By: Nora Warner
Photo Credit: Kelley Warner
Friday night football games are in full swing here at Wallenpaupack. Each Friday, stands fill with families, friends, and students supporting classmates as they compete, cheer, and perform. One group adding to this game-day atmosphere is the Wallenpaupack Area High School Marching Band and Color Guard.
The group includes 75 high school students. This year, the group has 10 senior members and welcomes 35 new members.
While you may have heard the Marching Band performing in the stands throughout the game, their biggest performance is during their field show. For a short 12-15 minutes, the Marching Band takes the field to put on a show you won’t want to miss. Typically performed during the pre-game at home games and during halftime at away games, the Field Show features students performing various well-known songs. Instrumentalists perform the music while marching into different thematic formations throughout the show. Our color guard students add to the visuals with choreography using flags, rifles, and sabers. The color guard is led by captains Isabella Beheran and Destiny McMurray. Student conductors, known as drum majors, lead the band. This year’s drum majors are Tyler Marino, Vivian Yetter, Maya Walek, and Nora Warner.
Each year the WAHS Band has a theme for their field show performance.
This year’s theme is “Broadway’s Longest-Running Favorites”. The show opens with The Phantom of the Opera from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. The show is the longest-running on Broadway, with 13,981 performances over 35 years. Audience members should look for the formation of The Phantom’s mask at the end of this song.
Next, they perform Cell Block Tango from the musical Chicago. This song features color guard members and a tango-style marching pattern. Chicago is Broadway’s 2nd-longest-running show.
The third piece is an arrangement of The Circle of Life from The Lion King—Broadway’s 3rd longest-running show. Highlights include soloists Molly Fehringer and Carlos Urgiles on trombone, and trumpet player Brayden Hoffmann. You will see the band create a circle in this song while the Color Guard uses yellow, orange, and gold flags to paint the picture of the savanna.
The performance concludes with Defying Gravity from the hit musical Wicked, Broadway’s 4th longest-running musical. Pink and green flags represent the colors of famous characters. This song adds a dramatic finish to the performance.
Students in the marching band put in many rehearsal hours over the summer and at the beginning of the school year to create a top-notch performance for audiences throughout the fall season. Each week, they work to improve and help create a high-energy, exciting environment at each game.
One of the most unique parts of marching band is the community it creates during the often-competitive football games. You will see school bands cheering each other on and connecting over their shared love of spreading joy through music. During all marching band performances, feel free to clap and cheer for soloists, impressive visuals, and at the end of songs. These groups work tirelessly and appreciate respectful and enthusiastic audiences.
The Wallenpaupack Marching Band’s upcoming public performances include:
Home: Pre-game at 6:30 p.m. 9/25
Away: Halftime at West Scranton around 8:20 p.m. 10/2
Home: Stands Music only 10/23 (Senior Night)
Home: Pre-game at 6:30 p.m. 10/16
Away: Halftime at Valley View around 8:20 p.m. 10/30
They will also be performing at the Honesdale and Hawley Halloween Parades.
You can find videos of recent performances on the @wallenpaupackband YouTube page.
We hope this information has given you a deeper look at the Marching Band element of football games, and that you will come out to support our student performers this season!
