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Drumroll, please: Bands do battle on TV

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published September 2, 2006

 If you're a fan of Drums Corps International and don't have ESPN2, now is the time to make friends with someone who does.

That's because the 2006 World Championship Finale in Madison, Wis., will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Tuesday on that channel.

I'm always astounded when I hear people say they don't know what DCI is. It's like being a rabid football fan and hearing someone ask, "What's the NFL?"

Just in case, though: DCI is a worldwide organization of marching brass and percussion corps for young people up to age 21. Getting into a unit is about as tough as getting into Harvard Business School. Hundreds of applicants, usually the hotshots of their high school bands and color guards, vie to get a coveted slot.

Once chosen, they're in for a summer of near slavery to music and marching. Every day for two months, they practice on hot, sun-baked football fields from sunup to after dark, working on an 11-minute routine that's a mix of football halftime show and Broadway musical. They sleep in buses and on gymnasium floors between practices and perform for thousands of people across the country, all the while amassing points (sort of like NASCAR drivers) to determine the top 12 marching groups that will compete for top honors at the grand finale.

This year, more than 375,000 people in 39 states went to see a total of 143 DCI-sanctioned shows. There were more than 22,000 at the finals alone.

Those who follow DCI already know who the winner is - the finals occurred Aug. 12 - but that doesn't really matter. It's not the suspense of the competition that counts; it's the performance itself. The talent, skill and pageantry are as mesmerizing as a symphony, a ballet and a Kentucky Derby rolled into one.

I saw several of the finals when they were held in Orlando, but Florida's late-summer lightning made them a little bit more exciting than the organizers intended, so the show has been moved out of the Lightning Capital of the World to friendlier climes.

If you miss the Tuesday show, ESPN2 will show it again in two parts, the first at 2 p.m. Sept. 11 and the second at 2 p.m. Sept. 18.

Spoiler alert: The winners were the Cavaliers, my favorite corps, not only because of their drop-dead shows, but also because my nephew, Phil Mayard, was a Cavvy for many years. It was the Cavaliers' seventh DCI title in 34 years of competition. They also won the Disney Award for Innovation and Creativity, the only time a corps has won both awards in the same year.

Not that I'm a bragging auntie or anything.

* * *

Theater patrons who go to Playhouse 19 in Crystal River to see the musical comedy L'il Abner may think they've stumbled into a Stage West Community Playhouse production.

That's because a great many of the cast members, as well as the director, are based in Hernando County and/or frequently appear at Stage West.

Director Peter Clapsis (Og in Finian's Rainbow, director of Black Coffee at Stage West) cast several actors he's performed with or directed in the Spring Hill theater and recruited Danielle Flury (musical director, Finian's) as musical director. Ms. Flury also plays Stupefyin' Jones, the character made famous by actress Julie Newmar for being "so gorgeous she made men freeze in their tracks."

Among the familiar faces are Dalton Benson (Emcee in Cabaret) as Marryin' Sam; Michael Benson (Utterson in Jekyll and Hyde) as Evil Eye Fleagle, David Stenger (Grandpa in You Can't Take It With You) as Pappy Yokum, Matt Jay (Barnette in Crimes of the Heart) as Mayor Dan'l Dawgmeat, Richard Flury (Poet in Kismet) as Lonesome Polecat, Cheryl Roberts (Essie in You Can't) as Mammy Yokum and Clapsis himself as General Bullmoose.

Jim Sutphen (the IRS agent in You Can't) and Bonnie Gottsman (chorus, My Fair Lady) are in the chorus.

Hernando High honors English teacher Tony Miziko, who worked as a technical assistant on an independent feature film in New Mexico this summer, plays the title role.

[Last modified September 2, 2006, 06:38:38]