‘Americana!”
River City Men’s Chorus
Trinity United Methodist Church
April 22
Consistency is one thing you can count on with the River City Men’s Chorus. The chorale’s shows, under the direction of David Glaze, will always be entertaining and will always display an enormous amount of trained talent.
Last Sunday’s spring show was proof of that.
The first part of “Americana!” was a tribute to the work of Aaron Copland with songs that rang true to the sound of familiarity, with “At the River,” to the not so familiar, yet whimsical, “I Bought Me A Cat.” The chorus seemed to have fun with “Stomp Your Foot!,” the final number before intermission, where chorus members did just that to the rhythmic exchanges of the selection.
The house seemed pleased with the opening of the second act: a salute to the armed forces. Each branch of the service was honored with its own anthem as audience members stood to receive appreciative applause from the rest of the crowd. The spirited medley set the tone for the remainder of the show as one set after the other garnered rousing applause from the audience members who somehow managed to ignore or overcome the tremendously warm temperature inside the sanctuary of Trinity UMC.
The final set drew the tuxedo-clad vocalists to old-time country music, and the singers were accompanied by chorus members Drew Irvin and Charles Friedman. The fiddling duo left the risers to add the country sound of fiddles that put the finishing touches on such country favorites as “San Antonio Rose,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and “Rocky Top.”
— John Rix