Hairspray, costume changes, and oh so many sparkles- that’s right, it’s show choir season.

Menchville’s (M)Pulse kicked off their 2018 show choir season Saturday, February 17, with the second annual Clash of the Choirs competition. Show choirs from all over Virginia and West Virginia flocked to the high school to perform and compete with new shows for this year. (M)Pulse, as host, could not compete in the competition, but during their exhibition at the close of the show, the choir performed their new 2018 set publicly for the first time.

The theme of Menchville’s show choir production this year is “You Will Be Found.” Set in Paris, the theme is based on the fictional story surrounding Russia’s “lost princess” and daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, Anastasia Romanov. Anastasia’s story chronicles her survival of the Russian royal family’s execution during the Bolshevik revolution and her loss of identity as a royal. The lost princess journeys to Paris with the help of her guide, Dmitri, to be reunited with her grandmother and officially be “found.” (M)Pulse’s show follows the key parts of this story, from Rasputin’s curse on the family to a joyous reunion between Anastasia and her grandmother in Paris.

To portray the story of Anastasia, Director Jennifer Jarrett chose seven unique songs and mash-ups, including “In the Dark of the Night,” “In a Blaze,” “Take My Hand” with “Make Me Over,” “You Will be Found,” and “When Love Takes Over” with “Feel the Love.”  Solo leads in the performance included Layla Zambrana as Anastasia, Charles Fitzgerald as Dmitri, Lina Daniel as Anastasia’s grandmother, and Ryan Schoenberg as Rasputin. These students stayed in costume and character throughout the show to help bring Anastasia’s story to life.

Now with one performance under their glittering belts, the Menchville show choir moves on to the competition season. For the next month, (M)Pulse will be traveling to competitions across Virginia, finally ending the season by competing at the New England Show Choir Showdown in Massachusetts at the end of March. The choir will officially start their competition season this Saturday, February 24, with a competition at Thomas Dale High School in Chesterfield, Virginia.