By CASSIE SLOAN
Special for The Antelope
The UNK Nebraskats annual winter concert will be at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec 8, in the Fine Arts Building Recital Hall. The show choir is directed by Eileen Jahn, who has directed the group, on and off, from 2002-2006 and then from 2015 to now. She is proud of her group for working hard all year, even though there have been eight new members.
“We have a great group of students this year and they’ve worked really hard,” Jahn said. “There are a lot of new faces too. Everyone can find something they enjoy in this concert and I hope we’ll have a great turnout.”
The winter concert will consist of ABBA songs from the musical, “Mamma Mia,” and “Waving Through a Window” and “You Will Be Found” from the musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Also included in the show are songs from Smokey Joe’s Cafe, a set of popular songs from the 1950s and 60s, including “Kansas City,” “On Broadway,” and “Love Potion Number 9.”
The dances for the concert were choreographed by Noelle Bohaty, the head of dance at UNK. Between the two continuous dancing and singing sets, the members of the Nebraskats will be singing their own solos, including “Popular” from “Wicked,” “On My Own” from “Les Misérables and “Take Me or Leave Me” from “Rent.” The Nebraskats are accompanied by talented pianist, Thomas Prentice, a senior at UNK.
“It’s so much fun to play for the Nebraskats,” Prentice said. “I look forward to our practices and enjoy seeing everyone’s improvement over the semester.”
The Nebraskats rehearse on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, in 50-minute increments.
There are 11 members of the Nebraskats show choir, each with past musical experience in both singing and dancing. While some have some type of musical major, there are quite a few students who have no plans to continue with music in the future.
“I love the Nebraskats, but being a Spanish major, I don’t see myself sticking with music for a career,” said Logan Johansen, a UNK sophomore. “The Nebraskats is a hobby, but I’m so grateful to be able to continue my love for music in college, while I have the chance.”
For other students, music has been their past, present and will be their future. Hannah Petersen, a freshman majoring in music education, wants to teach dance and direct a show choir herself one day.
“I’ve been dancing since I was about 4 and I never want to stop,” Petersen said. “I was in “West in the Groove” show choir at Millard West in Omaha and it was the best experience, besides being in Nebraskats, of course.”
The UNK Nebraskats have had a great season so far, performing at the Ramada Inn for the Nebraska Firefighters Association and at the Holiday Inn for the Rural Electric Conference. Their winter concert will be a combination of everything the Nebraskats have been working on since their show choir/dance camp in August.
Cassie Sloan is a student in JMC 215, Newswriting and Photography and a member of the Nebraskats.
