“I would love to keep them three more but they seem to want to go on,” Minge said jokingly. “They don’t miss rehearsals — they don’t miss performances. They’re just reliable, dependable, steady folks.”
Yearly, Middletown’s award-winning show choir competes in five or six daylong competitions. The group also makes about 15 or 20 special appearances each year.
Kyle Schwarber dances front and center. The senior’s performance at the high school’s POPS Concert on Thursday was his last with Purple Pizzazz.
It was a natural time to look back.
“I was the guy who was struggling to pick up the dance steps — I couldn’t really sing,” Schwarber said of his initial experiences with the group.
An acclaimed varsity athlete on the Middies’ football and baseball teams, he eventually found his stride.
“I wouldn’t take it back,” he said. “It’s probably one of the better experiences of being in high school.”
Minge, who has served as Purple Pizzazz’s director for the past 10 years, is excited for the young talent coming up. As bittersweet as graduation will be, the show must go on.
“I tell the kids all the time, you can not tell me there is more talent in another school than there is at Middletown High School — you cannot convince me of that,” she said. “What are you willing to do with that talent? How hard are you willing to work?
“This group is willing to work hard,” she said.
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