Photo by Angie Stong
Written by Caroline Bailey
On Saturday Jan. 24, SCAD Performance Ensemble drew in quite the crowd with Silver Screen Serenade. Every seat at the Mondanaro Theater in Crites Hall was filled, and a number of audience members stood in the back.
This large crowd was not disappointed. Not only are the individuals in the SCAD Performance Ensemble talented singers, they are also highly entertaining performers.
The show was a tribute to Hollywood. All the music consisted of songs specifically written for films. The songs ranged from immediately recognizable classics, such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “I Will Always Love You,” to catchy theme songs from films such as “James Bond,” “The Pink Panther” and “Jaws.”
The lighting was on point. The colored lights changed to accommodate the mood of the song being performed, and helped create a fitting atmosphere. The clothing choices were noteworthy. The attire worn by the ensemble had all the extravagance one would expect of Hollywood, with girls in glamorous gowns and boys in snazzy suits.
The first several numbers of the show consisted solely of slow, romantic songs. One love song was followed by another, and another, and I began to wonder how much more I could handle. Just as I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, the ensemble cleverly and unexpectedly transitioned to “Box Office Buckaroos,” a hilarious cowboy number. This was a perfect transition that kept the audience on their toes – and kept them laughing, too.
The show’s variety made it dynamic. It included solos, chorus songs and everything in between. Ensemble members walked onto the stage from behind the audience, chorus members would spontaneously join in a song from the seats on the back of the stage just as you started to forget they were there.
SCAD Performance Ensemble managed to get more than just a chuckle from the audience. They had the crowd laughing out loud throughout the entire production.
The humor was what made the performance such a hit. After the opening number “Hooray for Hollywood,” I had a small fear that the next two hours would be filled with cliché songs accompanied by kitschy gestures. Luckily, my suspicion proved to be completely false. The acting and gestures got progressively better and proved to be as important and successful as the actual singing.
The standing ovation at the end of the show did not seem at all an inappropriate tribute by which to measure the quality of the performance.
