Phantom Of The Opera

Music included Angel of Music, Masquerade, Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, and Track Down this Murderer, all from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.

Staff Members

• Corps Director: Gail Royer
• Brass: Rick South, Gordon Henderson, Marty Rhees
• Percussion: Ralph Hardimon, Glen Crosby, Kent Cater, Lee Rudnicki, Robbie Tompkins, Bob Morrison, Jeff Lee
• Color Guard: Wes Cartwright, Sheri McGinnis, Kathy Magee
• Drill Design: Myron Rosander
• Visual: Myron Rosander, Len Kruszecki, Dan DiLullo, Loren Schneider
• Drum Majors: Gary Butera, John Meng
• Guard Captain: Juliette Tandoc

Selected Features

The show is approximately 12 minutes long and divided into 4 movements (at approximately 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes in length, respectively). The corps primarily marches with the roll-step technique.

The first movement begins with the “Phantom of the Opera”, moving to “Angel of Music” where the first hold occurs in a curved formation. The music turns back to “Phantom of the Opera”. The movement ends with an upside triangle formation in the winds moving forward and across the field. The horn players “drop” their horns in front of their chests in the “attention” position.

The second movement begins with a baritone duet in “Masquerade”. The horn players can be seen marching in the background while performing choreography. When the chorus of “Masquerade” is played, the musicians march in half-time. The horn players march in high-step technique, the snares and tenors cross-step, and the bass drummers kick their legs out 90 degrees. A short pit feature interrupts the chorus, during which the drill calls for the horn players to march in regular time in small circles – these circles then expand to form one large circle within the winds that arrives at the time point the pit feature ends and the horns begin playing again. Another pit feature follows and the horns march in half-time once again. The music switches to “Think of Me”, beginning with a mellophone and baritone duet. The horn players march facing backfield to bring the audience’s attention to the soloists. In a transition back to “Masquerade”, a chromatic passage is introduced; the drill has the musicians divided into separate groups doing small pinwheels, while pairs of color guard members spin around each other. The second hold of the piece occurs at the next chorus of “Masquerade”. The musicians are in a dense, curved formation at the front and center of the field, while the color guard is spread out evenly from the front to the back of the field, spanning from the 5 yard lines on either side. The hit is loud and the musicians march in half time. The corps pauses before the end of the chorus as a member dressed as the phantom appears on the field. The musicians quote “Phantom of the Opera” before switching to “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”, featuring a trumpet solo. The third hold of the piece happens as the chorus of the song is played by the entirety of the corps – the musicians are in a large curved formation; the color guard begins in a dense diamond formation, but quickly expands outwards. The highest point of the phrase is heard in the dynamics played by the winds seen in the arabesque hit by the color guard.

The third movement begins with a drumline solo with the winds occasionally interjecting with “Phantom of the Opera”. The drill in this movement is almost entirely linear, featuring a fairly difficult pass through of two large diamond formations. After the drumline solo, the winds come in with “Track Down this Murderer”, beginning with a follow-the-leader drill into a large curve formation, condensing into a smaller curve formation as the music becomes denser.

The fourth movement begins with a solo color guard dancer as “Masquerade” is played on the glockenspiel. The horns face backfield, once again drawing focus to the soloist. The winds begin playing “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”, still facing backfield. A fourth hold of the piece occurs here – it’s impact is evident dynamically, though the sound is not as loud as previous hits (when the horns are facing the audience). A baritone soloist transitions the musicians to face the audience. The wind players appear in a large arc, the drumline in an arc directly behind, and the color guard in a large oval engulfing the musicians. Both arcs slowly move into straight lines as the peak of the phrase is met. At this hit, the musicians do a horn pop to the press box and move forward in the company front. Members of the color guard roll a chair on top of a table to the front and center of the field – the “phantom” sits on the seat, and as in the fashion of the musical, vanishes underneath a sheet. The music ends the same way as the musical, the drill formations disappearing as musicians help with props.

History

Placement

• 1st place - 98.800

Awards Won

• DCI World Champion
• High Percussion

Recording Links

Youtube