Charles City Singers kick off 43rd season with variety of Rodgers show tunes

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City was packed full Sunday evening, to the point where extra chairs had to be brought in, for the latest concert performance by the Charles City Singers.

The Singers, under the direction of Scott Blankenbaker, kicked off their 43rd season with a show entitled, “A Grand Night For Singing, The Songs of Richard Rodgers.”

Blankenbaker is in his second year as director. He lives in Charles City and works in Austin as a music instructor at Riverland Community College. Accompanists were Christine Cleveland on piano and Christopher Arp on organ.

Richard Rodgers composed more than 900 songs and 43 Broadway musicals, and is considered one of the most significant composers of 20th century American music. He was the first person to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — considered the top four American entertainment awards. He is best known for his work with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein.

The 90-minute show Sunday included a variety of tunes from Broadway shows “Carousel,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific,” “Oklahoma!” and “The Sound of Music,” among others.

The audience was invited to stand and sing along with familiar renditions of “Do-Re-Mi” from “The Sound of Music” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel.”

Performing for the Charles City Singers Sunday were Marcie Andrews, Christopher Arp, Sue Baron, Jennifer Bauer, Kris Boyd, Kate Campbell, Chris Cleveland, Sue Davis, Chris Eldridge, Chuck Garmen, Judy Hauser, Kip Hauser, Allison Hocking, Kim Huff, Linda Hughes, Jessica Hyde, Susan Jacob, Melanie Johanningmeier, Roxanne Johnson, Kelvin Keifer, Keith Kreun, Phyllis Meyer, Charley Perry, Ruby Peterson, Mark Pittman, Alan Powell, Cora Rubendall, Audrey Sansgard, Roy Schwickerath, Joan Semelhack, Douglas Sinclair, Derek Sturtevant, Kelly Sweet, Kris Ward, Linda Willemssen, Barbara Wohlers, Ryan Wolfe.

The Charles City Singers perform two shows each year, one before Christmas and one in the spring.