“Road Trip” will be this year’s theme for Black Magic, Permian High School’s pop, vocal and instrumental ensemble when they take the stage May 12 and 13 at the Ector Theatre.
The performance also includes skits.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. each night and tickets are at permianchoir.com. Reserved tickets are $17.50 and $10 for students and children.
Twenty-six students will perform, including 18 vocalists and eight band members. There are two sound technicians and a manager.
Elijah Burchfield, a 17-year-old junior, will play drums. He is in his second year in Black Magic.
“… The shows were just so eye-opening to go to just a nice experience,” Burchfield said.
Being part of Black Magic is like being in a family.
“… Everybody is like my siblings in here. … It’s very nice energy,” Burchfield said.
He said the theme is kind of like an adventure.
“It could mean several things like the journey to, or getting there …,” Burchfield said.
In an April 20 interview, he said he feels pretty confident about the show.
“I feel like everything definitely pieces together the week of, but we’re making very good progress,” Burchfield said.
Burchfield said he’d like big audiences for the show.
“The more people there, the more fun it is; the more energy and they’re interacting with the crowd and all that. So the more the more the merrier. It’s definitely good for the kids and the parents. …,” he added.
He said performing at the Ector is “really cool.”
Mason Simmons, a 17-year-old junior vocalist, is in his second year in Black Magic.
“My siblings were a part of Black Magic and growing up I went to all of their shows. I’ve always been connected to music with my dad (Greg Simmons). He sings at the church. He did choir and the all-state process. So just being around all the music made me grow an interest and then I saw that I wanted to be a part of this when I was little …,” Simmons said.
He has two brothers and one sister. One brother and his sister were in Black Magic.
Simmons said he’s excited about the upcoming show, but the nerve aspect is always there, especially when he gets on stage.
“But as soon as I really start performing, the nerves for the most part go away and it’s just having fun at that point, so I know it’ll get there,” Simmons said.
Being part of Black Magic, he said, is everything he imagined.
“I like it a lot. The dancing part’s fun. I love to sing, obviously, and I do like how I get to grow a lot of personal connections with a lot of the other students here and meet new people,” Simmons said.
Lillie Leckbee, an 18-year-old senior vocalist, is in her first year in Black Magic.
Watching the group made her want to be part of it.
“I love the kind of connection that they have between one another and the friendship that you gain,” Leckbee said.
Being in the group has been “lots of fun.” She said it is stressful and a lot of work, but the people “make it better.”
Leckbee said she wanted to be in Black Magic in previous years.
“It’s, it’s very challenging, so I’m grateful that I get to be in here at all, but I am a little sad that I missed out on the years before because it is new people every year,” Leckbee said.
Leckbee said singing at the Ector will be a great experience.
“I think it’s a great experience. We were unsure that we were even going get that location this year, and I helped usher last year. Even though I wasn’t a part of Black Magic, I was there helping and watching how the show progressed over show week. I think it’s a beautiful spot. …,” Leckbee said.
She encourages people to attend the show because it’s an experience that “you’ve never had.”
“… I think there’s a lot of things that could be unexpected and they think that it’s maybe just a little bit too choir-ish. It’s definitely the exact opposite. We always try and perform to the audience, for the audience. I think you could never go wrong with going because you’ll always have a great time,” she added.
Head Choir Director Kenneth Sieloff said the theme for the show started last year.
“We’re going incorporate a little bit of West Texas in our staging and on the stage in terms of the set and we’re going to have some really cool elements like old cars, old gas station pumps; stuff like that,” Sieloff said.
He added that this group of students is having a good time.
“They’re focused and all about getting business done. But also very willing to relax and have a good laugh,” Sieloff said.
Sieloff plans to leave ECISD and go back to school for a master’s degree at University of North Texas.
He said he’s trying not to think about the fact that this is his last show.
“… I’m just trying to make sure that it’s just just as good as every other show. The thing I like to tell the kids is I’m always listening for someone to tell me this is the best one ever. And so that’s still the goal. I don’t want it to be the best one forever. I just want it to be I want it to be better than the last. That’s always kind of the goal,” Sieloff said.
