The Mastersingers hosting a movie-themed benefit featuring dinner, a silent auction and choral concert at Tennessee Tech’s Roaden University Center.
Marketing and Promotions Director Gayle Theilacker said the event serves as a primary fundraiser supporting the remainder of the choir’s performance season. The program spans decades of movie music, from the 1930s to more recent films.
“Movies they’re like a common bond for everybody who doesn’t like a movie, right?” Theilacker said. “And we’ve spent a lot of time on the couch, so I think this is an opportunity for couch potatoes to unite and listen to music. It’s kind of a winning combination.”
Theilacker said selections include “The Rainbow Connection” and “A Million Dreams,” with the program designed to appeal to different ages. Audience members will also have opportunities to become part of the show.
Theilacker said proceeds help cover sheet music costs and provide scholarships for vocal and choral students at Tennessee Tech. She said her own experience after moving to Tennessee helped her understand the community a choir can provide.
“I moved to Tennessee about a year ago and I had sung in choirs since I was 12 years old, and when I moved here, that left two huge voids in my life,” Theilacker said. “I didn’t know anybody and I couldn’t find a choir that I felt part of. So when I discovered the Cookeville Master Singers, it kind of filled that big huge void in my life. I found the friends and I found the music, and I think audiences will definitely find the music at this event.”
“I think The Time Warp probably is the most challenging to get the moves down and the hips going in the right direction at the same time and also to be able to sing through it without laughing,” Theilacker said.
Theilacker said the evening will also feature a costume contest with a $250 prize for the best movie character or object, along with a flash mob and group performance of “Let’s All Go to the Lobby.”
“I really love Paul McCartney’s quote where he said, ‘I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that,’” Theilacker said. “And I think that just really sums it up both for the singers and for the audience.”
Theilacker said she hopes the benefit encourages people to continue supporting choral music and other performing arts across the Upper Cumberland.
“I hope they will experience empty pockets because they’ve donated everything to our event and for and I hope they’ll leave with a new found love for choral music and a desire to truly support music in all the performing arts in the Upper Cumberland area,” Theilacker said. “It’s so needed, definitely in these times.”
The performance is Friday at 6pm at Tennessee Tech’s Roaden University Center.