Stepping Off with Mr. Bud: Point Pleasant Borough and Toms River South

Stepping Off with Mr Bud – week #5 features the Band programs of: Point Pleasant Borough Panther Band and the Toms River South Marching Indians Band

Point Pleasant Boro Band
Band Director: Scott V. Visco
Assistant Band Director: Megan Meier
Color Guard Coach: Julia Ward
Assistant Color Guard Coach: Andrew Ferrie

This year, the Point Pleasant Borough High School Marching Band performs their show titled Oz. The performance includes several tunes from the film The Wizard of Oz that debut in 1939 and centers on the theme “There’s no place like home.” The custom arrangement combines pieces of music from three musicals including the 1978 film The Wiz and the award-winning Wicked that opened on Broadway in 2003.

“All three shows are visually appealing,” Julia Ward, guard captain, explained. “The Oz was significant that it was in color, The Wiz because of the costuming, and Wicked because of the sets.”

Matt Krempasky, band director at Somerville High School, created the custom arrangement for the Boro band.

“He really grounded us in selecting the songs,” Scott V. Visco, director, said. “Ideally you only want eight minutes of music. We had 20 minutes of music to pare down.”

The show kicks off with “Rainbow Fanfare” that echoes the familiar sounds of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” and “We’re Off to See the Wizard” from the motion picture The Wizard of Oz.

The second song takes the audience for a walk with “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz with the brass sections taking the spotlight.

Next, the drum line moves to center field with their solo “If I Only Had a Drum.” With the pit playing along, the melody to “If I Only Had a Brain” rings out over the stands while the color guard executes rifle tosses in a circle around the drummers.

The fourth piece titled “Wizdefy” is a mash-up of Wicked songs including “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity.” The show reaches a high point with this combo and gets the audience cheering.

Point’s final song “For Good” blends the Wicked song into “Over the Rainbow” as the guard spins rainbow colored flags. “We wanted to bring back “Over the Rainbow” to bookend the show,” The director explained. “This is very familiar music heard in an unfamiliar way.”

Point Pleasant Boro holds the 2014 USBands State Championship in their division IV-A. This season the band improved each week of competition with an increasing score at each performance. Brick Memorial 76.275, Toms River East 78.225, Somerville 81.900, and Jackson Memorial 83.800. Next Saturday the band competes at Monroe High School.
For further information click pointpleasantborobandboosters.org.

Toms River South Marching Indians

Band Directors: Mr. Christopher Test & Ms. Nichole Delnero
Color Guard Director: Mrs. Stephanie Majewski
Percussion Instructor: Mr. Ken McHale
Percussion Arranger: Mr. Jason O’Brien
Drill Writer: Mr. Christopher Burbank
Drum Majors: Lea Carballo & Caroline Fairhurst
Color Guard Captain: Jade Kehr

This years field show for the Marching Indians is called: “Astrometrics” When you gaze in to space, do you wonder about astronomy or astrology? Science or mysticism? The Marching Indians invite you to decide for yourselves, as they travel the cosmos and visit the constellations of the night sky.
• Movement 1: “Aries, Taurus”
• Movement 2: “Aquarius, Pieces, Virgo, Gemini”
• Movement 3: “Cancer, Libra, Scorpio”
• Movement 4: “Sagittarius, Capricorn, Leo”

The Toms River High School South Marching Indians will be hosting the All Shore Band Directors Association Marching Band Festival on Tuesday, October 18th, with a rain date of Wednesday, October 19th. The following bands from Ocean and Monmouth counties will be featured: Shore Regional High School, Toms River High School East, Middletown High School North, Ocean Township High School, Toms River High School North
Monmouth Regional High School, Long Branch High School and Toms River High School South

Start time is 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students/seniors and $8 for adults.