‘Stagedoor Spectacular’ features dance, song and big band tunes

To salute the end of the school year, American Music Review says "We got da blues - we got da funk" in its April 13 "Stagedoor Spectacular" filled with dancing, song and big band tunes.

The free concert, sponsored by Purdue University Bands, is set for 8 p.m. Friday, April 13, in Loeb Playhouse of the Purdue Stewart Center.

Constantly changing tempos and moods, the concert takes musical leaps from rambunctious tunes like "Pig Lickin’ Blues" and "Chewin’ the Fat" to gentler numbers such as "Autumn Leaves" and "Bewitched." Dancers will add to the Broadway flavor of the event in two numbers - "Happy Feet" and "Carnivale" - while singers are featured in six numbers.

Talents of two seniors - singer Fritz Muelhausen of Buck Creek and trumpeter Kris Gibson of Floyds Knobs - will be spotlighted in the show. Muelhausen will be featured in Bobby McFerrin’s "Thinking" while Gibson performs several solos in "All of Me."

In their last show for American Music Review, both attempt something they’ve never done before. For Gibson, it’s juggling vocal and instrumental solos in the same piece. One of Purdue Bands’ top trumpeters throughout his four years at the university, Gibson kept his vocal talents hidden until his senior year.

"For a long time I was a closet singer," says Gibson who’s first public solo happened at a Boiler Brass party centered around karaoke singing in the spring of 2000. Not too long before that event, Gibson’s girlfriend Sarah Lemke had given him a Frank Sinatra CD, and Gibson easily imitated the singer’s style.

American Music Review director Bill Kisinger was so impressed, he insisted Gibson solo with the big band at all of its performances this season. "I freaked out the first time," says Gibson, who found that remembering lyrics, and singing a solo, made him way more nervous than playing his trumpet.

"I’m pretty comfortable playing the trumpet. I’ve done it so long. But trumpet solos are always improvisation, so there’s no forgetting. I’m a little more nervous when I sing."

Gibson enjoyed his foray into vocal territory so much, he jumped at the challenge involved in performing "All of Me." "I’ve never done that before (solos for voice and trumpet), so I wanted to try both," he says.

Throughout his life, Gibson has been a leader in musical activities. At Floyd Central High School, he helped organize a big band at his school when none existed. Now that band is part of the school’s regular curriculum. At Purdue he's been a regular soloist with AMR and a four-year member of the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band, earning the Outstanding Marching Band Member Award in 2000.

Fritz Muehlhausen, who’s been a singer with AMR for three years, also looks to challenge himself at the April 13 concert. As a vocalist, he’s used to being backed up by the band and other singers. But for his senior spotlight, he’ll go it alone in Bobby McFerrin’s "Thinking."

McFerrin, best known as the "Don’t Worry, Be Happy" man, wrote the tune as an a cappella number. In it, one person "does all the parts himself, changing around to different voice

ranges, from bass to lead, to give the effect that it’s more than one person," says Muehlhausen. "I thought it was kind of fun, something unusual to do for my last performance."

Both men majored in engineering at Purdue, and found American Music Review provided a creative release from the academic world.

"It’s a pretty laid-back group. It’s nice to have a singing group where you can enjoy the format, yet it’s still casual enough to have fun with it. It’s been a good fit for me, being in a technology, to have the arts and music be a very important part of my life," says Muehlhausen. He specialized in electrical engineering technology and has secured a position with Mail Code of Lafayette, while Gibson, an electrical engineering major, is interviewing with several corporations as well as the Navy.

Both plan to keep music in their lives. With the pressure of college gone, "I actually look forward to having more time to practice," says Gibson who hopes, wherever he ends up, he’ll find opportunities to play the variety of big band music that attracted him to American Music Review.

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