PRPhan4ever

I'm all game! Hope to tour/volunteer w/Regiment this summer so lets get those ideas on paper ! I hope to meet up with you this season! IM me let me know you're details and where we can poss hook up! I have some great ideas, but I'm sure the Regiment staff & design team does too! Ohhhhh Gawd I can't wait till June!!!!!!! -- Trisha (aka: PRPhan4Ever)

[ THANK YOU JESUS !!! (Thanks Ms Barlow!!)

OH MY GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is right !!! David... you're Mom has delivered along with the "Angels from on High" -- I'm breathless, speechless and ready to die and go to heaven! Take me now! NO WAIT! I want to see/hear it on the field in2008 to win.......... MY ALL TIME FAVE SHOW!!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE 1982!!!! So glag I'm a Booster, SO GLAD I'm a member Sponsor, so glad I'm a PHAN! PHANTOM REGIMENT STAFF & DESIGN TEAM "I" LOVE YOU! I'M LEAVING YOU ALL IN MY WILL!

Hmmmm..... Something THEY know.... must be a piece (or pieces) from their standstill repitoire Lets see: "Elsa's Procession" "Sym 5 / Finale" "Nessun Dorma" "Dvorak -New World / Finale" And one or two others............... My guess? Something we've heard/seen from them before, but much beloved.......... POSSIBLY (I'm usually wrong) from the list/rep above. We'll see. So glad I'm a Booster for 08' (will be in a day or so when they should get my check!) - SUTA! Trisha

EVERY former, past Regiment member has paved the way for those that have & will march Phantom. A ring is a piece of jewelry, a roken, something tha can be lost, stolen or sold! The pride, history & tradition of marching in a corps with such a depp, long history is worth far more than just winning! Everytime you put a show on the field, be it 1956 or 2008 --- if the crowd goes wild, and people leave humming the tunes or talking abiut YOU'RE show? Than you know whay? you've already won something more important........ The love and respect of the crowd and the fans who PAID to see and hear you......... Besides, as we get older, those rings may no longer fit and get stored away. The memories gained from marching is an experience we'll always remember and hold dear and it's a different KIND of winning all unto itself!

Well, at first I thought we were going after a "mother Earth" thing with Native American garb, but as the season progressed -- i guess they were supposed to be male/female 'birds'. It's all good, but I can see how the judges would be hard pressed to see that as part of the visual theme, to me, it didn't jive as well as it could. However, they were noticeable!!! Jamey Thompson is indeed well ahead in the design dept, and I think that Regiment would have benefitted ten-fold if he stayed on as 'Visual Consultant' and let Scotella do the drill. The Emmert Bros and Sage should be ok this year.... CONSIDERING what the medium/theme/music is for this coming season......... Persona;;y, I'd love to see "Sparticus" again. Possibly ANYTHING by Miklos Rozsa......... Gosh there is so much in my head and thoughts right now that I just wish I had a full time job doing drum corp show concepts.... but alas, stuck in the confines of the Information Technology universe instead....... The Horror of it All...........

Hey there Tom....... When I heard "Birds" was the focus of the show in '07, I was like , wait "1000 Airplanes of the Roof" is quite a contradiction in thought!! Birds/flight.... I would have gone the "flight" motif in general..... The Deliebes (Flower Duet) was gorgeous, and wonderfully performed, but it is a "love Duet" -- not one such sung by birds, and the colorguard? THAT was the biggest detractor of it all..... I LUV Jamey Thomson and almost everything he has done, but those costumes just (for me) DID NOT fit the whole bird/flight/air "theme" . I LOVED the Firebird ending, however, I would have done the jazz run differentlt.... EXAMPLE: On you tube, you see (or have already seen) the video of then rehearsing the ending... all in a straight line shoulder to shoulder, double time... RUNNING while playing! If "I" did that, during the mello solo, have them slowly, in the drill keep progressing backwards until they were..... all in a straight line across the back sideline and when the triple FFFF hit comes, do a 360 a run like that to the front, another short drill sequence, do another 360 and end up as they did .... The impact would have been so dramatic and eye catching that jaws would have dropped! Just the sight/sound of that literal 'white wall of sound' coming at you like like that from end zone to end zone at 270 bpm would be a finish like no other!!! (ok-- I hearby lay claim to that design/drill sequence... I'm charting it after I finish this!) (:)) - Cheers!

I remember hangin' w/Pete Bond in Reading (housing site for 99) in prep for DCI East. Man did he drive those soprano's! However, they had some great notes and Tchaichovsky is a hard book to play in ANY medium! It was odd, we were on the same field at Reading HS atop a hill in the middle of town as! After the run thru, myself and my husband were sitting there at the food truck (we donated iced tea and gatorade) and he remarked --- "do you think they'll place any higher than 8th at the end?" -- he is by no means a musician -- or-- a drum corps phreak like I am, and as we sat there I was thinking two weeks to finals? Hmmmmm 6th at best! After the show at JB Crum that night -- I asked him (Pete Bond) "Well..what is you're diagnosis...." he snickered and said:, "it's a great sound and some great music, but it's got to have "more" !" Well, they placed 8th.. Personally, there were some aweson effects........ the Flag and rifles toss in the 3rd movement w/ the pit.... the great likes in "Un Bel DI..." Man, it was so kewl to stand in front of that horn arc and hear that!!!!! WOW!! memories................

Now - while I'm expounding on a theme -- from all facets -- let look at a show that did all of these things: 1996--- "Defiant Heart" Theme -- Dark, brroding, slow and ominous leading us into the FFF hit with the horns in the opener. This whole show from the title to the drill showcased the deliberate drill (whgile not overly complex -- it flowed effortlessly from piece to piece) The color RED -- synonomous with Russian and the Soviet Republic during Shosty's life there, and while ther forced to be restrtained to what the iconic and unrealistic hiarchy wanted him to write. The shear seethingness of the 4th Ballet Suite is enuff to make one siton the edge of a cliff waiting, watching and listeninfg for what may happen! This was the inner struggle Shostakovich dealth with until he fled Russia and landed in NYC with the 5th symphony ih hand - nearly completed! Regiment's 1996 show embodied that oppression of musical genious Demitri Shostakovich. Shoived it in your lap with all black, ominous and without any colr until... his music is set free with a splash of red, one lone guard member--- aside from the rest in a solo stance as the music builds. Each piece got louder, faster and more unbridled and so didl the drill and marching until that fantastic hammerind FFFF company front -- the 360, and then the perc & horns blaring that their defiant mission, to put that music , on THAT field like no one else that night soliified that 1st place finish was now complete! I was there... I saw it, I heard it..................... I FELT IT! It all started with a little red chevron, which when inverted, in russian iconography means 'defiance'. THAT is what I'm talking about!

Too many people compared (before they even saw/heard ) Regiment's 98 production on the field to others who had performed "pines" before them. Especially when they were two power houses that scored well with the music and visual. I volunteered with regiment the summers of 98/99 and remember thinking -- "Gosh - what a young corps for a Regiment program" Indeed they were. The execution was hampered by a disasterous season from the beginning! The music was great as is all PR's selections. Jim Wren did a masterful job in arranging. However, the experience needed to EXECUTE to the fullest, BASED on all the expectations placed upon them was simply too big a task. I remember hearing that they (the corps) had to use a fairground as a housing site finals week! Man, we were hyped (the staff, volunteers and alumni) about the show -- and it did not dissappoint in look and sound, but there were too many re-writes, drill changes and things that were beyond the kids' ability to change. they did a hurculean job given the medium and music! Not to mention the countless hurdles throughout the season! But, ask any Regiment what SUTA means (they won't teall anyway) and 98 was surely a personification of their mantra! 99 was Jim Wren's last year composing/ arranging the horn book if I recall and Pete Bond was still w/PR. If those two shows were put on the field as they were in 98/99 respectively ---- I'd say 12th for 98 & 9th for 99. THAT IS OF COURSE, were they (both shows in the original form-- no drill/music changes) put up against todays shows of late ............... Different league, different scoring/judging as well as demand has changed since 98/99 to present

Well - maybe I should claify what "I" (me, myself and I) are speakingof as far as THEME ...... When I speak of theme, I mean total visual theme, Hence, see my previous post about "Romeo & Juliet". the color scheme, a notion of the guard attire, the silks/flags/sabers/rifles as well as a SHOW TITLE . I did not mean to lead people a stray by saying theme , when most might think of a 'show title'. Theme - defined in the dictionary as: the total explanation of a concept, a notion a visual idea So, as I wrote a few posts ago -- THAT is how "I" would approch visual design. In saying "I" (and I'm not nor never will be on PR's vis staff) merely would approach a designing a DC show in the following manner: 1) Theme 2) Presentation (color scheme, a notion of the guard attire, the silks/flags/sabers/rifles as well as drum colors and even corps uniform additions) 2A) Show Title as centered on the theme chosen (can actually be a musical selection/composer name) 3) At this point -- (tentative) musical selections (camps always thow deviations of performance matertial at you) 4) Drill and M & M (Must be written for, about and with the music keeping the theme present in sight/sound) From 1st camp until the conclusion of finals week --tweak, refine and clean FROM DAY ONE -- the above! Regiment (since I've been a Phan) they have waited until DCI East week to really hammer home cleaning & this is no falacy! Dr. Dan said so himself to me (and others at DCI East in 07') They should clean like the President was coming to watch them from DAY ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cleaner/tighter it (the pkg) is at the start -- the easier it will be to make drill/music additions and//or subtractions as the season progresses. I just wish that a season like all those I mentioned (89, 91, 93, 96, 06 & 07) would start this way> I can hope, and I certainly will pray, and, if anyone wants to hire me as a visual consultant, hey--- I'm game! been doing it for BOA for almost 5 years now. SUTA~!

I sat down late Saturday night and pulled out my opera score of "Romeo & Juliet" as well as the symphonic score from Tchaikovsky as well as one I had from Gunod. I even looked at some brass & string parts from the Berlioz opera. They (meaning Regiment) don't even HAVE TO redo the Tchaikovsky! You know, there is so much power as well as passion that Regiment really, Really, REALLY make a show like this work -- just like "Faust" did if they used the Berlioz or Gunod. The possibilities are endless in scheme and scope when you picj a theme first, then curtail music around it! THAT is the reason Cadets, BD & CAvies are & have been so successful. Their theme was first. Not the musical selections. Regiment has the opportunity to start off in a great position with a young drill designer, and a killer brass/percussion/colorguard staff in 2008. Lets see how they approach it......... My bet? PR already had 2008's music picked before 2007 was over! That kills any creativity (IMHO) that could evolve when picking a theme FISRT. One also must pick a theme that embodies and exemplifies the presence portraying it! Regiment, was, is and always has been POWER PASSION & PERFORMANCE !! Music is just the vehicle that gets it (the vision and fruition of a theme) where it needs to go to be seen and heard as intended. --TL

What do you mean "IF" she were reading this... she already has! ... she's the one who put all this in my head way back in 97!! Don't worry, she's right where she needs to be 'The HIGHEST visual Judge there is!' Miss you Ms. Barlow! :angel:

You know -- Drill will, and does differ per corps as does the wind on different days. So does the people's opinion of it and the judging of it. Every cops has their unique marching style. Regiment found it's niche in the early-late 90's with some awesome drill moves like the wedge, the crab step, etc, etc. The key to getting a successful drill is to have an accessible theme to which to build upon. From beginning to end - the theme MUST tell a 'story' , in sight, sound and movement and needs to be conveyed ON THAT theme flowingly. Now, Regiment CAN do this successfully -- they just need to do what they did in 96, 2003 and 2006 . Pick a theme that is so accessible and graspable (??) that whomever is watching and/or listening is caught up in what is being played/marched. I will digress abit here, and YES ---- this is MY opinion on a great show theme that had it all.............. Two occassions............ REGIMENT 1996 ---- 2006 1996 -- "Defiant Heart" The corps had an identity change. ALL BLACK uni's. A theme that was in itself, their whole essence... defiantly performing the classics in a way that no one else had dared to up till that point, in a way that ONLY Phantom regiment could do. The whole program... from the long, brooding intro... to the full power of 72 horns & percussion in the 5th Sym. grabbed you, held you focused on this raw, poingant determination that was seen in both the impeccable marching/drill, as well as the powerful music of Shostakovich. WOW!! They literally were "DEFIANT!" they made you feel and see it......... 2006 -- :"Faust". Love Story for the common folk (or drum corps person). From the beginning of the show, to the final chevron -- the show flowed with the essense of "Goiod -vs- Evil" , love overcomes all in a theme, no matter what version one saw/heard of 'Faust' could relate to. They told a story on the field and did so with their trademarks of POWER, PASSION & PERFORMANCE! They made you want the 'demons' to be defeated, for Marquerite to rise again and to be reunited w/Faust..... they did just that and got 2nd place! THAT is how a show should be built! Theme first, THEN music and drill/design....... or, perhaps, music LAST! So many corps start with music first and plan around that. Phantom's greatest performances were put on the field when the theme took center stage.... 91 "Phantom Voices" -- all opera. 93 - with Bernard Herrmann and their 'Movie themes'. And as above, 1996 and hence, 2006. See the connection I'm trying to make? Regiment is THE best in my opinion at performing 'symphonic' music in a broad multi-voice medium of brass and percussion. Now with JD Shaw and Paul rennick doing the arranging -- we now hear that lush melody and undertones that so many have & will continue to point out! They LOOK Beautiful in white... and sound gorgeous with those king horns. My thought? Regiment 2009............. "Summer of Eternal Love - Romeo & Juliet in Modern Times" Music --- All Tchaikovsky Silk Colors --- Pink/Majenta & Purple Guard --- Flowing dress like 88 -- white/silver accented with some of the same colors as the silks Drum Color --- Purple fading to washed pink (makes the white stand out better) and conevys 'love' Uni Accents --- Silver baldric/guantlet with white sash over shoulder, with pink/purple on underside Everyone knows the story, start where Romeo & Juliet first meet and take the listener/viewer on an 11 minute trip through their love and romance as only Regiment can do. The finale' being just as they die in eachother's arms in the middle of a cracked, bleeding heart on the 50. Possible? You Bet! Possibility of this coming to fruition (w/Regiment)? Not likely -- But I hereby lay claim to this show design and theme so if I see it or facets of it in 2008 or 2009.. ...I can truly say:..... "I thought of that... so nice it won a DCI Title!" SUTA !

Well -- it seems. by the judging of late (2000- present, w/exception of 06) are very biased towards Regiment ESPECIALLY when they are up against the other top 4) no names needed.... but I bring up the facts that a husband/wife judging duo consisyantly scrore PR lower in captions every time they see/judge them. Case in point 07. Now, when looking at visual, "it" (meaning THE WHOLE PGK of music, movement, color and drill) must carry the same motif for the 11 minutes. "Faust" did that, "On Air" did not. Plain and simple. I said right here on this very forum that Regiment's theme (primarily birds) would be too constricting and difficult to portray on a field -- HOWEVER, they did a VERY amiable job given what they had. The music and it's playing FAR outweighed the drill/visual product. Now, if PR decided to ever again do a 'tragedy to triumph' show.... redo "Rome & Juliet" Classic music, classic for THEM in every facet... plus, the audience can (and will) relate to not only the music but the whole theme it "it" is well thought out, and well performed. It is pointless and futile to compare year to year (96 to 07 etc) as the criteria fir jusdging, and, the now endless breakdown of each caption make comparrison almost impossible. So with that................. C'Mon Mr Scotella & PR staff knock us off of ###*** with that show that's just been screming to be put on the field! GOOOOO PHOR IT PHANTOM !!!!!

From a direct E-Mail from a PR Staffer --- The tower was in for Indy. We also put the front panels in then also. Sorry.... Eric Sabach -------------------- Eric Sabach Royal Brigade Garfield Cadets Star of Indiana Phantom Regiment Ok, I guess NOT having this DVD has not earned me, but cost me some $$$$ -- but, still want a copy. Anyone willing to trade, share etc?

I recvd a reply from: PRSINKSPIRIT but could not respond -- says member name not found (???) I'm interested in the ending -- where they add the Eiffel Tower -- was NOT inserted/added until finals week correct? The director I'm working with swears that this was in before Indy! He said it is even on the 'On The Road' DVD he saw that he borrowed that was a friends. He doesn't own it, and I can't get a hold of a copy anywhere (so far) on this Earth -- which is why I'm trying to get one, play it - and prove him wrong and win $100 !

I need some help regarding the 2005 PR production "Rhapsody" and the net versions on the web and the DVD "On the Road" version sold by them. One, when was the ending changed during the season -- and, how much different is/was it to the final product? I am desperately looking foe a copy of the DVD, but have yet to locate it. hence an argument between myself and daughters band director regarding this, and yes ..... MONEY "IS" involved..... Answer here, or, if you have this DVD or know where I can get a copy to PROV my point, email me here privately at DCP --Trisha

Well, I have to say Zingali and then Jamey Thompson. Thompson's drill for PR in 06 was unbelieveable, and 07 would have been 10X better if he were not strapped with such a difficult theme (that someone else was already doing! --- flight/birds). With that said, Gaines has produced some jaw dropping moments, but I like it when the whole 11 minutes is one big flowing 'story' in sound, movement and appearance. Thompson seems to do that and with passion and flair. I've been a fan of his work, AND .... he's a Cavalier product too! Just my humble, unedjucated opinion............ I do think, if he were to return w/PR in 2008 (although we know otherwise) I think we'd see his real potential given a reprehensible theme that fits! I will say, I AM eager to see what this Regiment Alum brings to the table... I judge/make my opinion in June when I first see them............ (Jamey if you read this and feel inclined to retirn to writting for corps --- I'll help pay you're salary in 2009 if you come back with Regiment and the board wants you!!)

I have met Jamey several times with/at Regiment as well as 'Empire Statesmen' who he designed for as well several times. he is a great designer, and I'm a big fan. However I will share what HE sent me via email. "Trisha- I do remember that. Didn't you also sponsor someone in the corps at Regiment? Thanks for your email. Actually I will not be returned to the Regiment for 2008. After 11 years of writing drills for drum corps I am ready for a much needed break. Hope you continue to be a Regiment fan and thanks again for your support. " This was the end of September, and I doubt, there were ANY hard feelings or misgivings. I wish jamey well and HE WILL BE MISSED by regiment and the activity on a whole. BTW -- He does have a full time accounting/CPA business in Chicago! People DO have lives outside of corps ---- when they can!

WOW... Talk about the reappearance of a thread! Remember Michal Boo's FANFARE column -- "The Emotion of Drum Corps"? Well.......... 1994 -- Phantom / "Claire DeLune" 2007 -- Phantom / "Flower Duet" 93 -- PR's "Fire of eternal Glory" Gee, Grando, how did the ballads of 2007 sound from up "On High?"

I believe BK did a whole show around those tunes, however, the arrangement(s) pale in comparrison to ANYTHING J.D Shaw & Rennick could do with them! Think of 135 people playing the "Alleuia!" in a long, straight co front playing that as a finale' with the drums as back up? WOW ! WOW! WOW! Use white as the "resurrection' color, and do a motif if Angels with actual GOLD feathering wings -- yea it's imiliar to '07, but hell, it'a all about the music and what seems 'familiar' - no matter how well/poorly it's performed. But with this Rozsa music? It's passionate, powerful, an, most of all BEAUTIFUL! The famous organist Virgil Fox once said during a live recital in regards to critics asking: "Why do you play music that is not written specifically for the organ?", and his reply was, quite affentinately: BECAUSE IT IS BEAUTIFUL !..........

Hmmm---- Not sure if this was in agreement or in sarcasm, but in any event ............... Well, lets remember that a lengthy movie sountrack from those days had upto 20-35 tracks, and the musical possibilities were endless from an arranging standpoint! Especially now with the brass and percusion elements as they are in TODAYS corps. One would really have to LISTEN to the whole sountrack(s) of any of these listed to hear the potential of which I speak. J.D. Shaw heard it when they did "King of Kings" in 2003 using "The Lords Prayer" . I am SURE... that especially for "Ben Hur" and other Rozsa pieces, there is an immense amount of creativity in writting for not only brass, but for percussion as well! The visual, what I AM thinking of in my own mind for the guard costuming would absolutely be gorgeous! Jamey Thompson could really expond on the theme and the drill? Well, it could be wide open there..........

Well, let go back too some of the success of 2003 !! Play more Miklos Rozsa ! Lo/listen at the possibilites for a show like this! You'd have selections from "Ben Hur", "El Cid", "Quo Vadis" and so many others that would be killers with JD Shaws arrangements and Jamey Thompson' effects... Are you listening (Reading Phantom Staff?!)

Think of this .... "Summer of.... Miklos Rozsa: Selections from Epic Adventures" Possible Musical choices: BEN HUR, EL CID. more from KING OF KINGS or even QUO VADIS! Think of what J.D. Shaw & company could put on the field musically AND visually! OMG! And the audience, AND JUDGES would know every selection! Just think of Regiment in a company front doin the "Alleuia!" from the Finale' of "Ben Hur" --- chills already! ROZSA could very well be the vehicle Regiment need to win another title --- one for themselves! Thoghts? Objections?