By: Ashley Ricks
Centerstage is Oak Grove’s upbeat, entertaining showchoir. Tim Breland has been sponsoring and directing the choir for eight years. This year, their music numbers have a “party” theme and get the crowd excited.
A few of the familiar tunes Centerstage performs are “Raise the Roof” and “Proud Mary.” They also perform four other tunes that include outstanding solos from Taylor Nace, Arthur Bouldin, Blair Jackson, Clay Gatlin, Shelby Sims, Kayla Purvis, Anne Caroline Lovitt, Dalton Coleman, Codi Brumfield, and Constance Crockett. Most of the members have showchoir as their third block class, and all of them practice after school throughout the week; sometimes they sacrifice their weekends to become the best team they can be. “Although it gets very stressful, seeing the entertained crowds makes the hard work worth it,” showchoir member, Lauren Pace said.
Tammy Mansfield is the musical director for Centerstage and Tony Keeler is the assistant director. Keeler is an Oak Grove showchoir alumni and is currently involved in the music department at William Carey. The 36 members of Centerstage meet once a month with choreographer Chris Sweatt, a student at Birmingham Southern College. Sweatt has been choreographing for Centerstage for two years and his upbeat choreography and rhythm give the songs an energy that carries out into the audience.
Centerstage has participated in many competitions and have won many awards with their always exciting shows. At the Best of the South Invitational, the showchoir placed fourth in their division and second overall. They were awarded best band at the North Forrest Invitational. In 2009, they took home second place in their division and overall fourth runner-up at the Mississippi Showchoir contest. The most important of the competitions, however, is the South Central Classic Showchoir Invitational in Homewood, Alabama. Members hope to outshine Jackson Prep and Jackson Academy at the competition at the end of February. The showchoir will be attending three more competitions this year in Mississippi.
Centerstage shows are filled with entertainment, and guaranteed to make you want to get on your feet and sing a long.
Members
