Show choirs show off at 29th Annual Music in Motion competition

MT. PLEASANT — Saturday, Feb. 4, over 1,000 performers in 18 show choirs from 10 schools competed at the Mt. Pleasant 29th Annual Music in Motion competition.

From 8 a.m. until well past 11 p.m., show choirs filled Mt. Pleasant High School with high energy and talented performances during one of the biggest fundraisers music students throughout the entire Mt. Pleasant School District.

Davenport Central High School’s Central Singers, Inc., gave the last competitive performance prior to the finals, but walked away with first place along with awards for Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Soloist (Jack Stremlow).

Directed by Michael and Peyton Reese and choreographed by Andy Haines, Central Singers, Inc. performed “No Time to Die,” “All About It,” “In Case You Don’t Live Forever,” “Top of the World,” and “Get Ready.”

Right behind Davenport Central, AcaPella from Pella High school took second place followed by Good Time Company from Iowa City West High School. AcaPella also seized first place in the Tier II preliminaries.

Through their performance which consisted of song, “The One to Survive,” “Get Down”/”Call Me the Queen,” “Warrior”/”Heart of Stone,” “Chess”/”Seven Nation Army,” and “Make a Move,” 52 AcaPella singers showcased a story of two chess courts a their queens preparing to enter battle against each other.

According to the program, AcaPella’s “story demonstrates fighting or what you believe in and the hardships faced during your fight.”

Under the direction of Luigi Enriquez and choreography of Ben Eklund, Good Time Company performed a show entitled “Vol. 48,” for their 48th season.

These songs consisted of “Fire”/”Fire Alarm,” “Want Me Back,” “Someone to Fall Back On,” “Hit me with Your Best Shot”/”Fighter,” and “This is Not a Test”/”Danger Baby.”

While Xavier High School’s Xhilaration show choir only managed fourth with their show “Born Again Tomorrow,” they still took home a Best Soloist award (Jacob Sires) and Best Crew.

The first three middle school show choir performances received the top three placements in the middle school category.

Despite not auditioning any of their 60 show choir singers, Pelladrenaline earned first place.

“Our goal at Pella Middle School is to give everyone in choir an opportunity to experience show choir and to create an inspirational show that all can be proud,” the competition program explained.

The Music in Motion competition is the second of four competitions in which Pelladrenaline will compete this season.

Under the direction of Joseph Tangen and Choreography of Grant Luther, Pelladrenaline delivered their first place performance of “Living on a Prayer,” “Try Everything,” “Be a Light,” and “Geronimo.”

Fortissimo kicked off the competition, Saturday with their show, “The Telephone Hour,” which consisted of “The Telephone Hour,” “One Call Away,” “Telephone,” “Speechless,” and “Call Me Maybe.”

Third place middle school finalists, Keokuk Showstoppers took the audience on a journey through the good, the bad, and everything in between with their show entitled “Life.”

Showstoppers performed “Never Ending Story,” “Baby you can Drive my Car,” “Bless the Broken Road,” and “Life is a Highway.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com