Undefeated: Vestavia Hills show choir on winning streak

For the past two years, the show choir at Vestavia Hills High School has won its respective division in every competition in which it has competed.

Before that, the choir placed regularly, said Director Megan Rudolph.

It’s an impressive streak for a group that is “pretty high-intensity,” Rudolph said.

Show choir members sing and dance, so being well-rounded in their musical talent is important, she said.

The choir competes in four competitions a year, including one it hosts at the high school, and it isn’t easy to make the cut into the group.

“Really good singers don’t always get in,” Rudolph said.

The group can perform with up to 32 people on stage and also has a technical crew and band, Rudolph said. “It takes [every] little hand to make that great product,” she said.

Nick Watts, a 2020 Vestavia Hills High School graduate, said he at first had no desire to join show choir but auditioned at the request of his mother. Not having a song picked out beforehand, Watts sang “Happy Birthday” and was accepted.

“It was really like a family,” Watts said. “Teamwork comes in a lot. Chemistry is huge.”

Over the course of several weekends, the choir spent time learning choreography in what Watts called a “heat box” of a practice space. Those long practices drew the team closer together.

“It really showed ... with show choir, if you want to be the best, you have to work as a team,” Watts said.

Riley Graham, who will be a senior in the 2020-21 school year, joined this past school year and said it was an eye-opening experience. She didn’t previously grasp how much work went into performances.

“It’s not like any choir I’ve ever done,” Graham said. “I’m not sure if I’ll use it, but I’m learning a lot from it.”

Graham echoed Watts’ comments about the choir being a big family. “They care about each other so much,” she said.

Rudolph came to the school in 2000 and said the choir existed before then but has seen many changes, such as transitioning to a more seamless show, sometimes with overarching storylines instead of just individual songs. This past year, the group performed “A Christmas Carol,” and this year, it will perform a show centering on Saturday morning cartoons.

Students learn to work really hard during the season and to take constructive criticism without taking it as a personal attack, Rudolph said.

Students are also taught to learn during the process of creating the performances, not just getting caught up in the final product, Rudolph said. They also learn to be part of something bigger than themselves and to not underestimate their own potential, she said.

“There is no limit to how good you can be,” Rudolph said.

Regardless of whether students pursue a career in musical theater, Rudolph said the lessons they learn can apply to any career and also help with interpersonal skills.

The goal is not just to win trophies, but to create compassionate people, she said. Students develop that compassion for others as they walk with their classmates in difficult times, such as the loss of a parent or serious illness, she said.

“When they go through hard times ... you see the resilience and you see the love that envelopes the family,” Rudolph said.

While the show choir is on a great run right now, Rudolph said it’s important for students to take pride in what they do, regardless of whether or not they come home winners.

“Kids need to let chips fall where they fall,” Rudolph said. “A hunk of plastic is not going to determine our worth.”