Show choir hits the road to bring home hardware

Tony McGill, Co-Editor-in-Chief|February 27, 2023

Courtesy: Audrey Pittman

(left to right, all 12th): Natalie Allrich and Grayson Truax, both of Titanium, stand with Sarah Pinkerton from the Platinum show band at the awards presentation following finals.

The Papio South show choirs competed in Hastings, Minnesota’s Swingin’ On The River competition on Saturday, February 25. Radiance won the single-gender division, while Titanium placed second overall and Express finished as runner-ups in the prep division, all the day after making the seven hour bus journey to Hastings.

Megan Rannells, 11th, of Radiance, said of competing in Minnesota, “It was a great opportunity to compete against choirs we had not seen before. It gave us a chance to see several different styles of shows and meet a ton of new people.”

The Papio South show choirs weren’t the only out-of-towners at the competition. Show choirs came from Iowa and Wisconsin as well as Minnesota. According to Audrey Pittman, 11th, of Titanium, the Titan show choirs weren’t deterred by unique performing styles from different states.

“Show styles vary in different states. In Iowa and Minnesota, shows that include acting and heavy themes are heavily preferred, so it was easy to feel like the oddballs. But nonetheless, we still showed out,” Pittman said.

Titan show choirs have built a standard of success this season that isn’t exclusive to Saturday’s competition. Titanium has won two competitions so far this year, and has never finished lower than second place; Radiance has taken first place in all but one competition, where they finished as runners-up; and Express has placed first or second in all but one competition.

Gavin Mielke, 12th, of Titanium, says that success in this competition goes to show how hard Titan show choirs have worked this season.

“What we were able to do this weekend shows that at Papio South, across every group, no matter where we are, we’re going to give it our all and share it with the other groups and the audience. Nobody could pronounce our school name when we got there, and upon leaving the school, everyone knew who Titanium and the Papio South show choir was,” Mielke said.

For now, it’s onto the next performance for all three Titan show choirs, who will be performing at Papio South for senior night on Thursday, March 2nd, and then competing in the Lewis Central Clash Of The Titans, their final competition of the 2023 season, on Saturday, March 4th.