For those who like entertainment, jokes and food, dinner theater might be a fun experience for you. Every year, the OHS Choir puts together a dinner theater show. This year, it took place on Oct. 24 and 25 in Columbia, Ill. 

“It’s a lot of fun and you can just kind of relax and not worry about anything because you’re going to be too confused to know what’s going on,” Nolan Long (12) said. 

MADS Dinner Theater is essentially a fun work of theater put on by the OHS choir, featuring the Madrigals Choir, and includes a dinner. The show is Renaissance-themed, frequently including a king and a queen. 

“This is so unique because it means that we are serving as hosts to our ‘audience,’ which are actually here as our guests on these evenings,” choir director Chelsea Ayres said. “It is a very special thing to interact personally with our audience, family and friends during our performance.”

Most shows some may see don’t frequently include audience participation, so some choir students feel that this sets the show apart from others.

“It’s a lot more interactive. The audience actually gets into it,” Peter Lee (12) said. “We’re doing more than just standing there and singing.” 

Before the show dates, however, the group had to prepare. 

“We don’t really have a crew team. We do that ourselves as the actors, so we build this set and make our own costumes,” Teagan Crecelius (12) said.  

The stress of doing the tech side of the performance alongside the acting and music may have been fun for them, but it was also a big undertaking. 

“It’s a big project,” Ayres said, “and so it’s difficult in the sense that there’s a lot of moving pieces.” 

Because of the addition of acting while singing, the Madrigals performance differs from what most choir students are used to. However, it did offer some of them the chance to broaden their performing arts skills. 

“… being part of a production, more so than a concert, gives them an opportunity to embrace a character,” Ayres said.

The students all get something out of it, as well as building a community, and meeting new people. 

“Well, we have longer rehearsals and we just spend a lot of time around each other all in one week, which really just forces proximity so then we just get close based off of that,” Long said

The creative elements set this performance apart from their regular choral shows, at the opportunity to create a more elaborate work of art was an exciting thing for some of the students. 

“It’s the most enjoyable choir performance that we have through every year just because you get to have so much fun and get to showcase your own creativity a lot more than in other performances where you just have to sing,” Long said.

The Madrigals Choir created an activity for many to enjoy over the weekend. If you’re ever looking for something to do, find out when their shows are next year.

“We also end the performance with a peaceful moment of candlelit music,” Ayres said. “We hope this will be a moment of rest during our guests’ busy lives as they take a moment to breathe and reflect.”