This year’s Glow in the DarCapella 2023 showcase was a sensational hit that wrangled up a massive crowd to support their fellow students in a gleaming display of vocal artistry. There are several A capella groups on campus for students to employ their singing talent and find a shared community within the decades-old rich history of chorus groups without instrumental accompaniment at Christopher Newport. This annual exhibition held in the Fall lets all the amazing voices and singer superstars of the campus shine with an added flare of visuals by use of UV lighting and glowing neon outfits. In the stacked line up are co-ed mixed groups such as University Sounds, Extreme Measures, Trebeled Youth, along with a fully female choir The Newport Pearls and an all treble voices group, Take Note.
black light performance
Writer Brooke describes the special setting only GLOW has to offer:
Imagine performing in front of a crowd of hundreds in a murky blacklight blue darkness. Glow is the ultimate cure for stage fright because you cannot quite see your audience due to the absence of light illuminating off the stage lights. All A cappella members are decked out in florescent makeup and costumes- sparkling tutus, glowing face paint, shiny fishnet tights, and tons of colorful duct tape. This way the technique and style of the voices can do the dazzling while the luminescent details create a rave-like atmosphere for the crowd to get thrilled. The performances are so fantastic that they end up being uploaded to YouTube for the student body to re-watch the show!
Song setlist
Singer Chaeli, apart of the A capella group Take Note, gives details about the thoughtful choices that go into the performance:
The setlist selection process is an incredibly crucial part of the Glow experience. For a good performance, there must be a variety of songs to hold the attention of the audience. For the the treble voices group, Take Note, the songs that really expressed their artistry this semester were “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, “Falling” by Harry Styles, and a mashup adding “Gimme Gimme” from the musical Mamma Mia and “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado ultimately called “Gimme Gimme a Maneater“. These songs were perfect for this group because they highlight the disco feel of their sound and gave them an opportunity to show a wide range of singing ability and emotion. The arrangements are very dreamy and haunting at some points, but also funky and dramatic! Lady Gaga, known for her dramatic flair, was a good choice for the opener because it is important to get the crowd excited and tuned in to the performance. It showcased the soloist’s powerhouse voice and personality very well. The second song is usually a slower more emotional song, and “Falling” was a great choice for this because it is a breakup song. The soloist for this song did a wonderful job emoting the lyrics of the song to really communicated what the song feels like. The mashup was done by two soloists, which was super fun. The pop-funk sound to this mashup showcased the rhythmic and retro aesthetic of the soloists. They had so much fun collaborating on how to make their voice parts an expression of themselves.
dance opener
Brooke describes her experience opening the exhibition as apart of a dance crew:
Every year, Christopher Newport’s hip-hop dance group Hypnotic Control commences the show as the opening act with a dynamic bang. A different style of performative art takes center stage with a mashup of 2010s pop hits from Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande that got the audience’s inner kid pumped. The dance crew opted for cute team jerseys, long sleeved neon baggy undershirt, and leggings like the fun blokette trend that generated in 2023. Powerhouse energy and killer facials dominated the stage as these dancers kicked through their tricks and mesmerizing formations in the blue light. As a performer of the crew myself, I was timid about the idea of dancing in the dark, as that can be a recipe for injury and collisions. However, the stage freight was easily wiped away, as the audience had a shaded veil of anonymity because the dancers could not make out distinct faces and could literally dance as if no one was watching.
crowd favorite
Chaeli recounts her experience as a singer and as a spectator behind stage:
Of all the Glow performances, there were a couple of songs that were proven to be true crowd favorites. These songs really got the crowd dancing to the music. From Extreme Measures’ set list, the song “Red Desert” by 5 Seconds of Summer was a stand out. The soloists for this song had incredibly soulful voices. The beatboxer for this song did an incredibly rhythmic beat to keep the group in temp which gave the arrangement a lot of flair. From the Newport Pearls, the crowd favorite song was definitely “Give it Up” from the television sitcom, Victorious. The soloist for this song gave a lot of really great energy and sass for this performance which really made it their own. From Take Note, the song that stood out was “Bad Romance”, mentioned previously, for the soloist’s power house voice that really matched the drama from the original track. Trebled Youth’s crowd favorite was “Not Strong Enough” by the band, boygenius. This song has a beautiful bridge with a harmonizing duet that the crowd really loved. University Sounds’ crowd favorite was their Bruno Mars medley. The soloists for this song sounded angelic.
