Students Plan ‘Unconcert’

When is a concert not a concert?

When it’s the 17th annual “Unconcert” that will be put on by vocal music students at Glendale High School today and Friday.

According to vocal music director Grace Sheldon, the name was a take-off on 7Up’s popular ad campaign from years past in which the soft drink was called the Un-Cola.

“It’s not a regular choral concert, like the Un-Cola was not a regular cola,” Sheldon said. “And the name just stuck.”

It’s a program of popular music, this year featuring tunes that have been used in the movies, such as “Do You Love Me,” from “Dirty Dancing,” “My Guy,” as heard in “Sister Act,” “Friend Like Me,” from “Aladdin” and a medley of songs from “Beauty and the Beast.”

Choreography, costumes, sets and lighting will enhance the 23 acts put on by students in the a cappella, chamber and bell choirs. In addition to performing in their choral groups, the youths will do solos, duets, and trios, and a quintet will sing “In the Still of the Night,” made popular by the group Boys to Men.

“It’s a pretty major production for this school,” Sheldon said, adding that students do most of the work.

“The students all designed the choreography and taught it to each other,” she said. “The kids decide all their solos and they give input on the group numbers. I sort of guide and edit. I just step in when I see that something isn’t working.”

Sheldon sees the whole program as a learning experience, and “it’s also a great recruiting tool. The (other) students see the kids singing and dancing and having a great time, and they want to be involved.”

The public is invited to see and hear it all at 7:30 p.m. both nights in the school auditorium, 1440 E. Broadway. Admission is $4 advance; $5 at the door.