Touring Youth Choir to Perform
Jesus
Christ Superstar
Saturday, February 15th
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Doors Open at 7:15 p.m. (FREE ADMISSION)
Childcare Available
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For more information call: 522-6012
Or Visit www.fccalameda.org
As part of their 7-day tour of the Bay Area, a cast of over
35 teenagers will perform Andrew Lloyd Webber’s popular musical Jesus Christ Superstar in a fully
staged and choreographed production at First Congregational Church of Alameda
on February 15, 2014.
Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Show begins at 7:30 p.m. There is no
cost, but a Love Offering will be taken to help establish a Peace Village in
Alameda, an interfaith peace education program for children and youth (www.peacevillageinc.org) and to
support the music program at First Congregational Alameda.
The church is located at 1912 Central Ave at Chestnut
St. The wheelchair lift can be accessed
down the ramp on the Chestnut St. side.
Childcare for young children will be available on a first come, first
served basis.
The show was based on a controversial 1970 rock album and
subsequently became one or the longest-running musicals in UK history and
beloved around the world. A collaboration of composer Webber and lyricist Tim
Rice, it is a retelling of the last week in Jesus’ life. The musical style is
period rock-n-roll and features the pop hit “I don’t know how to love him.”
The youthful cast are members of The Westminster Choir of
The First Presbyterian Church at Caldwell,
New Jersey. They are on a 7-day
tour of the San Francisco
accompanied by 15 adult advisors, also serving as costumers, sound and light
technicians, musicians, directors, and chaperones.
The annual youth choir tour is a tradition begun in 1988. The
choir has traveled to locations throughout the USA
as well as to Canada and the
UK,
with shows including Fiddler on the Roof,
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat, Godspell, Children of Eden, Pippin, Urinetown, Cotton Patch Gospel, and Once On This Island. This is their fourth trip to California.
Preparations for each year’s production begin many months in
advance. During the summer, a show is selected, performing rights are secured,
and the search for tour venues begins. In early fall, auditions are held and
rehearsals begin. A host of adult volunteers from the church and community
serve as choreographers, coaches, costumers, hair and makeup designers,
property masters, sound and light technicians, photographers, accountants, and
our managers.
Under the guidance of Minister of Music, the Rev. Barbara
Piercy, the young people undertake months of rigorous study to prepare their
roles and to explore the resonances between the onstage events, the related
Biblical accounts, and their daily lives.
The Artistic Director of the production is Adriana Piercy, a 2007 Choir
Tour graduate who studied at the famed School
of American Ballet in New York, danced with
New York City Ballet, and in 2010 joined the Corps de Ballet of the
world-famous Miami City Ballet.
In addition to their work in musical theatre, the Westminster choir participates regularly in worship
services at The First Presbyterian Church at Caldwell; their repertoire includes a variety
of musical styles, from Bach to Rock. They also participate in community events
sponsored by the West Essex Clergy Association, such as the annual Interfaith
Community Thanksgiving Worship Service and memorial services that remember
tragedy of 9/11.
The choir includes young people from several surrounding
communities in western Essex County,
New Jersey. These young people will be joined by
additional youth for the “home” performances in April.
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