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Glenn Miller show will get you in the mood to dance By
Sharalyn Hartwell
I agree with Glenn Miller. "Isn't that what life's all about . . . to fill (it) with rich and beautiful things," said Miller, impersonated by Jan Benson, at the close of the tribute program A Moonlight Serenade, featuring the USU Sunburst dancers and singers and the big-band sound of the Crestmark Orchestra. And I think the Glenn Miller show is one of the best ways to do so. I encourage everyone to attend the Glenn Miller Show at USU. On student budgets, I know that even discounted prices are steep, but you won't regret it. "It was very much worth the money," said student Richard Haite, who attended the event for the first time. I have never encountered anything in my life that appealed to all of my senses more than the Glenn Miller show I attended on the last student night of the season. Performances conclude Thursday and Friday. My keen sense of touch was appeased through the crisp napkins at all the dinner tables. My tastebuds and nostrils were delighted with the elegant buffet dinner that smelled wonderful. But more than anything, my eyes and ears received a treat they will never forget. After eating, the Crestmark Orchestra, impersonating Glenn Miller's orchestra, filed onto the stage, looking sharp in white dinner jackets. They played a little ditty and Glenn Miller entered the stage. The air inside the TSC Ballroom was thick with excitement. The 50- plus students were on their feet dancing after the band got just a few measures into In the Mood. The band kept playing numbers to keep everyone moving. And moving they did. I was completely entertained watching the other couples dancing around me and my date. But the real entertainment and treat for my eyes, was yet to come. I've attended Broadway performances and I have to say the Glenn Miller floor show rank right up there with them. It was absolutely incredible. I don't know how else to describe it. I, someone who almost never is quiet, could hardly find words after it was over to describe what I thought. The story line was humorous and easy to delve right into. The characters were believable and the Sunburst dancers and singers were quite the performers. I was amazed and proud to know that they were all university students like me. "How do they do that and go to college at the same time?" asked Jean Gareis, junior psychology student. Derek Furch, director of the Glenn Miller show, said the student audiences are always the loudest and most responsive because they are watching their friends. "I wish we had three or four student nights," he said. Sunburst Dancer Choreographer Racheal Morreale agreed. "They (the performers) deserve it, they really deserve it," she said. Some of the audience members are there simply to watch a particular performer. Rod Cook was one of them. His wif,e Jenny, is a Sunburst Singer, and he tries to come often to watch her perform, especially on student nights. "I have to keep my eyes on all these college guys, so they don't get any ideas," he said with a grin. Guys and girls alike will stare in amazement and admiration when watching the dancers and singers perform. The exquisite and elaborate costumes only add to the fascination. But, as talented as these singers and dancers are, there is no way they could execute the way they do without the band. During the floor show I was torn. I was enthralled watching what was on stage, but at the same time I could hardly contain myself from getting up and dancing to the infectious music. I was not alone in this matter. "Man, I get excited about the music," said my date, Nathan Haite, emphatically. When the band played In the Mood, during the floor show, he couldn't resist tapping his feet and drumming his hands on the table to the beat of the music. "It's hard to sit down," he said to me. Despite his eagerness to dance again, he thoroughly enjoyed the show. Like me, when the floor show was over, Nathan could hardly find the words to describe what he had just seen. I could not have been more impressed by the show, but I was so happy to end the evening dancing. It was the way the audience interacted with the performers. There is something special about dancing to a live band. It brings so much fervor to every movement. Although, room to move at the Glenn Miller show is very limited. That is only thing I could possibly see as disappointing in the whole evening. There were so many people crowded onto the dance floor that there wasn't enough room to perform many swing moves. My feet, wearing open toed shoes, were stepped on so many times that my nylons were completely torn before the night was over. But that in itself is a tribute to how successful the Glenn Miller program is. It was so easy to pretend that you were really a part of the big band era while you danced on the stage with the talented musicians and singers so near. I've always had a very active imagination and I loved that the entire evening was a complete fantasy. And if you forgot, Miller reminded you every once in awhile by saying things like, "I can't believe we made it all the way to the year 1939." After seeing the show I can believe how USU's Glenn Miller show made it all they way to the year 2001. It started out as a memorial scholarship benefit for a USU student, Darrelene K. Lewis, killed accidentally while performing in Germany, and it has grown and continued for 23 years. Ron and LuAnn Harris, of Logan, have attended the Glenn Miller show every year since its beginning. They said one of the most notable things over the years is the increase of interest by the younger generation. "Now students are not just wanting, but demanding their own nights," Benson said. "And we sell out every time." For one evening, you are not a USU student in the 21st century. Your senses are affected in such a profound way that it's possible to believe you are merely cutting a rug to the boys in the band and the new millennium is about 60 years away. For show information, call (800) 231-5634 or (435) 797-0017.
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