Claire Crocker returns to stage at CHS
By Lowell Easley
Claire Crocker will perform on her hometown stage when the Wisconsin Singers troupe presents “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now!” on Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Clintonville High School auditorium.
“I cannot wait to come home to my community and share with them what has been one of the most amazing experiences of my college career,” Crocker said. “I love everything this group does, and I am especially excited to bring it back to my hometown.”
Crocker, the daughter of Ann and Brian Crocker, said she first saw the Wisconsin Singers was when she was a junior and a member of the CHS show choir.
“I got to do a dance clinic with them and watch them perform,” Crocker said. “It was easy to see that every one of them was passionate about music and performing — passions I had myself.”
She saw them again in her senior year, further cementing her passion to perform on stage.
Crocker works up the courage to audition
Crocker said she was fortunate to have been accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the home for the Wisconsin Singers, to study industrial engineering.
However, she said she was “too nervous about navigating my first year in a big city” to think about auditioning for the Singers.
She said it was not until the spring of her sophomore year that she was reminded of her passion for performance and also of something that former CHS Principal Lance Bagstad would tell each year’s incoming freshman.
According to Crocker, Bagstad told her: “You don’t want to walk across the stage at graduation thinking ‘what if?’ You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity because you were too scared, nervous or too lazy to try. Each opportunity could bring some of the best experiences or friends into your life.”
Reflecting back on what Bagstad said gave her the courage to audition for the Singers.
“I was coming up on my junior year, and I knew I would walk across the stage at college graduation with regrets if I didn’t at least try to make it into the group,” Crocker said. “It was nerve-wracking, sure, but right from the beginning of the audition I could tell that all the people involved in this organization are wonderful, which made it much more calming.”
For the audition she had to prepare two songs of contrasting tempo and style in genres surrounding pop and musical theater. She also had to learn and perform a short movement routine.
The four-hour audition also included a short interview and socializing with current troupe members and some of the others who had auditioned.
“I was so excited when I found out that I would be a Wisconsin Singer,” Crocker said.
Many hours spent perfecting show
That July, the 2018-19 Wisconsin Singers had their first official meeting over a weekend. They got together to get the music for the show and begin to learn it, and it was the first time the new members met the entire troupe.
The next time they would meet would be mid-August to start production camp where the whole show was put together, and where they spent 18 straight days singing and dancing from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. or later.
“Before this August meeting, we were expected to have learned and memorized 50 pieces of music and were given workouts to prepare our body for the grueling schedule,” Crocker said. “By the start of academic classes, we had a rough draft of the show.”
Through the first semester last fall, the troupe met every Sunday for about eight hours to fine tune the show. In addition, they had a few performance events, performing in the homecoming parade and singing at the farmer’s market at the state Capitol.
All this led up to the debut of their 90-minute Broadway-quality show on the Madison campus in November.
“I don’t think I could possibly explain the feeling when we all hit the first major pose of our opening number and the crowd went insane,” Crocker said. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
A meaningful pursuit
Crocker shared what it means to be a performer with the Singers troupe.
“Being on the stage, doing what I love with people who have quickly become my best friends? It’s indescribable,” Crocker said. “What I saw on my high school stage four years ago is true. Everyone in this group has a passion for what they’re doing, whether it’s singing, dancing, playing an instrument or literally making sure everyone can hear our show, or the theater techs who work behind stage. It really is an extraordinary group of people.”
She says being a member of the Wisconsin Singers troupe is more than just performing on stage with your best friends.
“It’s a time commitment comparable to any college course, often exceeding the time required for some,” Crocker said. “We have performances almost every weekend in towns all over Wisconsin.”
“Efficiency is also a really really important personal aspect of being a Singer,” Crocker said. “Lots of times we will have two, if not three shows a weekend, effectively giving us four or five days a week to study, do our homework, sleep, eat and all other things. It often means some later study nights at the library, and sometimes missing out on school or friend events.”
Crocker said everyone values their education just as much as performing with the troupe.
“Luckily for us, we all know that there are 30 other people who are making the same choices as us in terms of their schooling, as typically it means that we are meeting up with each other during the week to study together for our classes,” Crocker said.
Crocker says the group functions on “a high level of mutual respect and accountability.”
Preparing for each show is an involved process that requires a lot of communication, Crocker said. Student staff back in Madison perform functions like providing important information — schedule, dance and vocal notes, load procedures — and they rely on the troupe to fix things and to communicate with one another.
“Every time we have a show, we load all our equipment from a storage room in the university building onto a coach bus,” Crocker said. “When arriving on site, we unload all this equipment and set it up ourselves. Subsequently, after we perform, we are all responsible for different aspects of striking our stage and quickly and efficiently loading all the equipment back on the bus for the drive back to Madison that night.
“None of this goes well if we do not have clear communications and respect for each other.”
Crocker said one of her favorite parts of Singers is meeting all the high school students who love the arts the way she does.
“I am honored to be a part of a group who encourages students to pursue their dreams — whether it be in something like the Singers, an acappella group, going all the way to Broadway, or continuing in local theater,” she said.
This week’s show
The Wisconsin Singers’ Clintonville appearance is sponsored by the Clintonville Lions in collaboration with the CHS music department as a fundraiser for both groups.
Sixty percent of profits will go to the music department.
Advance tickets for the show cost $10 for adults 19 and older and $5 for students 18 and younger.
A family pack for a maximum of two adults and four children living in the same household will also be available for $25, a savings of up to $15 from the individual ticket prices.
Adult and student tickets can be purchased in advance online at Eventbrite until 5 p.m. Friday. This does not include the family pack.
Tickets can be purchased locally at B&H Fashionwear, Tadych’s EconoFoods at the service desk, the CHS office and the Marion Advertiser. Advance ticket sales at the outlets will end at the end of the business day on Thursday.
Tickets, if still available, will be sold at the door the night of the show for an additional $2 per adult and student ticket and an extra $5 per family pack.
Individuals or organizations wishing to show their support can also make a Friends of the CHS Music Program contribution online at Eventbrite or by mailing it to Clintonville Lions, 194 Robert St., Clintonville, WI 54929-1153. Checks can be made out to the Clintonville Lions.