by Doris Meneses, from the South Dade Newsleader, 12/28/16
On Thursday, December 22nd, the Seminole rocked with a full house dressed in a sea of holiday splendor waiting for the appearance of the world famous Rockapella.
The Rockapella group featuring Scott Leonard, Jeff Thacher, Calvin Jones, Mitchell Rains and Bryant Vance sang their way into the hearts of those in attendance on Thursday. The group took basic Christmas numbers and transformed them into more than just a typical song. The sound of a pin dropping could be heard as the audience members waited to see what would come next.
A parody of I’m Getting Nuttin for Christmas had the crowd laughing while Jeff Thacher, the rhythm guy, had the crowd in awe as he performed a vocal drum solo created with a microphone on his throat and one at the mouth, that would have made any percussionist proud. Drums, cymbals and more created all with his voice while his body moved like he was playing real drums. Jeff also sacrificed his cheeks with slaps to create the sound of hoof beats during one song.
Throughout the night, several members of the group joined Facebook live to showcase their Homestead performance. Very slender, blond haired “Malibu Barbie” and leader of the group, Scott Leonard, dressed in his leather or “pleather” suit, emceed the evening and shared his “spaghetti leg” performances during Blue Christmas. Leonards’ musical arrangements for the group proved ingenious as a typical song without accompaniment was transformed into a song accompanied by instruments that couldn’t be seen but were clearly heard.
The voices of the group meshed together. Brian Vance often used his voice for the bass instrument and his voice was smooth and mellow leaving one wanting to hear more, especially after performing the music from The Grinch. Mitchell Rains and Calvin Jones added in their tenor voices that were showcased in several numbers and again, left one wanting more. Calvin was featured as one of the Chipmunks as “Hey Calvin” instead of Alvin.
The night was filled with good music and comedy. The show ended with the group singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas while childhood photos of the group flashed in the background. Oh yes…the background. The performance was accompanied by a show of scenery, snow and more on the back of the stage which added to the atmosphere and prepared everyone for the holiday to come.
Two standing encores brought their famous Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? number that was performed in the early 90’s on national TV.
Whoosh….Wham…Did you hear that? It was the sound of Mickey McGuire and his group at the Seminole Theatre hitting it out of the ballpark with the Rockapellas!