In harmony: Dave Farris, Kansas City, Mo., directs the Overland Stage Chorus practice May 8 at Overland Park Lutheran Church, 7810 W. 79th St.
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Overland Stage Chorus prepares for 49th annual show
By: Holly Kramer, Staff Writer
The Overland Stage Chorus is gearing up in four-part harmony for their annual show.
The singers, ranging from 30 to 89 years old, are part of the oldest men’s chorus in Johnson County.
The show is called “Over There” and the Overland Stage Chorus will entertain the crowd May 17 at Bishop Miege High School, 5401 Reinhardt, Roeland Park, with songs from World War I, vice president of marketing and sales Gary Talbert said.
“In the chorus, there are 98 percent of us who are veterans,” Talbert said. “We like to sing songs from 1914 to 1918 about The Great War.”
Talbert, 71, Westwood, sings bass.
“I like the camaraderie of the group,” Talbert said. “We have a variety of talents in this group.”
The 42-member chorus practices every Thursday at Overland Park Lutheran Church, 7810 W. 79th St.
The Overland Stage Chorus is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, an international association of men’s choruses.
“We’ve had top quartets make the trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, and it went over well,” Talbert said. “They want to start their own barbershop quartets there and in Sweden and all over the world.”
The chorus group includes the Homeward Bound and The School Board quartets. The quartets perform with the chorus and venture out on their own in the community for singing engagements.
The style of singing is unaccompanied men’s voices with a lead or melody singer, and a tenor, a bass and a baritone singer.
Talbert said the songs about WWI resonate with the group.
“We sing songs like ‘Everybody’s Out of Step But Jim’ because our servicemen here had to ship off and go someplace where they were being killed,” Talbert said. “So you had a lot of songs that were actually written by mothers sending off their sons to war.”
The chorus has performed in regional and national competitions as well as events for the Harry Truman Library and the Country Club Plaza.
Also set to perform at the “Over There” show is the Sweet Adelines, an all-female barbershop quartet.
“They placed fifth in a national competition last year,” Talbert said. “They are zingy and zesty.”
Chorus president Fred Holmes said he has been a “barbershopper” for more than 40 years and looks forward to the show.
“Since it’s the 90th anniversary of the end of the first Great War, we hope the audience will get the feeling of the music of WWI,” Holmes said. “The music of that era was really rich and quite wonderful. Everybody had a piano at their house, everyone liked to sing. We’re trying to recapture that in a way. We also want to recognize that many men gave their lives fighting for our country.”
Holmes said some of the music in the two-hour show will be solemn and some will be silly.
Since many of the chorus members have musical backgrounds, Holmes said they are “wired” for music.
“There was more music in our schools and I think many of us had a feeling for harmony since we were kids,” Holmes said. “I think it’s in our DNA. The human brain can be wired for language and music. We like to do shows and get together once a week because we like to hang out with other guys and sing.”
SHOW TIME
The Overland Stage Chorus performs “Over There” on Saturday, May 17, at Bishop Miege High School, 5401 Reinhardt, Roeland Park.
Show times are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
For tickets, call Gary Talbert at (816) 223-2783.
For more information, visit www.harmonize.com/
OverlandStage.
Contact Holly Kramer at 385-6068 or
hollykramer@sunpublications.com.
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The singers, ranging from 30 to 89 years old, are part of the oldest men’s chorus in Johnson County.
The show is called “Over There” and the Overland Stage Chorus will entertain the crowd May 17 at Bishop Miege High School, 5401 Reinhardt, Roeland Park, with songs from World War I, vice president of marketing and sales Gary Talbert said.
“In the chorus, there are 98 percent of us who are veterans,” Talbert said. “We like to sing songs from 1914 to 1918 about The Great War.”
Talbert, 71, Westwood, sings bass.
“I like the camaraderie of the group,” Talbert said. “We have a variety of talents in this group.”
The 42-member chorus practices every Thursday at Overland Park Lutheran Church, 7810 W. 79th St.
The Overland Stage Chorus is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, an international association of men’s choruses.
“We’ve had top quartets make the trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, and it went over well,” Talbert said. “They want to start their own barbershop quartets there and in Sweden and all over the world.”
The chorus group includes the Homeward Bound and The School Board quartets. The quartets perform with the chorus and venture out on their own in the community for singing engagements.
The style of singing is unaccompanied men’s voices with a lead or melody singer, and a tenor, a bass and a baritone singer.
Talbert said the songs about WWI resonate with the group.
“We sing songs like ‘Everybody’s Out of Step But Jim’ because our servicemen here had to ship off and go someplace where they were being killed,” Talbert said. “So you had a lot of songs that were actually written by mothers sending off their sons to war.”
The chorus has performed in regional and national competitions as well as events for the Harry Truman Library and the Country Club Plaza.
Also set to perform at the “Over There” show is the Sweet Adelines, an all-female barbershop quartet.
“They placed fifth in a national competition last year,” Talbert said. “They are zingy and zesty.”
Chorus president Fred Holmes said he has been a “barbershopper” for more than 40 years and looks forward to the show.
“Since it’s the 90th anniversary of the end of the first Great War, we hope the audience will get the feeling of the music of WWI,” Holmes said. “The music of that era was really rich and quite wonderful. Everybody had a piano at their house, everyone liked to sing. We’re trying to recapture that in a way. We also want to recognize that many men gave their lives fighting for our country.”
Holmes said some of the music in the two-hour show will be solemn and some will be silly.
Since many of the chorus members have musical backgrounds, Holmes said they are “wired” for music.
“There was more music in our schools and I think many of us had a feeling for harmony since we were kids,” Holmes said. “I think it’s in our DNA. The human brain can be wired for language and music. We like to do shows and get together once a week because we like to hang out with other guys and sing.”
SHOW TIME
The Overland Stage Chorus performs “Over There” on Saturday, May 17, at Bishop Miege High School, 5401 Reinhardt, Roeland Park.
Show times are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
For tickets, call Gary Talbert at (816) 223-2783.
For more information, visit www.harmonize.com/
OverlandStage.
Contact Holly Kramer at 385-6068 or
hollykramer@sunpublications.com.