UNCAGED: A Season of Firsts

Hastings High’s UNCAGED show choir began the season undefeated with their WWII production, earning Grand Champion at the Grand Island Northwest Gold Rush, Sioux Falls Roosevelt Executive Showcase, and Glenwood Gala.

For UNCAGED, this season has been one filled with many ‘firsts.’ It is the first time in history the group won more than one first place Grand Champions during a single season, let alone three back-to-back.

“Every year, you put together this masterpiece of a show… you spend all these hours and these kids work so hard, and you never really know how it’s going to be received by the audience,” Show Choir Director Christian Yost said. “[But] the kids just, I mean, blew it out of the water.”

It is also the first year the group has competed at Sioux Falls. Compared to previous competitors, those in Sioux Fall were similar to UNCAGED and emphasized storytelling.

“We felt a little bit more at home. What kind of art we present fits in a little bit better up there, so it was kind of fun that we beat people at our own game,” Yost said. “But [it was] also scary because I knew they were good groups. Some of them, they’ve been winning grand championships for longer than these kids have been alive.”

In Sioux Falls, the group performed in a gymnasium for the first time rather than the theaters or auditoriums they are used to, which required them to focus on adjusting their volume and footwork. Furthermore, 14 of their members were sick and out of commission. 

“I [was] very comforted by the fact that I think we were as well prepared as we can possibly be,” junior Silas Haynes said. “In football movies… they’ll watch teams play, circle them, and make sure this guy goes here. We’ll watch a group perform in the auditorium and be like, ‘Their foot noise… you can hear every step.’”

Besides new ‘firsts’ for the whole group, Haynes and senior Sophie Jarmer experienced their first roles with solo parts since joining UNCAGED their freshman years. They performed as the two main lovers, Joe and Jane.

“Adreneline really just takes over you,” Jarmer said. “You will never know what it’s like to be so gassed, so out of breath, and [with] your throat so dry… until you’re performing in front of a live audience for the first time with judges watching.”

As best-friends, the two felt comfortable and in tune with their roles, which helped them overcome their nerves and performance anxiety.

“During Tiger Clash, I told [Silas], ‘I am always so nervous to sing, but when I see you, I’m not nervous.’ He’s like my comfort space,” Jarmer said. “It’s almost like getting your mind off of it because alone, you think of everything that can go wrong… but when I have all these people around me, I know everyone wants me to succeed.”

Haynes’ character was added last-minute in January, so he had to learn the role and solo within a short time frame before the Glenwood Gala. Despite the sudden change and it being his first solo, Haynes won the best solo award.

“It was unexpected, but I’m really thankful for my group and how loud they were when they were supporting me,” Haynes said. “I’m also super proud of Sophie because she has been working on her solo for so long, and she’s perfected it down to a ‘T’… I have confidence that she’s also going to be winning this award in our future competitions.”

It is not just UNCAGED experiencing first place awards and first-time moments. After being in the works for years, Hastings High’s all-girls show choir, UNTAMED, made their debut at the Glenwood Gala. The group took first place in their division and fifth runner up in the finals.

“I’ve seen so much support for both groups, and it’s great; it’s awesome,” senior Tara Eggerling said. “I feel like it’s a really good opportunity, especially for some of the underclassmen who — I don’t want to say are scared of UNCAGED — but want to learn and kind of figure out what UNCAGED is.”

While UNCAGED’s performance centers around the love story of Joe and Jane, UNTAMED worked in collaboration with Scooters to share the rich and bitter love story of a different ‘Joe.’

“It’s really hard to get over that hump of ‘we’re a new group,’ and I would say UNCAGED just last year finally got over that,” Yost said. “I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do something crazy. Let’s be the coffee show and everyone just talk about coffee. It’ll all be coffee, coffee, coffee.’ … [and] their group has just taken off.”

For Yost, Hastings Show Choirs are beginning to make their mark in history and their names known. With the groups’ current momentum, he is not stopping here and is already brewing ideas for next year.

“Show choir, sometimes, is superficial, where they try to tell a story, but it’s not theater where it actually makes you feel it,” Yost said. “My goal was to try to build our legacy and our group’s dynamic; that when we go places, you experience show choir. You don’t just sit and watch. You’re actually a part of it. You feel it.”

UNCAGED and UNTAMED will be continuing that legacy at their next competition, the Wahoo Court of Champions, on February 21.

“We cannot take our foot off the gas, right? Just because we had some success doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed it next weekend,” Yost said. “One of the things we have to do is make sure that every single person in that room understands we’re the best storytellers, and there’s no one else in there that can outperform us.”