By: Jenny Guadagno
In a typical school year, the Western Wayne Marching Band would don their costumes and travel to three different nursing homes to perform several songs and spread Halloween cheer. Steampunk flute players, superhero horn players, and banana-suit trumpet players would march through the hallways of Julia Ribaudo, Ellen Memorial, and Wayne Woodlands. But in the age of COVID-19, this annual trip is not a possibility.
Instead, the Wildcat Band found a new way to share their music and spooky spirits: Members of the band showed up after school to dress in their costumes and make a video recording some spectacular tunes in October prior to Halloween. Featured were songs from this year’s “Hot and Cold” field show, including the Ice Castles theme and “Hot Hot Hot”, as well as old favorites and Halloween classics like “Thriller” and “When I’m Sixty-Four”. Once the songs were recorded, the clips were compiled and shipped off to local nursing homes as well as to eager teachers, parents, and community members throughout the district.
While video viewers may not quite experience the magic of a live performance, this medium came with the potential for added flair. Prerecording outside meant players had space to march and show off fun visuals, from doing a dainty step-touch to letting loose and jamming out to their sound.
“It was fun to put together, and I think the video turned out good,” says sophomore Ash Mangieri, a flute player and former Color Guard member who is in their third year with the marching band. “I’m happy we were able to do this for the community.”
The video is accessible by the public and can be found on Youtube under the title “Western Wayne Wildcat Marching Band Halloween 2020.” The band is already anticipating the release of more recordings for future events and looks forward to further exploring alternate performance mediums like this. The conclusion? No matter the circumstances, the band will continue to find ways to do what it does best… perform.
