Recently we spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening at a River City Pops concert. Since 1984 this group has provided two concerts a year of singing, dancing, laughing, what-have-you, to an ever-growing audience of enthusiastic fans. The 38 members put on a real family show - one that can be enjoyed by all ages. They try to cover the gamut of pop music - country, Broadway, jazz, movies, rock, pop, old and new, something for everyone.

The performers include a few professionals - folk who have occasionally found performance work for which they have actually been paid, but most of the members are very skilled amateurs. There is one paid employee - the director. Everyone else actually pays to participate. $25 a concert and pay for your own costumes. This is devotion and this is dedication!

The director supervises the choice of music, with input from the group. She finds arrangements or they come up with their own or their accompanists get creative. As a show develops a theme, members are invited to develop solos, duets, etc. and audition them before a group of judges that includes people of all ages and all interests. Rehearsals are Monday nights until a show is getting close. Then additional evening and Saturday rehearsals are added.

Membership tends to be pretty stable. There is a camaraderie - a real sense of family in the group that people are loathe to give up. When someone does have to leave the group, auditions are held to replace them.

Space to rehearse and perform is an ongoing problem for River City Pops - a theme we are hearing over and over in Austin. They have performed at the old Live Oak Theater, St Stephens, Concordia, and at present, McCallum High School. They currently rehearse at First United Methodist Church. It is difficult to find spaces that can turn over to them a theater for days at a time without it interfering with other use of the theater. Austin really needs to address the fact that the only venues in town belong to UT or schools or someone else that gets first crack at use. There is a serious lack of space available to groups who are not part of a school or church.River City Pops pretty much supports itself. It sometimes gets a little money from the city, but most of its funding comes from ticket sales and the group members. The next concert will be performed at McCallum Little Theater on June 9, 10, 11, and 12. Ticket sales will start about a month ahead and you can get information about that by calling Alice and Paul Hanson at 892-4410.

Carol Combs has been involved with the Austin classical music community for over twenty-five years. She can be reached at carol@awpi.com.

Feel free to take a look at her previous articles.