"Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! What does the fox say?" Josh Cao belted out in front of his fellow Gleemates to hysterical laughter.
Cao, a senior economics major and member of UB's Glee Club, loves to get the crowd involved when he performs with the club.
For his good friend Josh Bartlett, a sophomore biomedical science major, though, it's slightly different.
"For me, it depends on who I'm singing with," Bartlett said. "If I'm singing with Josh Cao, then I like to pick something wild and crazy."
Members of Glee Club perform some of today's popular hits for music lovers to enjoy. In addition to their own shows, the club has performed at the LBGTQ Fashion Show, Jewish Student Union Coffeehouse, Relay For Life and other events. Members will perform for the last time this semester on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.
Glee Club President Judy Mai, a senior health and human services major, hopes to have a full house this Saturday.
Mai is one of the only members left from 2010, when Glee Club first started at UB. Now, as the club's president, she has prepared the Glee members for three shows they've performed this semester: the Coffee House show, the throwback show (performance of any music from before 2004) and the upcoming finale, which consists of a variety of music. This Saturday will mark the first time Glee Club will hold a matinee show.
"We would love to have a sold-out show," Mai said, explaining that the club has never had one before.
Usually at performances, there are only two people in the audience for every member in the club. Attendance for the final show, however, has often been an exception with seats filling in larger numbers, according to Bartlett.
"This is our first time doing a matinee show and we've learned from the past that more people will come at an easier time," Cao said.
He wants to get the crowd involved with the wide range of music the club will be performing this Saturday.
Glee members choose which songs they want to perform for their finale show. Songs performed at auditions for the show included "What Does the Fox Say" by Ylvis, "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson and "Where'd You Go" by Fort Minor.
Glee members can sing as a solo, duet or group act. After auditions, the club tries to place the songs in the right order for the show.
"Usually, it's anywhere from 22 to 26 [songs]," Mai said. "Anything more than that is too long and anything less is too short."
At the beginning of the year, Glee Club started out with over 30 students, and now, due to issues with time commitment, they are down to 24 members.
The club practices six hours per week to prepare for shows - every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
"You'd think six hours a week wouldn't be that much of a commitment, but it actually is because you do a lot outside of it," Bartlett said.
It can take singers up to three weeks to find a song to make sure it fits the group properly, but it usually only takes a few days to learn it from there.
"I like to plan songs at least a month in advance if not more, but once you get the song down it takes about a week," Cao said.
Even though they're still considered a "fairly new club," according to Mai, Glee Club manages to attract people to their events. As an open club with an audition performance group, Glee is open to anyone who enjoys singing and dancing for performance.
"We're different from a lot of other clubs on campus because we're not only singing, but we sing and we dance just to get ourselves out there and recognized," Mai said.
Tickets for the finale show will be sold at the SBI ticket office for $3 before the show and $5 at the door.
email: arts@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ms Jones | Wikimedia Commons
