“West Broward Story” leads performance ensemble to success

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by Marcos Ortega

MARCH TO SUCCESS: The West Broward performance ensemble perform their choregraphy for “West Broward Story” at Jupiter High School. The band competed at FMBC at the Equestrian Center on Nov. 21, winning third place in class. Photo courtesty of Debra Hussey

The West Broward performance ensemble began their competitive season by playing at their first competition since the 2019-2020 school year. Still recovering from effects of the pandemic’s previous limitations, the ensemble entered the competitive scene and attempted to take West Broward back to its prevous success.

This year’s performance “West Broward Story”, had four intertwined parts with three of them having been perfected and performed on Oct. 2 at the Falcon Sound Invitational. They performed their completed show at Pines Charter High School on Oct. 15, at Jupiter Community High School on Nov. 6 and at the Florida Marching Band Championships (FMBC) at the World Equestrian Center on Nov. 21. The performance mergesWest Side Story, a famous musical from 1961 featuring a love story across two street gangs in New York, with the modernized West Broward High School atmosphere.

“West Side Story is a production that a lot of people have done but we knew we could put our West Broward spin on it,” said band director Dean Calmer. “We mixed it with different things that made it relatable to everyone in the audience.”

The performance began with a dance break featuring choreography by Michael Rosales, a renowned choreographer and actor. Afterwards, the ensemble played a flashy fanfare tying in the song “Tonight” from West Side Story and “Tonight” by the Black Eyed Peas.

“Our first part is our opener. So this is the ‘Boom!’ where we show what we are here to do,” senior brass captain Sofia Sutter said. “We have this awesome drum break and then we all go out and do choreography by Michael Rosales. It is amazing we got him to work with us.”

In the second part of the performance, the ensemble played the “Jet Song”, “Cool” and “Prologue”, all from West Side Story. It was the most musically challenging part and made up the bulk of the tunes played in the show. Here, the audience and judges were able to get a view of the separate band sections’ hard work and practice with brass, mellophone and woodwind features.

“There were people that knew the songs from the show that were hooting, hollering and clapping,” Calmer said. “There were a lot of people mesmerized because our show is so different.”

The following part included a drum and dance break where the drumline gathered on the scaffolding and announced their presence with music fromWest Side Story including “Prologue” and “Gee, Officer Krupke.” Senior vocalist and drum major Jacquelynn Arias finalized the third movement with a slam poetry element that vocalized the struggles of the ensemble and their journey to success. At the end, the entire ensemble joined in and chanted the last part of the spoken word poetry.

“In part three, we are having a twist. Instead ofWest Side Story, it is ‘West Broward Story’,” Sutter said. “Jacquelynn recites this free verse about our story: our personal experience as a band, the past year, and how we adapted and how practice makes perfect.”

After their passionate vocal verse, the performance ensemble left their audience stunned by adding a final fourth part. They perform a ballad based off “There’s a Place For Us” from West Side Story, turning attention towards a woodwind and brass feature.

“The ending of part four is really magnificent,” sophomore flute player Jenna Shi said. “There is a brass feature and a woodwind feature, which is really nice to have. When sections are promoted and under the spotlight, it gives the piece a level of contrast as well.”

After their successful performance at Falcon Sound Invitational, the performance ensemble continued to tune up their show and live up to their legacy as champions. West Broward left FMBC with a score of 91.85, winning third place in class and fourth place in the state of Florida. The ensemble also recieved best in-class visual.

“The band’s long-term goal has always been to be a state championship ensemble,” Sutter said. “We are competing against other programs in the state, but we are really competing against ourselves to get better, which allows us to grow not only as individuals but as an ensemble.”