(Radio Iowa) – A fully-interactive, internationally-touring show that turns the entire audience into performers is making its first-ever Iowa stop on Friday night, focusing on the music of the British rock band Queen. It’s called “Choir! Choir! Choir!” and co-founder and co-host Daveed Goldman says everyone is given a lyric sheet upon entering the auditorium.
“We split the audience up into different parts and teach them harmonies, but it’s also a lot of conversation with the crowd and laughter and movement and singing. It’s really a conversation about music and life, really, because music is the soundtrack to our lives,” Goldman says. “It’s a great way to celebrate the greatest songs of all time by singing them in a room with lots of people and injecting emotion and humor into all of them.”
All voices are welcome and Goldman says there’s no prior choir experience needed. While they’ll set out to tackle some of Queen’s greatest hits, like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are The Champions,” he says there’s no telling where the music will take things. “The show is not scripted. We might go off on tangents and go into singing television theme songs that relate to something that someone says or whatever,” Goldman says. “There’s a randomness to the night. It’s really just like a big hang with lots of singing and laughter.”
There’s no backing vocal track or band. It’s just Goldman on the guitar and his on-stage partner leading the giant choir, which creates a very unique version of each song. The Temple Theater in Des Moines holds an audience of about 300, so it’ll be the largest choir in the state, at least for the night. “We laugh, we cry, we sing, we dance, we clap, we fist bump. We try to have all the emotions in every show. I always say if you think you might like it, you’ll probably love it,” Goldman says. “It’s a great show to take a chance on because when you sing in a room, when you sing the greatest songs of all time surrounded by people around you, it’s like you kind of lift in a way. You kind of get carried by all the voices around you.”
There are two shows on Friday night, at 6 and 9 PM.
