This past July, a friend of mine invited me to see the Puna Men’s Chorus ExtrABBAganza performance at the Palace Theater in Hilo. She knows I’m a huge ABBA fan and interested in anything remotely related to them, so I couldn’t wait to check it out! She’s not even an ABBA fan, she just loves choral music. We were both WOW’ed with the whole evening!
Who The Heck ARE These Guys?
Here was this choral group – from Puna of all places, the Puna Men’s Chorus – fondly known as PMC, and I had been hearing about them for awhile. I talked with the director, Daron Scarborough, after the show to find out more about them. All this time, I had thought they were a gay chorus; and from the likes of their antics on the stage that night, I was sure they were. But Daron set me ‘straight’ about that!
He smiled when I asked him about it, his warm eyes twinkling. He explained that four years ago, a group of men came together to create a chorus and in that formative time, asked each other how they wanted to identify themselves – were they a glee club or a chorus; were they a gay only group or what? After some discussion, it was clear and unanimous – they all wanted to be a part of a men’s chorus, plain and simple – sexual orientation was not the focus. They wanted to sing and share the power of beautiful music with the community and they wanted to have fun doing it, quirky Puna Style – that’s what really mattered. So today, that’s exactly who they are – a diverse group of gay, straight, local, haole, professional… all kine guys, singing their hearts out and bringing great music to all of us. I believe this group is truly one of Puna’s new hidden treasures!
You Can Join the Ohana
I won’t soon forget the show from that evening at the Palace – there they were up on stage, not only belting out my favorite songs so stunningly, but hamming it up with skits and professional dancers and having a ball celebrating that diversity I was just telling you about. Too bad they’re a men’s chorus, I thought, I sure would love to sing and spend some time with them.
Well, lucky for me, I found out that I can get to hang out with them! I’ve joined their ‘Ohana as a volunteer, helping out with events and Fund Raising and I’ve met so many other wonderful volunteers – women and non-singing men who help to round out their diversity even more! Just like they envisioned from the beginning, it’s all about the music – celebrating and giving it to the community and loving each other all along the way!
I still wanted to find out more about who these guys were, though, so I asked if I could interview a few of them. After the ExtrABBAganza show, my first interview pick was the tall gorgeous blond with the red bell-bottoms and platform high steppers – turns out he is one of our local contractors who has built some pretty sweet houses around here. Bob Kirk is not only a great builder and a sculptural artist (when he is minus the wig and fake fingernails!), but he also has a great voice and a terrific sense of fun. He made the hilarious video they played during the performance (click to see the “Lay All Your Love On Me” music video) and has some great ideas for future shows, too.
You’ve got to see the part when they’re all shopping in KTA, “dressed to the nines” in their ABBA “get up” – and there was no one in the aisles. Now come on, this is KTA, Hilo after all – no one in the aisles? I asked Bob, “Hey, what’d you do, shoot that part at midnight after hours?” “Oh no” he said, “we just ran in there in the middle of the day, nervous as heck, all dolled up and decided to just shoot it and make a quick getaway. But when we hit the aisles, everyone had these shocked looks on their faces and took off – we had the aisles to ourselves! When we left the store there were some Japanese tourists who asked us for our autographs.” What a hoot!
This is the spirit of fun that PMC brings to their performances, not to mention a rich choral blend of exquisite music that Daron so artfully directs. So the next time you hear something about “that gay Chorus from Puna,” make sure people know that PMC is a men’s chorus, one where gay men are welcome and celebrated, just like every other kind of man. And really, isn’t that the kind of community we all want to be a part of?
Right here, on their new, seriously awesome website, you can view a video of the entire ExtrABBAganza show at the Palace, along with the latest information about their next show, “HoliDAZED,” featuring my favorite singing men along with guest artists Amy Yamasaki and Susanella Noble. I just know it’s gonna be a great show! Actually I confess, I got a bit of insider info and heard that Bob will be ‘lit up‘ for the season in a whole new way and the music will have just the right touch of Puna spice to give all our holidays some pizazz!
Come and join in the fun of the Puna Men’s Chorus ‘Ohana – remember, you don’t have to be gay, but you do have to celebrate diversity!
— by Lyn Howe
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