Let’s face it – 2022 has been a rough year. We’ve been dealing with a pandemic that refuses to go away, higher prices, and weather that can go from one extreme to the next. If there were any time that people needed to smile, laugh, and forget about their troubles for a while, this is it! Well, the Gold Coast Concert Chorus believes they have the cure for the “Twenty-Two Blues” – a concert featuring music from recent and classic Disney animated features.
For the last couple of months, the community chorus has been rehearsing every Monday night in the parking lot of a church in the Ventura foothills. Their singing has gotten good reviews from the church’s neighbors, and now they’re just about ready to come down from the hills and spread a little musical magic to the people of Ventura County, in a concert titled “Toon Tunes 2022”.
“Toon Tunes 2022” has been in the works for a long time – more than twenty years, in fact! It’s a sequel to a 2000 concert by the chorus paying tribute to music from animated films and television shows; this show will focus on a selection of songs from recent Disney films like Tangled, Moana, and Encanto, but will also feature selections from classic Disney features like Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.
Some people might argue that music from animated films is just kids’ stuff, but the chorus’ artistic director Elizabeth Helms, assistant artistic director Jessica Helms, and the chorus members would beg to differ. “The music we’ll be performing in concert talks about universal concerns like finding and losing love, the power of dreams, and the importance of trust and working together”, said Paul Schnebelen, a singer and the chorus’ membership chairman. “The music and lyrics are rich and complex, can be a challenge to perform, and are a joy to listen to. They’re not just for kids – they speak to all of us.”
Be sure to mark your calendars for “Toon Tunes 2022”, to be performed on Friday, May 20th at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 21st at 2:00 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Oxnard. Livestream tickets are also available for the Saturday performance. Audience members will be requested to wear masks or provide proof of vaccination and ID at the door.
