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A VERY Special Christmas Surprise.
The Niagra Fall Review, Ontario. By MATTHEW VAN DONGEN, QMI AGENCY
Posted 7 days ago
Chorus Niagara springs singing surprise on shoppers.
ST. CATHARINES-- One minute, Stephanie Tritchew was just a face in the busy Seaway Mall crowd, sipping coffee at a cafeteria table and chatting on her cellphone.
The next, the St. Catharines native was standing and belting out "hallelujahs" from the famed chorus in Handel's Messiah in front of a stunned food court congregation.
"The first reaction was jaw-dropping surprise and people laughing," said the startling soprano, who broke into song around noon last Saturday at the Welland mall. "Then just about everyone whipped out their phone cameras at once."
Tritchew wasn't a one-woman surprise show. Within minutes, more than 80 Chorus Niagara singers previously blended into the weekend mall multitude had joined the chorus.
The seemingly spontaneous event actually took weeks to plan, said Jennifer Blakeley of Niagara Falls-based Alphabet Photography, who organized the event and recently posted the video to YouTube.
The cafeteria chorus was part Alphabet advertisement, part performance art designed to put people in the Christmas spirit, Blakeley said.
"I was sitting right in the middle of it all, and some people's faces were just classic," she said, laughing. "And I think it was quite touching -- some people were actually in tears."
Blakeley said the event was modelled on "flash mobs," brief events often planned through social media in order to mobilize large groups of people quickly.
This particular musical mob, however, required a lot of work -- and secrecy -- to assemble.
"Let me tell you, that was tricky. I couldn't tell our tenants, our security -- I didn't tell my director of security until the morning of," said mall president Mike Belcastro, who jumped at the chance to showcase the chorus.
"They came in early that morning to set up and rehearse and we had all these mall walkers wandering around asking, 'what the heck is going on?'"
Belcastro said he couldn't have been happier with the results.
"The reactions, wow. I've never seen people looked so shocked in my life."
Chorus Niagara members were pretty thrilled, too, said marketing director and singer Paul Price.
"It was certainly something new, but I think it went off pretty much as planned," said Price, who pretended to be ordering food from an A&W before his turn to join the chorus arrived.
"We rehearsed it in the morning, but you don't really understand what it will be like until you're (singing) in this crowd. The reactions were quite amazing ... We're hoping (the video) goes viral."
Tritchew said it felt strange but fun to suddenly begin performing in front of an unsuspecting audience.
To keep her nerves steady, she actually used her prop cellphone to call her sister in London and stayed on the line through the entire performance.
A pianist pretending to be playing mall Christmas tunes gave everyone the pre-hallelujah signal, Tritchew said.
"When I heard Jingle Bells finishing, I knew I had to be ready," she said. "I heard the first few notes and just let it rip."
The 22-year-old already has already watched some of her favourite moments again on YouTube.
Like a fellow singer dressed up like a janitor, suddenly breaking into song and brandishing a "wet floor" sign.
Or the reaction of a family sitting right in front of her.
"They had these two little kids with big eyes and one of them said, 'mom, this is so cool,'" recalled Tritchew. "I just loved it. I loved that we really seemed to lift people's spirits like that."
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=2853139
:redrose: Now sit back and enjoy the sound ! :redrose:
Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus .
On Nov.13 2010 unsuspecting shoppers got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch. Over 100 participants in this awesome Christmas Flash Mob. This is a must see!
This flash mob was organized by http://www.AlphabetPhotography.com to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
Special thanks to Robert Cooper and Chorus Niagara, The Welland Seaway Mall, and Fagan Media Group.
Posted 7 days ago
Chorus Niagara springs singing surprise on shoppers.
ST. CATHARINES-- One minute, Stephanie Tritchew was just a face in the busy Seaway Mall crowd, sipping coffee at a cafeteria table and chatting on her cellphone.
The next, the St. Catharines native was standing and belting out "hallelujahs" from the famed chorus in Handel's Messiah in front of a stunned food court congregation.
"The first reaction was jaw-dropping surprise and people laughing," said the startling soprano, who broke into song around noon last Saturday at the Welland mall. "Then just about everyone whipped out their phone cameras at once."
Tritchew wasn't a one-woman surprise show. Within minutes, more than 80 Chorus Niagara singers previously blended into the weekend mall multitude had joined the chorus.
The seemingly spontaneous event actually took weeks to plan, said Jennifer Blakeley of Niagara Falls-based Alphabet Photography, who organized the event and recently posted the video to YouTube.
The cafeteria chorus was part Alphabet advertisement, part performance art designed to put people in the Christmas spirit, Blakeley said.
"I was sitting right in the middle of it all, and some people's faces were just classic," she said, laughing. "And I think it was quite touching -- some people were actually in tears."
Blakeley said the event was modelled on "flash mobs," brief events often planned through social media in order to mobilize large groups of people quickly.
This particular musical mob, however, required a lot of work -- and secrecy -- to assemble.
"Let me tell you, that was tricky. I couldn't tell our tenants, our security -- I didn't tell my director of security until the morning of," said mall president Mike Belcastro, who jumped at the chance to showcase the chorus.
"They came in early that morning to set up and rehearse and we had all these mall walkers wandering around asking, 'what the heck is going on?'"
Belcastro said he couldn't have been happier with the results.
"The reactions, wow. I've never seen people looked so shocked in my life."
Chorus Niagara members were pretty thrilled, too, said marketing director and singer Paul Price.
"It was certainly something new, but I think it went off pretty much as planned," said Price, who pretended to be ordering food from an A&W before his turn to join the chorus arrived.
"We rehearsed it in the morning, but you don't really understand what it will be like until you're (singing) in this crowd. The reactions were quite amazing ... We're hoping (the video) goes viral."
Tritchew said it felt strange but fun to suddenly begin performing in front of an unsuspecting audience.
To keep her nerves steady, she actually used her prop cellphone to call her sister in London and stayed on the line through the entire performance.
A pianist pretending to be playing mall Christmas tunes gave everyone the pre-hallelujah signal, Tritchew said.
"When I heard Jingle Bells finishing, I knew I had to be ready," she said. "I heard the first few notes and just let it rip."
The 22-year-old already has already watched some of her favourite moments again on YouTube.
Like a fellow singer dressed up like a janitor, suddenly breaking into song and brandishing a "wet floor" sign.
Or the reaction of a family sitting right in front of her.
"They had these two little kids with big eyes and one of them said, 'mom, this is so cool,'" recalled Tritchew. "I just loved it. I loved that we really seemed to lift people's spirits like that."
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=2853139
:redrose: Now sit back and enjoy the sound ! :redrose:
Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus .
On Nov.13 2010 unsuspecting shoppers got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch. Over 100 participants in this awesome Christmas Flash Mob. This is a must see!
This flash mob was organized by http://www.AlphabetPhotography.com to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
Special thanks to Robert Cooper and Chorus Niagara, The Welland Seaway Mall, and Fagan Media Group.
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