TKA 2010 Classic Schizophrenia. It’s time to hop in the time machine and take a look at this iconic show by the King’s Academy (TKA) Marching Lions.
This post will make more sense if you watch the show first:
Picking a show
We were coming off of a bad season. You can read about our 2009 season here. I had made poor decisions in show design and it had cost us dearly.
So, now what?
Will, our percussion instructor, wanted to do a classical music show. I didn’t like the idea.
Well, that’s not true…
I hated the idea.
“No one wants to hear classical music at a football game. It’s boring, highbrow music. Everyone will head to the concession stand.”
Will disagreed. He pitched a show called, Classic Schizophrenia by Key Poulan. We had done a Poulan show in 2007 called Amazonian Rainforest and it was one of my favorites.
I listened to the music for Classic Schizophrenia and was convinced. This wasn’t a straight classical music show and Will had some ideas to liven things up with some grooves. (This caught my attention since our 2008 Groove show had been a big success.)
The Opener
The show started with woodwinds and keyboards. Those instruments are not loud. How in the world were we going to get the audience’s attention? Every time I listened to the opener I envisioned people dancing around in powdered wigs.
That didn’t sound like the beginning of a great marching band show.
How would we interpret a baroque dance sequence in a way that would excite an audience?
Dance
TKA had a secret weapon named Jacquie Lopez. She was TKA’s spectacular dance instructor.
What if we could get her to choreograph the opening sequence?
The problem was that Jacquie basically worked with the theatre department. They kept her busy and, frankly they were pretty territorial. They wanted her to choreograph musicals, not marching band visuals.
But Jacquie is a wonderfully generous person. When we asked for her help, she willingly said, yes!
But, her time was extremely limited. We needed to use her time effectively and efficiently.
Her choreography and instruction set the stage perfectly for the show. SHE made that opening sequence work.
And she was a joy to work with. She demanded perfection from the students. I would grin from ear to ear when I watched her work.
Field and costumes
Small bands need to make the field look smaller. Basically, you need back and side curtains for your stage/field.
Someone came up with the idea of using theatre mask images.
We had these images painted and placed behind the band. They worked well. (As long as it wasn’t windy!)
Our colorguard instructors found a perfect uniform that helped to characterize the split theme to the show. One side was white and the other was purple.
We took that purple and white theme and added two tarps to the sides of the field. Our parents did a great job of painting them to match the colorguard.
Lastly, there was a push to put the drum majors into a costume. I didn’t like the idea. We put the drum major into costume in 2005 for the magic show and it worked well. But, generally, I liked seeing a drum major in a uniform, not a costume.
I gave in. The drum majors wore tuxedoes and they looked great.
I’m glad I listened.
Grooves, visuals and drill
Will did an extraordinary job with percussion rewrites. The grooves that he added gave the show some fun ‘jam out’ sessions. The show wouldn’t have been the same without those breakouts.
I want to give credit to the staff member/s who came up with the great body work in this show. Unfortunately I can’t remember if it was Ben or Brandon, or both? I’m sorry about that guys!
Whoever did the work, it was exceptional. Here’s a shot of one of my favorites:
Brandon brought Carolina Crown ideas to the show and Ben added Phantom Regiment ideas. These guys changed the look of the band and were instrumental in our success.
I was still writing the drill design in 2010. It was one of my best years. When I looked at the show again in order to prepare for this post, I was impressed with the visual energy.
I think I was angry about the 2009 show and was determined to do better in 2010.
The visual energy at the end of the show was great for a band of our size.
Finishing up
2010 was a year of collaboration. Everyone on staff pitched in to make this show great. We had a fantastic show, but we didn’t win a state championship.
As the season ended, my eyes began to look toward the 2011 season. We had an extremely talented junior class.
Maybe 2011 would be our year to finally finished 1st!