The Unstoppable Alumni Corps
September 9, 2006

This year, the Madison Scouts reunion corps received a rousing ovation during DCI’s championship week in August. A few years ago, the 27th Lancers alumni brought the house down during the most memorable DCI finals performance ever. There is a growing hunger for fun, accessible shows with good music (played loud!), and it is not hard to understand why. Drum corps has experienced its own version of the “baby boom.” No matter how you spin it, drum corps audiences have been in overall decline for about twenty years. Attendance at DCI finals is roughly half of its peak in 1981, and the number of corps has dwindled precipitously (although there has been a slight rebound in recent years). Now, the boomers, those who marched or were fans during the 60’s, ’70s and ’80s, are returning to their roots – cheering, supporting and joining alumni corps. Alumni corps fall into two categories: those that are formed for one special event or season, and those intended to be ongoing organizations. Triumph as the former does not ensure success as the latter.

The Bridgemen Alumni have been built from the start to be a permanent corps, a shining beacon of entertainment in a sometimes foggy activity. A bit of a catch-22 had to be overcome, however. It is an inescapable fact that bringing back a beloved corps like the Bridgemen is going to generate a huge amount of excitement during the initial season as the corps completes a long series of “firsts”: first public parade, first time in the yellow coats, first field performance in front of the hometown crowd, first time at Allentown, first time at DCA. However, the more successful the corps is in achieving these “firsts,” the more magical the entire season. But a magical season can lead the audience, and even the members, to question whether another season is a good idea. Is it possible to capture the pure adrenaline and excitement in 2007 that was created in 2006? Over the last few weeks, the answer has become crystal clear: absolutely, yes!

When the season began, there were so many unknowns to overcome. How many people would we have? How difficult should the music be? How much can we reasonably march during the show? Are the scheduled practices adequate? So much depended on the experience and talent level (and rustiness) of the members. The challenge for Director George Lavelle and the creative/teaching staff was to remain flexible while maintaining a performance and rehearsal schedule that maximized progress each time the corps was together. Also, the corps would have never gotten off of the ground without an amazing support staff. We have a very dedicated group who take care of all the minutiae without which a corps cannot exist. Nancy Ducharme could be their “poster girl.” At every event, she stood calmly in the eye of the storm giving directions, answering questions, with a complete understanding of.....well, everything! As it turned out, a combination of careful planning by the staff, the tenacity of the members, and a little luck led to a successful season that will never be forgotten. But can it be repeated?

The Memorial Day parade provides an interesting lesson. The corps demonstrated that as a single unit, it had a deep, fundamental (almost unconscious) understanding of how to entertain a crowd and how to crank it up a notch, regardless of the weather, the size of the crowd, or personal discomfort. It took until May for everything to click, but the collective centuries of experience were finally apparent. Watch anyone who has ever marched visit a rehearsal. Corps alumni instinctively know how to walk around a busy practice field – not tripping over unattended equipment, or getting in the way, or being distracting at the wrong moment. We take it for granted, but it is not second-nature to “civilians.” Likewise, the Bridgemen instinctively know how to maximize their connection with an audience. That placed the corps in a very elite group back in the day, and it still does. It’s remarkable that this trait reasserted itself so strongly during the ’06 season when you consider that many of the current members never marched in the Bridgemen. But the fact that they are drawn to the corps now is probably evidence that they have this quality in their DNA as well. The Bridgeport show demonstrated this beautifully. The stands were half-empty, and the crowd response to other corps had been somewhat tepid. It would have been easy to go out and play a straight run-through, get polite applause, cut our losses and head home. Instead, the corps took the small crowd as a challenge, and within seconds the opening blast of “Pagliacci” had them up out of their seats. In Wildwood, we did it again – for an audience in lawn chairs! For those of us whose last junior corps experiences were in front of large crowds in large stadiums, there was some fretting over whether some of the shows we were attending this year were too.....small. Would they prove disappointing after putting in so much time and effort? This leads to...

Lesson number two: despite the enormous enjoyment of performing for the crowd, we discovered that a very rewarding part of this experience has been in performing for each other. We have fun on the field, we like each other’s company, and we create our own milestones to achieve. The dinner on the night before our final show was, unexpectedly, a completely joyous celebration of how close we have become. And that’s the foundation of why 2007 will be even better than 2006. But, the crowd reactions weren’t bad, either! Without exception, every performance was greeted by wild enthusiasm. The final show at the DCA Alumni Spectacular was in the morning. It was the only time we could see the faces of the audience during our field show. Their expressions, especially as we charged the stands to play William Tell, were unforgettable. Also, at each show it dawned on other alumni of the Bridgemen and many long-time fans that they’re not too old to live a fantasy: to march in the Bridgemen again (or for the first time). And now the core corps membership is tan, ready, rested and rehearsed. In other words, we’re about a light-year ahead of where we were when we first met last fall, and we have a tremendous repertoire from which to draw to thrill the audiences.

Is it October 14th yet?

- Rick Hagey


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