Choral Contest amuses, astounds

Whitman kicked off its 81st annual Choral Contest for charity with a diverse line-up of performances, ranging from sophisticated to down-right wacky.

Giving the event a comic, Core-related spin, the Tau Kappa Eppsilons parodied Don Giovanni’s operatic style with several members dressed up as key characters of the play.

A few acts later, the Independent Women’s group, who took away the trophy for Best All-Women’s performance, sang an elaborate five-part harmony while wearing matching royal blue robes.

Other groups at the event included Whitman a cappella groups Schwa and the Testostertones (T-Tones), who each put on well-rehearsed medleys of songs. Schwa dressed up in prison costumes and sang a “Renegade Medley,” while the T-Tones, who took the trophy for Best Interlude Performance, dressed up like fighter pilots to sing arrangements of songs from the movie “Top Gun.”

Bringing a touch of politics to the event, a new group called The Environmental Choir sang a pollution-filled parody of “America the Beautiful” and, shortly beforehand, a loving tribute to the positive qualities of dirt.

What many considered the biggest surprise at the event, however, came from the Phi Delta Thetas who, dressed up like drunken sailors, won the Best All-Men’s Performance trophy singing a macho rendition of George Michael’s “Faith” and the classic English Sea Shanty Song, “What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?!”

About Janna Stone