Northland Barbershop Chorus tuning up for 57th annual show

Northland Barbershop Chorus’s 57th annual show is 20 years in the making.

Next month, the 40-man chorus will take to the stage at the Sault Community Theatre Centre to present ‘Till There Was You’ in four-part a cappella harmony.

A version on the show written by chorus members Bob Shami and Steve Patterson, with contributions from Wendy Hamilton and the late Susan Barber, was first presented in 2004.

Shami rewrote that script to accommodate new music for the 2024 performance.

“The show has a Twilight Zone vibe and is set in ‘Heaven's waiting room,’ a place somewhere between heaven and earth where anything is possible,” the chorus describes in a news release.

“The play will run as the show’s first act and will include 12 songs performed by the Northland Chorus.”

The show’s second act features a cappella quartet First Take, which specializes in modern barbershop harmony arrangements. 

“The quartet was awarded 3rd place bronze medals at the 2023 Barbershop Harmony Society International Quartet Competition and is comprised of experienced performers, coaches, and teachers,” the chorus added.

Part of the proceeds from the April 6 show will go to the Speech-Language Pathology Unit at Sault Area Hospital in support of local speech therapy programs.

As of last year, the Northland Chorus has donated a total of over $110,000 to the cause.

For more information on the show, including how to get tickets, click here.