Three more rehearsals before the big show

Only three more rehearsals before the big show when the Hunterdon Harmonizers will present their performance of Holly Days and Jolly Knights, their annual holiday show, at Hunterdon Central High School at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM on Saturday December 4, 2010. Lords and ladies, princes, paupers and peasants, common folk and uncommon folk, are all welcome to the dubbing ceremonies for the Royal Knight School.

The musical is set in the year 1322. It tells the story of two young men, Dropsalot and SuAve, recent graduates of Knight School. Dropsalot and Lord Malice each seek the hand of Rose, beautiful daughter of King David.

Who will bring the head of the very, VERY ugly dragon, a dragon with musical scales, to the King? He who does will win the hand of Rose, says the King. Time to woo the fair Princess and take over the Kingdom says Malice!

A King, a beautiful princess, a squire assigned to each knight, Harolds, Sir Sultan of Turkey Club, a Bard, a yellow page, the dastardly braggart Lord Malice, Dropsalot and SuAve, Erasmus B. Dragon (the dragon), S’Andrew Wizard, the bartender at The Still of the Knight’s and many others, together with the Harmonizer chorus, are the cast.

Does the dragon survive? Do the most noble and brave-ish knights do battle? Does Malace or Dropsalot win the hand of Rose? Do Harmonizer quartets perform? Do the parties put their differences aside, and regale in true friendship and harmony? Does the day end as a day of great joy and celebration?

Tickets for the Holiday show can be obtained from any Harmonizers, or by calling their telephone number 908-806-NOTE (6683), or from their web site njharmonizers.org. Ticket prices are all General Admission at $15 advanced sales or $20 at the door. Students 6-17 are $10, kids 5 and under, accompanied by an adult are free. A group discount of 10% is available for 10 or more tickets bought at one time.

Getting Ready for the Show

The big show for the Hunterdon Harmonizers in December will be on Saturday December 4, 2010, the first show being at 2:00 and the following show at 7:00 in the evening, at Hunterdon Central High School. Holly Days & Jolly Knights lets you, our loyal audience, in on the graduation of the Knights of the Class of 1322. Watch these guys celebrate the Holiday Season.

The picture above lets you in on the scenery building that has been going on in the barn by Tony and his crew.

Do order your tickets in advance of the shows. By doing so you will save $5 on each ticket as compared to buying at the door.

Our Next Big Show

Tuesday night, not long ago, the Harmonizers had the first read through of the script for the December 4, 2010 Holiday show.

Each year we entertain our fans with an original fun show that ends with Holiday music. In the photo, the cast reads the script for the chapter members.

In addition to the songs to go with the script we are beginning to introduce the Holiday music for the last third of the show.

Besides the Harmonizer members we expect to have a chorus from each of two regional high schools in the area perform on the show. It is an honor for the high schools that are selected because being selected recognizes the strong music program of the schools participating.

Tickets for the Holiday show can be obtained from any Harmonizer, or by calling their telephone number 908-806-NOTE (6683), or from their web site njharmonizers.org. Ticket prices are all General Admission at $15 advanced sales or $20 at the door. Students 6-17 are $10, kids 5 and under, accompanied by an adult, are free. A group discount of 10% is available for 10 or more tickets bought at one time.

Successful Contest Experience

I am pleased to report that the Hunterdon Harmonizers met their expectation participating in the Barbershop contest last week. We achieved our best District contest score in a number of years. We are ranked, based on this contest, among the top 15% of chapters in the District that runs from Washington DC north to include New York City and from Long Island west to Harrisburg in Pennsylvania.

I am proud of our guys with this record. Especially in view of our goals, which do not include a hard focus on contest. We are a fun chapter that is more interested in the fellowship among our members, and taking our time to prepare for and entertain our various audiences.

Now it is time to get ready for our Holiday Show that will take place the first Saturday in December, and our other holiday performances. Call 908-806-NOTE to get further information, or to get tickets at the pre-show reduced price.

Less than one week before contest

The Harmonizers have qualified for the District Contest again this year. It is less than a week before contest. In fact by this time next week the contest will be over. Most of us will be in the Lancaster Convention Center in Lancaster PA Friday in time for the quartet contest in the evening. Two of our quartets, Re-Mix and Untamed, will be singing Friday night. Saturday the chorus contest begins at 9:00 AM. We expect to sing at 9:50 if all is on time.

Even with the contest just around the corner, our show committee has been working on our Annual Show. The photos were taken after our performance at the Craft Fair last week. The guys are out about town giving our local business people an opportunity to participate in our show program as advertisers. If they have missed you, let us know at 908-806-NOTE and, someone will call on you.

Tickets are also now available. Call the same number to get early tickets at a price lower than buying at the door. The show, Holly Days & Jolly Knights will be at Hunterdon Central High School at 84 Route 31 in Flemington. Shows are at 2:00 and 7:00 PM on Saturday, December 4, 2010. The advance ticket price is just $15 (at the door $20) and students $10 in advance. Kids five and under, with an adult, are free. We expect a very fun show.

Craft Fair Sept 18 & 19 Free Performance

The Harmonizers are getting ready for the Craft Fair they sponsor on Main Street in Flemington, which this year will be held all day Saturday and Sunday this weekend, September 18^th and 19^th all day.

We will be performing an hour long show each afternoon at 1:00. Come out and enjoy the performance. If you are a man interested in singing, join one of our small groups for a few minutes after the show to test your voice, and to show us what you can do. Our guys would love to sing with you.

The street will be lined with craft people all day. See what they have to offer to tempt you to get a very early start on your holiday shopping, or to get something for yourself.

Don’t forget to reserve the first Saturday in December to go to our annual show. Tickets will be available Saturday and Sunday from our ticket chairman. Get your tickets early this year. More information about the show is available on our web site at NJHarmonizers.org.

Hunterdon Harmonizers Annual Patriots Baseball Game

The Hunterdon Harmonizers finished the month of August with one of their annual fun activities. They gathered together yesterday with friends from a number of other barbershop chapters to perform a show for the early arrivals of the crowd of more than 5,000 fans at the Somerset Patriots baseball game in the TD Stadium in Bridgewater New Jersey. The stands were packed with children and their parents interested in the Star Wars theme of the night.

Rusty Williams of the Harmonizers organized the event. He invited the leadership and singers of all of the chapter in the Northern Division of the MidAtlantic District. Participating, in addition to the Hunterdon Harmonizers, www.NJHarmonizerrs.org were singers from the local chapter, The SomerTones of Somerville New Jersey, www.somertones.org, the Morris Music Men of Morris County in New Jersey www.morrismusicmen.org the High Point Harmonizers of Sussex New Jersey, and singers from the Jerseyaires of Rahway, New Jersey. www.Jerseyaires.org.

Music had been provided in advance for the 20 minute show to be performed. The singers gathered outside of the stadium to practice their show set. All of the singers came prepared and opened the show with a rendition of Coney Island Baby.

The music directors of each of the chapters took turns directing a song with all of the singers joining in. As the crowd entered the stadium they heard the performance of this barbershop group projected over the stadium sound system. As the audience grew the applause level increased. It was obvious that the performance was appreciated.

The staff from the patriots ball team filmed the singers, projecting their video on the large scoreboard so that everyone in the stadium could see the close-up faces of the various singers.

At the conclusion of the show the group paused for the introduction of the ballplayers of both teams, the introduction of the game officials, and a representative of the sponsor for the night throwing out the first pitch. Star Wars characters were introduced. Following that pause the barbershop group sang the National Anthem which concluded with thunderous applause from the appreciative audience.

The singers and their guests took their seats in the stands and watched the Somerset Patriots defeat the Camden Riversharks 5-2 before 5,043 fans. Representatives of the participating chapters took turns staffing a table in the food court area that was used to promote barbershop, and the participating chapters in particular.

The next major Harmonizer event is the annual Craft Fair on the Main Street in Flemington on Saturday and Sunday September 18 and 19^th. The craft fair will feature a full free show performed by the Harmonizers chorus and quartets at 1:00 pm on each of the two afternoons.