WPCNR PRESS BOX. Interview with Kim Wood, University of Michigan Marching Band & WPHS Graduate. D ecember 2, 2006 UPDATED December 4, 2006: The University of Michigan is going to the Rose Bowl. So is their crack marching band. Here, Kim Wood of the WPHS Class of 05, who gave us her impressions of the Ohio State Michigan game experience, gives her insights as to what it’s like marching with the Big Band, which prepares for each game just as much as the football team, learning complex formations, new each week.
KIM WOOD, WPHS GRAD at Michigan Stadium -- "The Big House"
One of the real flaws of network halftime coverage is they no longer show halftime shows, cutting away to sports wrapup shows which are sponsored. It is a shame, especially when you hear Ms. Wood describe some of the University of Michigan spectaculars when she discussed her band experience at the U of M with WPCNR:
Wood, a clarinetist, has performed in every halftime show for the U of M marching band this band of approximate 300 students. Kim Wood graduated with the White Plains High School Class of 2005, is a member of the Big Blue Marching Band. A few weeks ago she gave us an insight into her football marching season and performing every halftime show, which is something when you realize she has to audition for her slot on Saturday:
“It’s really a great experience. Every week, the Performance Block is set. The Performance Block is the 235 people that march for Pregame and then a few more are added to that who march for halftime. Every week the Rank Leaders have to challenge a certain amount of people in each rank. If you’re challenged, you have to do the marching audition on Friday to try to stay in the block.
Wood says it is very stressful – performing the music and the formation: “One line goes (marches and plays) at a time – challenging on pregame marching and halftime marching. On Monday you find out if you made the Performance Block.”
WPCNR, corresponding with Ms. Wood from the U of M campus, asked to tell us about the band: “There are 368 people in the band, including the flags, the twirlers, and the Drum Major. There are 40 clarinets, and I am the 13th chair.”
WPCNR asked about what they performed at the various halftimes of the year:
“For the Ohio State game, we did a Led Zeppelin Show, consisting of Rock and Roll/The Ocean as one song, Black Dog/Kashmir as another, and Stairway to Heaven as the last. There were no real noticeable formations for that show, we did curves and diagonal lines.
The shows where we created unique formations were the Wisconsin game Michael Jackson Show, where we made a script MJ with a fedora on top of it, like his fedora in the smooth criminal video. Then we formed a bunch of 10 big squares as shown in the Billie Jean video where he jumps on the sidewalk and it lights up.
Our flags ran to each square and lit up the squares with the flags as our Drum Major ran to each square and acted as Michael Jackson.
The show wrapped up to “Bad” like the graffiti in the “Bad” video. For “Thriller” we made 3 tombstones with the initials of the 3 teams we had beaten so far. Then we all zombie-walked over to our next spot and did a dance of Michael Jackson Dances.”
At the Iowa game, the band created a “march” show. Wood reports the band performed Berlioz’s March to the Scaffold/ Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis, John Williams’ March from 1941, National Emblem and The Stars and Stripes Forever: “We did very straight marching for this show to represent military marching, no curve formations or anything. It was all precise and straight. We opened an American Flag on the field at the end of The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
The Ball State Game was impressive for the band’s formations: “We did a theme song show with the music from Mission Impossible/Knight Rider/Hawaii 5-0/and the A-Team as one number, and Dynasty/I Dream of Jeannie/and Gilligan’s Island as another, and the Star Trek theme as the last.
“We formed the M:I symbol. We formed Kit (the car in Knight Rider) and rotated the wheels, a big wave for Hawaii 5-0, and A-T-E-A-M for the A-Team. We created the bottle for I Dream of Jeannie and a ship that crashed onto a rock for Gilligan’s Island. Finally, we formed the Starfleet Symbol for Star Trek with Patrick Stewart (who played a latter day Dr. Spock) conducting the band.”
Wood explained that Patrick Stewart was on campus as artist in-residency in Ann Arbor with the Royal Shakespeare Company. “Our Band Director got Stewart to come conduct us at the game for the Star Trek theme. He came to one of our practices as well and told us that he had been taking conducting lessons from the director of music at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was very excited, honored, and happy to be there and everyone loved it.”
