Mitchell Show Choir celebrating 40 years of music, dance and friendship

Apr. 9—MITCHELL — A lot of work goes into every performance of Friend de Coup.

But the special anniversary taking place this week may take the crown for most preparation ever to go into a Mitchell Show Choir event. That stands to reason, as the three-day, four performance run starting Thursday and running through Saturday at the Mitchell Performing Arts Center will showcase 40 years of music, dance and high-energy performance on the stage.

"I'm really excited. Everybody is kind of stressed and busy, but it's fun to see all of the effort and all of the time put into this come to fruition," said Nick McGraw, director for the Mitchell Show Choir. "And we're starting to see the finish line, but we've also bitten off a lot."

The upcoming production, titled Friends Forever: 40 Years of Mitchell Show Choir, part of the yearly Cabaret event by the choir, is set to offer a glimpse into four decades of show choir performances that have entertained thousands of audience members over that time and earned the group accolades from competitions from around the country.

The shows will see dozens of program alumni return to Mitchell, along with others from in Mitchell and around the area, to perform alongside current program members in a display that will see a medley of numbers performed by the show choir in the past. McGraw said the audience can expect to hear Friend de Coup numbers from 1986, 1995, 1999, 2000 and beyond in what is described as a tribute and testament to choir members past and present.

Arranging the event has taken a lot of research, McGraw said. Organizers have dived deep into the group history, bringing together an assemblage of items to enhance the nostalgic experience. Vintage costumes actually used from as far back as the 1990s, for example, will be part of the show.

"It's been really fun to do a deep dive into the history of this program, whether it's been archiving and gathering videos and pictures and programs or making spreadsheets," said McGraw, who has been director of the choir for the last five years. "I already knew a lot of stuff, but it's been really fun to learn that much more and explore that much more."

And there is a lot of history to explore.

The show choir marks 40 years in its current incarnation this weekend, but the roots of the program go back farther than that. Though the exact point of origin is tricky to pin down, most date it with the formation of Changing Winds, a pop vocal group consisting of 11 student members created in 1970 by director Robert Ellingson. The group experienced success, including winning the Mitchell Snow Queen Festival. In 1975, after it had expanded to 20 members, the group switched over to a swing choir format.

Following Ellingson's retirement, Jeff Gemar took over the leadership role in 1984 and kicked off the Mitchell Show Choir's modern era, highlighted in part in 1986 by the group's performance at the Young Americans competition at NBC Studios in Hollywood, California. In 2000 the group won its first national competition and was named America's Favorite Show Choir at the Branson Fame National Cup and received special recognition from then-South Dakota governor Bill Janklow.

The name of the group was changed to Friend de Coup, or "Friends take over" in French, in memory of group member Jason Kaemingk, who died in 1995.

Since then, the name Friend de Coup has signified music, energy, camaraderie and performance excellence, winning a number of competitions throughout the region and country and counting hundreds of Mitchell High School students among its participants. Today, the group has a reputation as one of the premier show choirs in the Upper Midwest.

Karisa Hart is one Friend de Coup alum helping coordinate the reunion. A 1992 graduate of Mitchell High School, she is taking part along with about 200 fellow former Friend de Coup members who are converging on Mitchell from out-of-town this weekend for the event.

She said the show choir was a major part of her student experience in Mitchell, not just for the music and performances, but for the chance to work together with a group to achieve something bigger than the sum of its parts.

"It meant so much to me in high school," Hart said. "(I loved) experiencing the power of positive leadership and getting to have the fun of delighting and entertaining audiences. But more than that are the life lessons of work ethic, leadership, community, self discipline and pride."

The anniversary celebration has been in the works for about a year, and has involved dozens of volunteers coming together to research past choirs, gather historic photos and rosters and acquire vintage costumers from show choirs seasons in the past. That work will be on display over the course of the four performances Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Performing Arts Center.

The out-of-town alumni returning for the performances are part of about 200 total taking part in the shows. That's a lot of past Friend de Coup members in one place, and the memories of shows over the years are flowing, Hart said.

"Seeing the names and photos from 30 years ago has brought lots of memories. We've been so blessed over the years to have so many talented musicians come through," Hart said. "It's fun to see."

Gary Thury, a 2008 graduate of Mitchell High School and former Friend de Coup member who is assisting with the shows, has been posting images and stories from the past on the group's Facebook and Instagram accounts in the leadup to the cabaret performances. His posts on the choir's past also bring back memories of fellow performers from days gone by and the different performances and the routines they all worked so hard to perfect for the audience and the judges at competitions.

But like Hart, Thury said he took even more from Friend de Coup than simply turning in a stellar stage performance.

"For me, it was always more than just performing. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with some really talented people and to learn so much not only through music but also through character, being a better person and things like that as well," Thury said. "And knowing that you're part of such a large community."

That large community is evident when looking at where past members are coming from to attend the festivities. Alumni from Alaska, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia, among others, are coming home to participate in the three days of shows.

Thury has been on hand for the early alumni rehearsals, and he said it's been fun to get back into the swing of things. And it's been fun to rub elbows with former participants he remembers admiring when he was growing up.

"We had rehearsal last night and, man, it was dusting off some cobwebs for sure," Thury laughed. "It's been really cool to get back in touch with (past members) and it's fun to see where people have been. And I was a little starstruck to remember some of those singers and dancers from when I was an elementary kid."

Gemar, who is credited with forming the modern incarnation of Friend de Coup in 1984, will be back in Mitchell this week to help with the performances. Now living in St. Louis, Missouri, the 69-year-old Springfield native said his revamp of the previous program was a roundabout way to encourage more participation.

"Robert Brooks was the principal,

and I remember telling him that I felt like it was a sleeping giant. Guys had been slowly dropping out of choir for years, and it was a way of recruiting them back into the program," Gemar said. "It wasn't a sneaky way, just a fun way of recruiting people back into the program."

It was a change that Gemar would foster until moving on from his position in 2000, though he credits people like Brooks,

longtime choreographer Stephen Todd

and the countless volunteers and parents who stepped up to make the shows a reality with the longevity of the program and its success.

Growth takes time, but once the new era began, the show choir was making waves in relatively short order.

"The first year was kind of scary, but fun, because we had good kids," Gemar said. "Then the second year we went to the Young Americans in Hollywood, and from that point we never looked back."

Gemar continued teaching music until he retired in 2019, and over the years he kept a distant eye on Friend de Coup. He once even judged the choir he had helped found at a competition in Chicago.

He marvels at the progress that has been made not only with Friend de Coup performances, but with the show choir world in general. Routines have become infinitely more complex and competitive, making the shows he started with in the 1980s seem quaint by comparison.

That change is part of what makes show choirs great, Gemar said. No two performances are the same, and sensibilities and perspectives change from decade to decade.

"It's so much more complex. Show choir overall has evolved and evolved and evolved. If you stayed in the 80s, you'd be laughed at now," Gemar said. "It's different every year. You have different kids, but you can't change chemistry. You can't change English. But you can change songs every year and change how you go about it and how you proceed."

Gemar holds many fond memories of his time with Friend de Coup, from trips to particularly excellent performances, but like many former student members of the group, he sees the joy of show choir in the journey, not the destination.

"I think it's more the path than the end product," Gemar said.

For 40 years and beyond, the musicians and performers who are a part of Friend de Coup have wowed audiences around the country with their talent, energy and dedication to their performances. Those traits have been noted by audiences and judges alike over the past four decades, and was recently also recognized at the state level by Gov. Kristi Noem.

Noem issued a proclamation April 4 designating the week beginning April 8 as "Mitchell Show Choir Week" in South Dakota.

"Mitchell show choir has represented the city with distinction on the national stage since the late 1980s, when the group first competed in California. Over the years they have also competed in Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, Nebraska, Iowa and more, showcasing the talent and dedication of their musicians," the proclamation reads. "We honor their achievements, their contributions to their community and their representation of Mitchell on the national stage."

The Mitchell community itself will celebrate that legacy over the course of its next few performances at the Mitchell Performing Arts Center. As cast and crew prepare the performances, other volunteers are assembling mementos like a cast yearbook, videos and other items of historical significance.

It will be a tribute to the program, its participants and its success, but it's also a celebration of the Mitchell community, which been unwavering in its support over the years, McGraw said.

"In Mitchell there is such strong community support and a long legacy of tradition. Part of the point of this is paying tribute to the work that has come before and getting to do what we do because of the roads that were paved and the seeds that were planted years ago," McGraw said. "There is a sense of responsibility or duty to honor and pay tribute to that."

The alumni gathering this week in Mitchell have all gone on to the next phase of their lives after Friend de Coup. Some have gone on to become professionals in the business world or master a trade. Many others have gone on to careers in music, some even finding their way to becoming music teachers.

That's a wonderful legacy, Gemar said, but he noted that show choir is not just for those who want to go on to careers in music performance or education. It's for everybody, and he's glad to see Friend de Coup upholding that same spirit he hoped to cultivate back in 1984.

He expects that spirit to be on display on the stage this week.

"My goal was never to make music teachers out of them. My goal was to give them a place that they could be comfortable in and be safe in and have fun and grow and be a part of the school. If they were lost in other areas, they could always come to the choir room and feel at ease and have fun," Gemar said. "I think it's going to be a special event, and I hope people say, hey, I saw it and I'm glad I did. It's one of those things — Mitchell has always been very supportive of music, band and choir, and I've felt very fortunate (to be a part of it)."

Friend de Coup will deliver four performances of Friends Forever: 40 Years of Mitchell Show Choir from Thursday to Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at mitchellmusicboosters.com or by contacting the Mitchell Performing Arts Center box office.