In advance of the upcoming show choir season, the Petal High School Show Choir will debut its competiton shows at its upcoming Grand Premiere, formerly known as Dinner Theater.
The event, which will be held Jan. 29 at the Petal Performing Arts Center on the Petal High School campus, will feature the all-girl Innovations and the girl-and-boy Soundsations. Attendees can see the show during a 3 p.m. matinee or at a 7 p.m. showing.
“This is a tradition since before I got here; (former director) Gail McInnis started Dinner Theater bac in the ‘90s,” said Shanna Luckett, director of choirs at the high school. “It’s an annual event that we have to debut or competition shows – those that we’re about to go out and compete with the following weekend.
“It gets the students in front of an audience, so we can figure out what we’re going to do and how to build off this year.”
The Innovations will perform their rendition of the movie “Miss Congeniality,” with songs including “Man For All Seasons,” “I’m A Star” and “One In A Million.” The Soundsations will do their interpretation of the movie “Pleasantville,” including the songs “Perfect World,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Trespassing,” “Spectrum” and “Find My Way.”
“Without giving too much away – I want to save a little for the performance – we’re basically going to do the story from the movies,” Luckett said.
“We are excited to be able to perform in front of a full crowd,” Luckett said. “Last year we had to limit seating (because of COVID), and this year we’re not having limit seating.
“We are asking people to be respectful of COVID and wear a mask if they need to, and keep their distance from each other.”
Tickets to the show are $15 per person, with Pre-K and younger children admitted free, and will be available for purchase at the door. Tickets also can be purchased from any member of the Petal Show Choir, or by emailing Luckett at shanna.luckett@petalschools.com.
Luckett said the event has always been successful in past years.
“It gets pretty full,” she said. “We used to have dinner, but we stopped that with COVID.
“I don’t know that we have a packed house, but it’s usually three-quarters full in our auditorium.”
