This is the third year which Bridgeport Middle School Band Director Eric Stoneking has added “show choir director” to his list of musical titles.

 

The first Braves Show Choir was started with the help of the late Degee Warne, who taught music at Washington-Irving Middle School and was director of the four-time state champion “Show Stoppin’ Toppers” show choir.

 

“Mrs. Warne brought the WI show choir to Bridgeport to perform for us and help me recruit my first eighth grade class,” Stoneking said. “From then on, WI was our major competition.”

 

In the peak of the 2015 competition season, the BMS Show Choir – comprised of 24 girls and six boys - is gearing up for three upcoming competitions, one of them being the March 6-7 state championship in Charleston.

 

Last year, BMS earned the runner-up spot. WI was named best middle school show choir in the state.

 

Leading up to the championship round, BMS will participate in the March 1 Harrison County Show Choir Showcase at Liberty High School (rescheduled from Feb. 22) and the Feb. 28 VocalFest at Robert C. Byrd High School.

 

“It’s a full-blown, all-day competition,” Stoneking said. “We’ll be competing with show choirs from all over the state, as well as Virginia and Ohio.”

 

To prepare for their competitive season, the young vocalists – 29 eighth graders and one seventh grader – practice every day during last block. They also host Friday afternoon performances for parents and other supporters.

 

“These shows give kids a chance to perform in front of somebody,” Stoneking said. “I tell them that one performance is worth 10 rehearsals.”

 

The director also took the group to Music Fest at Riverside High School, Sat., Feb. 7, just to observe the show choir competition.

 

“We left at 6 a.m. on a bus and stayed until 6 or 7 that evening,” Stoneking said. “Most of our kids had never in their lifetime even seen a show choir perform. This was a chance to observe first-hand without the pressure of having to do it themselves.”

 

Student musicians were able to observe competition procedures and how to conduct themselves on the floor, as well as proper stage set up and tear down and and use of props and costumes, Stoneking said.

This season, the BMS Show Choir performs an 18-minute show and has 25 minutes for the entire production, which includes prep work and leaving the stage the way the found it.

 

“They do it all themselves and each has a job as far as setting up and tearing down –and they’re all important,” Stoneking said.

 

Though being part of show choir teaches students the concept of team work, its focus, of course, is song and dance.

 

“We have a one-week camp in October to learn choreography,” Stoneking said.

 

The choir’s show for the 2014-15 school year is titled “Love Notes” and is choreographed by Chase Reeder, former member of the Bridgeport High School frontline who is now a color guard for the WVU Marching Band.

 

“’Love Notes’” has a double meaning because it incorporates music notes – and it’s kind of a story about teenage crushes, rejections – the ups and downs of teenage relationships,” Stoneking said.

 

The show begins with “We are Never Getting Back Together.”

 

“Then we segway from that – which ends with such finality – into a love song and everything is fine and perfect with the world again.

 

Camden Delaney, the choir’s only underclassman, is featured in the number, “When I Was Your Man.”

 

“Then the boys do their song, ‘Cooler Than Me’ and we close with ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger,’ which is really a mashup of three songs from the show,” Stoneking said.

 

With nearly three years as show choir director under his belt, Stoneking said his students really keep him on his toes.

 

“Band was always my thing, so I really have to be on my game,” he said.

 

The student musicians also keep him tapping his toes a little.

 

“I do like the enthusiasm of the show choir kids,” he said. “They always come down the hallway happy and singing and they really want to make music. I pick up from their energy and that makes it more exciting.”