'The Show Must Go On' despite the pandemic: Sumter Civic Dance Company will perform its 1st concert at Patriot Hall in more than a year

It's been quite a while since the Sumter Civic Dance Company has performed on its "home stage" at Patriot Hall. In fact, Executive Director Andrea Freed-Levenson said, the company gave the last concert there before the pandemic forced the venue to cease hosting public performances.

That will change on Friday and Saturday nights when the group presents its annual spring concert, aptly titled "The Show Must Go On."

"The dancers are so excited to be performing for an audience again," Freed-Levenson said.

While safety measures will still be observed in the auditorium - Patriot Hall has taken measures to increase the safety of the company and audiences - the public concert signals that normalcy may be in reach.

Freed-Levenson has choreographed most of the pieces in this show, joined by regular choreographers Andrea Govier, Erin Levenson Harms, Toni Cray and Tia Robinson.

The spring concert features the company in a wide variety of dance styles, and the music also varies, with jazz, ragtime, rock, Latin, Broadway and more. Opening the concert will be Smokey Joe's Café, which features classic rock 'n' roll by Leiber and Stoller. Music from "Beauty and the Beast" follows.

Freed-Levenson said the audience will see lyrical, pointe, contemporary, ballet and other styles. "Hot Honey Rag" features music from "Chicago," with a strong drum beat and only the dancers' feet visible, and Queen's music drives the choreography in the title piece, "The Show Muse Go On," which features the lyrics "Empty spaces, what are we living for, abandoned places … , also a fitting lyric for the COVID-19 era.

Van Morrison's "Moondance" is the music for the company's tap dance, choreographed by Freed-Levenson and performed by Torrie Chapman, Anna Collins, Toni McCray and Annie Beth Williams.

Something new for the company is a piece choreographed by Harms to spoken word - Joe Biden's inaugural poem, "The Hill We Climb," written and read by the young poet Amanda Gorman.

The Apprentice company will dance "Ballin' the Jack" and "Rescue."

The company will be in costume as dolls in "Dolls Dilemma," and the Freed School Teen Company will dance to Little Mix's "Wings," a hip hop piece choreographed by Govier.

The company's seniors often choreograph a piece for the spring concert, and this year Gracie Hudson and T.J. Warren have choreographed "Wake Up" by Julie and the Phantoms, which they will also perform. Govier and Robinson have collaborated on the choreography for Macklemore's "The Ceiling Can't Hold Us," performed by the Freed School Gym Team.

Several other pieces are featured in the concert, which ends with the contemporary dance "Make Your Troubles Go Away," sung by Audra Day. Freed-Levenson choreographed this piece and "Turn the Beat Around," with its Latin beat by Gloria Estefan.

The Sumter Civic Dance company will present "The Show Must Go On" at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Patriot Hall, 135 Haynsworth St. Tickets are $10 general admission and can be purchased only from Freed School of Performing Arts, 527 N. Guignard Drive, in person or by phone - (803) 773-2847 - with a major credit card. While no tickets will be sold at Patriot Hall, tickets reserved by phone can be picked up at the box office on the evening of the performance.

Audience members are asked to wear masks and comply with prescribed safety precautions. The auditorium is already set up for social distancing.