With competition season cut short this year, show choir is preparing for their first and last few performances of the year —  all within the month of April.

Competition season usually runs January to March but this year, Cassidy Barger, senior, said because of COVID-19 the season started in April 

“It’s been weird and upsetting to wait so long because by this time we are normally done with competing,” Barger said.

Barger said they have a spring performance at MHS Friday, April 23, in which each student is only allowed to bring two guests.

“I’m glad we still get to have an audience this year because they fuel our energy,” Barger said.

Barger said she is particularly excited for the spring performance because she gets to showcase her senior solo to the audience.

“I have been looking forward to singing a solo at the spring show as a senior for four years and I actually get to,” Barger said.

Barger said it has been hard to face the fact that her last year in show choir won’t be normal.

“I love to travel and compete, so I’m sad we won’t have any overnight competitions this year because those are the most fun,” Barger said.

Sully Anselmo, senior, is a virtual student and said it has been difficult to catch onto choreography through Zoom. Because of this, he values after school rehearsals.

“Learning choreography online during class is quite challenging because the video is mirrored on your screen, and sometimes the audio and video are not in sync,” Anselmo said. 

Anselmo said the performances are grouped closely together this year, meaning the group only gets one week to polish. He said this isn’t ideal because there haven’t been many shows this year as prior test runs

However, Anselmo said he believes in the group’s ability to quickly fix their mistakes and regroup.

“I think Center Stage will pull through before our next competition. We always do,” Anselmo said.

Jason Winter, show choir director, said the next competition will be in Troy, Mo., Saturday, April 17. It is a one-day trip without an overnight stay, so it is safe to attend.

Winter said the show choir has been spending extra time practicing for the competition with an additional one to two night rehearsals a week which is more compacted than previous years. 

Performances for friends and family also have been cut down because of the limited audience that the Theater is allowed to hold during the pandemic, Winter said.

“COVID-19 presented challenges over learning music, so we chose to focus on the quality of our performance rather than the quantity,” Winter said.

Winter said it’s unfortunate that this year there will only be two competitions while under normal circumstances there would be four to six, but the students haven’t lost their dedication for performing.

“This year was not as big of a struggle as I was anticipating,” Winter said. “I have realized my students are truly competitors and don’t need motivation from me and are rather staying self motivated.”