Even when the Mineola High School Marching Band prepares for a trip to “Neverland,” they work hard to get there.
The Mineola High School Marching Band, ranked second in its class statewide last year, started its season last week at its annual upstate summer camp – akin to boot camp – doing drills to learn the “Neverland” themed routine they’ll use in marching band competitions this season.
“We’re hoping to explore that alternative universe using Peter Pan to tell the story,” band director Frank Mauriello said on the eve of their departure to Camp Kindering in Hopewell Juncton
Members of the band will portray characters from the classic children’s tale about a boy who can fly and never grows up, with the band’s color guard costumed as Wendy and the band members as Capt. Hook and his pirate crew.
“I wanted to do something fun and creative,” Mauriello said.
From Aug. 18 to Aug. 23, the band and color guard will hold rehearse from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Rest periods to provide a chance to relax and bond.
Using music by Joseph Sullivan, who composes for the professional Blue Star band and the Drum Corps International, the band will act out “Neverland” in four parts.
Mauriello said the show will start with band members appearing to be asleep, being awakened by the “spacey” voice of one band member playing Peter Pan. The band members will “emulate” flying by lifting members of the color guard into the air, following Peter with Big Ben as a backdrop for their imaginary trip to Neverland.
“We’re going to fly over the clock tower,” Mauriello said.
The second part will feature a band member and gymnast playing Tinkerbell, performing handstands and back flips.
In the third part, Mauriello said spectators will see Neverland through the eyes of color guard members dressed as Wendy and in the climactic fourth movement, the color guard will battle the instrumental band of pirates with a pirate ship as a backdrop. The piece will end as it begun, with the band returning to where the journey began and falling asleep.
“The good will triumph and then we’ll fly back home,” Mauriello said. “It’s a creative, elaborate process but we wanted to challenge the students.”
The 90 members of the band are used to a challenge. And last year, they measured up well against the competition in small school class 2 of the New York State Field Band Conference, finishing second in the season-ending competition in Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome by a razor thin margin.
For the members of the band, the season virtually never ends.
They’ve been rehearsing the music for “Neverland” all summer, twice a week in evening practices.
At camp, they put the music together with the moves accompanying it in a process that is truly a labor of love.
“We are family. You come to this activity to do thing you like and be with people you like,” said Lauren Behan, a senior xylophone player in her fourth year with the marching band. “Sometimes it’s not even work, you have such a good time.”
The students say the result of all their hard work in preparation and the exhilaration of competition is their reward.
“Through the season you always have your problems, but when you go to Syracuse and you finish the season, you feel like you’ve accomplished so much,” said Taylor Dalton, a junior and color guard captain
“This is our passion. This is what we want to do. And we all want to strive to better,” said Felicia Villa, a junior who has risen to the position of drum major after playing flute and drums in the band.
Villa said she was inspired to join in eighth grade after seeing the band perform and wanting to be “part of something bigger” than herself.
Fellow drum major Kelly Behan, a senior who played clarinet before becoming a drum major with the responsibility of directing the band to keep things coordinated.
“It’s kind of like you’re one person,” she said. “Even on our off days we’re good because we want to achieve the same thing. There’s always another level.”
The students said camp is a bonding experience, with activities to break the tension, including dodgeball, a trash bag fashion show and a big bonfire on the final night of camp.
But there are no illusions about the primary purpose of the camp.
“We bring music to the next level,” sophomore tuba player Daniel Reardon said. “Band camp makes or breaks you. It tests you physically and mentally.”
But, the students said, the mutual support of the shared experience makes it a fulfilling week.
“During the day we’re suffering, but we’re all suffering together,” Villa said.
Villa and her fellow band members said they get an opportunity to meet other students they might not otherwise encounter in school and form close friendships in the process.
“It’s a really tight-knit group of people,” said junior Chris Theriot, who plays snare drum. “Everybody enjoys coming to camp. And every year has a different feel to it.”
Mauriello said the band members are hopeful about excelling in this season’s competitions, but he emphasizes that the objective of the marching band goes well beyond the scores it achieves.
“The goal is that with a solid foundation of music education, the number will fall into place,” he said. “I never put emphasis on a number because as I always tell the kids you can’t put a number on the way something makes you feel.”
