Throughout the years, the TUHS Marching Band has proven again and again that they are first-place material in their many competition seasons. For many seasons in a row, the band has presented theatrical shows and were centralized around a movie – “The Hobbit,” “The Jungle Book,” “Jurassic Park,” “The Incredibles,” to name a few–in contrast to other schools in Bakersfield and surrounding areas who use conceptual shows. This year, director Amanda Posey decided to throw in a curveball for the audience of Taft and other areas.

The TUHS band presents to you a well-known, medieval English fairytale: “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

According to Director Amanda Posey, the music uncannily came together. “I had the idea of doing ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ show many years ago. I didn’t know what music I would use. Then Colt Matthews played ‘Blow it up, Start it again’ for me on YouTube and I thought it would make great music for the Giant. Soon after that, the song ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ came up on my playlist and I thought that would be the perfect song for the middle. And then I found the opener ‘A La Lune’ on a ‘Cirque du Soleil’ show and it all fit together.” She described the middle song as the perfect context for the “Goose song.”

The first movement of the show, “A La Lune,” is a French “Cirque du Soleil” piece adapted for the marching band. The story begins with the Vendor (Reina Mendoza, sophomore) offering Jack (Elijah Johnston, freshman) her many knick-knacks and eventually the beans. Posey plans to have a beanstalk grow across the field to clouds, which will part the way to reveal the big castle.

The second movement is a revolutionary change for the TUHS band, and as far as anyone knows, for any marching band. The TUHS band will be performing “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” a Tears for Fears classic arranged by LORDE. Jack will enter the castle and see golden eggs, where the song will kick in. After looking around to see which golden egg he will bring home, he will turn to see the marching band’s first featured vocalist, the Goose (Raygan Wescott, senior) and realize that he wants her, not the eggs.

Then the Giant (Zain Bravo, junior) will come down and see his goose is gone. Furious, he will stomp down into the epic finale of the show, the third movement titled “Blow it Up.” The trombone and tuba section is featured for the first half, and the rest of the band will do the trademark Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum chant. The rest of the story–well, TUHS students and staff, will have to see it for themselves. The next football game is Friday, September 27th. Be there for the next halftime show!

When asked about the drumline, Drum Captain Colt Matthews (senior) said: “I think they’ll perform well in general, and exceed my expectations.”

TUHS band’s Assistant Drum Major and tuba section leader, Richard Posey (senior), honestly stated that, “the band is full of people that don’t know each other yet, but they work hard to achieve a common goal to make something amazing.” He compared the band to an MLB team: “they don’t always know each other every season, but they still work together.” He finished by saying the band, “isn’t perfect, but has plenty of potential.”

This year’s head Drum Major, Presley Golling (junior), when asked about how the band’s coming along and his thoughts about this marching season, he said: “I think we’re looking pretty good. We still have a pretty long way to go, but I know we’ll get there.

This year’s Jack, Elijah Johnston, said: “It’s going to be cool running around the field and having fun. This show is really fun. I think we’ll do really well. I’m excited for this season.”

“I think this show is unique because of the strong players in the musical and theatrical roles,” Amanda Posey said when asked about why she chose this year’s unique show.