applause-o-Meter was used to measure the response from the audience when each air band was announced at the conclusion of the show.
A trio comprised of Valerie Gregorash, Kaitlin Volk and Noah Volk, who performed Kiss dressed in full make-up and attire, took home the title of PHS Air Band Champion 2012 along with a $100 cash prize. A gift card to Quaker Steak & Lube and tickets to the Spring Musical The Wedding Singer were handed out as second and third place prizes, respectively.
The Air Band Competition allowed students from a wide range of interests to get involved, regardless of whether or not they are musically talented.
“An air band doesn’t require any talent; you don’t really have to know how to do anything. It’s open to a wide variety of people because there are so many different music genres that you can air band to,” Evans said.
The performance went very smoothly, especially considering none of the contestants or crew had the benefit of a rehearsal prior to the main event. Former PHS teacher William Bodnar, who is now retired, returned as the emcee of the show. Auditorium Director Kevin Giese put the competition on with the help of a hardworking tech crew of students.
Many of the cast members of the PHS Spring Musical The Wedding Singer were either in attendance or in one of the bands on Friday night. Attendees were reminded to come see the musical, which will show for two weekends starting on April 20.