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Tarpon Springs High band's trip to Macy's parade is subject of documentary

 
Journey to the Macy’s Parade features Tarpon’s band, one of 11 high school and college bands invited to last year’s event.
Journey to the Macy’s Parade features Tarpon’s band, one of 11 high school and college bands invited to last year’s event.
Published Nov. 21, 2014

TARPON SPRINGS — This is a band that's used to the spotlight. After all, Tarpon Springs has been to Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, among other venues.

And yet, the lights have perhaps never been brighter for the Spongers.

After all, it's hard to top being the best in the nation. Last week Tarpon Springs won the Bands of America Grand National Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

It doesn't end there. Next week will mark the TV debut of a documentary featuring the band's trip to last year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

In Indianapolis, under longtime director Kevin Ford, the band outscored about 89 other high school bands, squeaking past Broken Arrow Band of Oklahoma. Tarpon Spring's final score was 97.15. Broken Arrow's was 97.

The school community "couldn't be prouder,'' principal James Joyer said. "The band has everyone busting their buttons. You know they got back on the buses after 2 in the morning from Indiana, and the buses had police escorts from State Road 54 all the way to the school.''

The 210-member band, part of the school's Leadership Conservatory for the Arts program, is the subject of Journey to the Macy's Parade, a documentary by WLRN Public Television in Miami. In 2013, Tarpon Springs was one of 11 high school and college bands from across the country invited to the parade.

The program will air on WUSF-Ch. 16 on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Nov. 12, the day before they climbed on the bus for Indiana, four band members grabbed a sneak peek at the documentary to provide insight to the Tampa Bay Times. They huddled in an office with walls lined with plaques touting the band's visits to prestigious venues.

The students included sophomore Ashli Suiters, a tenor saxophonist; senior Hannah Gomez, a flutist and tuba player; senior Alan Dorsey, a tenor drummer; and junior Jessica Conant, a member of the color guard.

As soon as the documentary started, they began humming to the music. Dorsey even drummed on the table with his fingers. "Cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka,'' he said. "I like the program, but my haircut wasn't quite right.''

At times, the documentary was emotional for the students. When they got a glimpse of their band director, they let out a collective "awwww.''

"I'm going to miss Mr. Ford when I'm gone,'' Gomez said.

It also got emotional for Conant and Dorsey when it came to a segment on particular students and challenges they've faced. Both have already experienced the death of their mothers.

Dorsey's stepfather, Alexander Casatelli, talked about the bond between Dorsey and his mother, and how he persevered through the heartbreak of losing her to cancer.

This made Alan lower his eyes. "That definitely was an emotional part,'' he said.

The documentary also featured lawyer Chuck Tatelbaum of Fort Lauderdale, who has performed as a clown in the Macy's parade for four years. The documentary included footage of Tatelbaum walking through his neighborhood, donned in a red nose, practicing his wave.

"Actually, it was Chuck Tatelbaum who started this. He told (WLRN administration) that he had a great idea, a behind the scenes look at the Macy's parade,'' said Mia Laurenzo, the show's producer.

The parade took place in blustery winds and freezing temperatures. As the students watched, they were hit with the memory of constant shivering.

"I just have to look at the screen, and my body temperature drops,'' Suiters said.

However, as the documentary points out, the students had more than the cold weather to deal with. Their featured, one-minute and 15-second live performance for NBC was called An American Reunion which ended with two of the band members posing like the kissing couple in Times Square, the iconic 1945 photograph.

To help the band maneuver the small performance area, Ford and his team created a mat with special markings.

Hours before showtime, the band realized the mat had disintegrated due to wet weather.

While Suiters watched the saga play out on the computer screen, she bit her fingernails.

"When we found out that happened with the mat, I really wanted to keep practicing,'' she said. "I was so nervous and thought that we weren't going to be able to do it right.''

But the band went on to complete a near-perfect performance while 50 million television viewers watched.

At the end of the viewing, the students had a band practice to get to, but they had time for one more question.

Would the young Floridians want to do it again, perform in the freezing conditions while carrying instruments on a 2.65-mile route?

"Oh yeah,'' they said in unison, as they headed out, preparing for Indiana.

Contact Piper Castillo at pcastillo@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4163. Follow @Florida_PBJC.