The NIC vocal and choral students made good use of a small space while performing pieces from Les Miserables at the Bakery by the Lake at Parkside.
The bakery was packed full of many anxious performers and audience members who were forced out of their comfort zones throughout the evening.
The show was more personal for audience members because they had become part of the show, sitting quietly and smirking as performers made them a part of the act by interacting with them.
At one point during the performance of “Master of the House,” choral singer Duncan Menzies, 20, music, sang to audience members and even pretended to be drunk as he playfully stumbled around the crowded bakery.
Menzies and his performance partner Jessica Peterson both only met a few times before the actual show to prepare the routine.
“We didn’t plan our movements while practicing,” Menzies said. “It was really an on-the-spot performance.”
Other performers sang solo pieces such as “On My Own,” which was performed by Courtney Swanson, and the performance of “Bring him Home,” performed by Garret Rook.
Many of the singers were also a part of the audience.
Random bystanders would suddenly pipe up in the middle of the bakery and become animated within the piece. During the last song of the night, all of the participants made their way to the front of the bakery and belted one more piece known as “Do you Hear the People Sing?”
Performing in such a different environment proved the students’ vocal talents for they had to find their own identities within the piece.
A tension was in the air the whole night as some performers stood in front of the crowd with scared looks on their faces.
The audience was supportive towards the many nervous performers.
“The students were performing in front of people who were there to support them,” Max Mendez, NIC choral instructor said.
The show was set up by Mendez and NIC vocal instructor Andrea Dawson. Dawson selected the pieces for Les Miserables.
The classical cabaret performances also help local businesses attract customers and provide free entertainment for by-standers.
“It is a relaxed setting,” Mendez said. “It’s about getting students out in the community to perform.”
The vocal and choral students both have been preparing for the show almost all semester. The performers would also be left to practice on their own time, making up their own fine touches that would bring their songs to life.
Mendez plans to continue classical cabaret performances next fall.