Musical Bonus With Hollywood Christmas March

They sold candy bars and cookie dough, washed cars and served pancakes. After seven months of creative fund-raising, the Yankton High School Marching Band of Yankton, S.D., collected $125,000--enough to bus 183 of its band members west to march in the 68th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Not only will the band high-kick its way down Hollywood Boulevard, beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, it is also one of eight out-of-state schools set to perform in the free Bands at the Bowl concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday.

Yankton, population 12,900, is considered a big town in the rural region along the Missouri River. The entire population, however, could fit comfortably in the Hollywood Bowl, with room to spare. Some of the kids, said band director Ted Powell, have never been outside South Dakota; others have never stayed in a hotel.

That’s why, Powell said, the trip to Hollywood has been the talk of the town since April, when the kids got word that they had been selected from dozens of applicants from around the country to march in the Tinseltown parade.

And when the Yankton musicians participate in the Bands at the Bowl, it will be the first time in parade history the public will have a chance to hear more from the bands than the snippet it can get standing along the parade route. Each band will perform individually, and then all the bands will converge--about 1,400 musicians--for a medley of holiday tunes, conducted by composer Lalo Schifrin.

“I’d better take a piece of cotton for my ears,” Schifrin joked, anticipating directing a group that’s more than a dozen times larger than the typical Hollywood Bowl orchestra.

Conductor to Treat Students as ‘Colleagues’

Schifrin, a Grammy-winning composer of more than 100 TV and film scores (most memorably “Mission: Impossible”) has worked with other youth orchestras and is donating his time for this event.

“I always like to help young people,” said the Argentina native. “I’ve been very lucky in my career, I owe it to the community.”

Schifrin will conduct the students in a five-minute Christmas composition, which begins and ends with this year’s parade theme song, “The Best Christmas Yet.” Schifrin says that he admires the young players and has no intention of treating them condescendingly.

“It’s not, ‘Look how cute they are,’ no,” he said. “I address them like they are colleagues.”

While the performance will give audiences a chance to hear the bands let loose, the musicians will have the opportunity to perform in an internationally recognized venue.

When members of the Lakota West Marching Firebirds of Westchester, Ohio, found out they would be playing in the Hollywood Bowl, one student brought the “Beaches” video to school, bandleader Greg Snyder said.

“At the end of rehearsal he showed the part where Bette Midler sings onstage at the Hollywood Bowl. He said, ‘Look everybody, here’s where we’re playing!’ The kids are really excited.”

Parade to Follow New Route This Year

As for the parade, dozens of celebrities will ride the floats, carriages and classic cars, led by grand marshal Beau Bridges and his family. Others include Julio Iglesias Jr., Edward James Olmos, David Arquette, Adrienne Barbeau, Erik Estrada, and cast members from “Days of Our Lives,” “General Hospital,” “That ‘70s Show,” “NYPD Blue,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and many others.

To keep the crowd energized, 10 stages of entertainment will line the route, at intersections along Hollywood and Sunset boulevards. Swing and country bands, the Eric Ekstrand Ensemble and a Celebrity All-Star Jam, featuring Corey Feldman, are among the acts set to perform.

The parade will follow a new route this year, designated to spotlight newly redeveloped areas of Hollywood. The parade begins at Mann’s Chinese Theatre and proceeds east to the intersection of Hollywood and Vine Street, then turns south to Sunset and west to Orange Avenue. The festivities will be televised live on KCOP in Los Angeles, then replayed from 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday.

The other six out-of-state high schools set to march and perform at Bands at the Bowl include Glenbrook South of Glenview, Ill., Payette All-County of Payette, Idaho, Red Lion of Red Lion, Penn., South View of Hope Mills, N.C., Spirit of Central of Indianapolis, and Trumbull of Trumbull, Conn. The schools were selected by Bowl Games of America, a company that picks bands for college bowl games and parades.

Some of the bands have other engagements while in town. Lakota West will perform at Disneyland today, and Red Lion will give a one-hour concert at the Media City Center Mall in Burbank on Tuesday at noon.

Yankton is the only school traveling to California by bus. The band members left Wednesday and will arrive this evening, planning to eat Thanksgiving dinner at their hotel, the Sheraton Universal in Universal City. Yankton students hope to make the rounds of Southern California landmarks while they’re here--Disneyland, Universal Studios, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Venice.

“We don’t do a lot of things like this,” Powell said. “We’re kind of excited.”

BE THERE

Bands at the Bowl, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to noon. Free. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, (323) 469-2337.

Hollywood Christmas Parade, Sunday, 6 to 8 p.m. Standing room free; grandstand seating, $20 to $35. Tickets: (213) 480-3232. MTA ticket, $20, includes grandstand seat and round-trip fare on Metro Red Line to Hollywood and Vine. 800-COMMUTE. Parade information: (323) 469-2337.