Some of the students in the Cherokee Central Schools Musical Theatre and Choir programs are shown during a break in rehearsal on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 6 at The Gathering Place on campus. They are shown, left to right, Michael Yannette (teacher), Amiya Lequire, Noqwisi Crowe, Jocelyn Saunooke, Jade Squirrel, Aubree Lossiah, Gideon Freeman, and Ava Walkingstick. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photo)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Beautiful singing voices resonated through The Gathering Place on the campus of Cherokee Central Schools (CCS) on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 6 as the One Feather caught up with some talented students and a familiar teacher.
The CCS Musical Theatre Program and Cherokee Choir is gearing up for several upcoming performances under the helm of Michael Yannette who has returned to the school as the director of choirs and musical theatre. The Choir is set to perform at the upcoming North Carolina School Boards Association Annual Conference on Nov. 18-20 in Greensboro, N.C.
Yannette, back out of retirement in the position he held previously at the school, commented, “We will do four pieces, and we are also doing this whole introduction that’s all about the Cherokee Core Values…just awesome. We talk about those a lot. So, we created this whole thing where I come out with this drum and they, one by one, speak a Cherokee Core Value. Then it moves into them singing the ‘Cherokee Morning Song’.”
While on the trip, the students will also get to take in a show – “The Secret Garden” being performed in Charlotte, N.C. At the conference, the students will also perform “Amazing Grace” and “Elijah Rock” in the Cherokee language as well as one piece from the “Si Otsedoha: We’re Still Here” symphony which was created in a collaboration with the North Carolina Symphony six years ago.
Yannette noted, “It’s a big honor and a little scary, but really cool. We’re super excited.”
He speaks very highly of his students, “They’re just super daring. They’re not afraid…we’re singing music that we sang four or five years into it and they’re pulling it off. And, it’s because every day I can work them. And they’re totally game and they’re having a ball. They’re really lighthearted about everything and just taking it all in. So, they’re working so hard, so they’ve achieved in three months kind of what we achieved over the first two years last time.”
Several years ago, Yannette retired after more than 30 years of being an educator, and this gave him time to complete something that had been on his bucket list for years. “I wrote a show and it was called ‘Fantasia on Mysterium, the Epic Immersive Theatrical Recital’. It was a show about the weird stuff that happened to me when I tried to write a show about my favorite composer (Alexander Scriabin).”
Information from Western Carolina University states the following describes his show as “a genre-busting reimagining of a traditional piano recital and theatrical play, blended with artistically created mind-blowing immersive visuals that accompany both the storytelling and the live performances of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s piano works.”
Once finished with that project, Yannette felt drawn back to the classroom and out of retirement.
Yannette’s dedication to the students and the community has not gone overlooked. In 2019, he received the coveted Frell Owl Award for service to Cherokee youth.
Next month, the students will perform their annual “Braves on Broadway” show, but this year will feature a neat twist. “We’re doing the standard kids getting up and doing songs, preparing solos, like we always did. And, we’re doing group numbers. But, we wanted it to be traditional. We want every year for it to be more traditional Cherokee. So, we’re doing the ‘Morning Song’. We’re calling it ‘Braves on Broadway: Traditional’.”
And, on top of those performances, the students are gearing up for a May 2025 presentation of “Grease”.
Ava Walkingstick, Cherokee High School (CHS) sophomore, will play ‘Sandy’ in the musical. Of the preparation for the May performance, she said, “I’m looking forward to all the rehearsals. Rehearsing is always so much fun. No matter how hard you’re working that day, it’s just fun with all the people you get to connect with. Just being Sandy, this is my first lead role so I’m really excited and ready to do it.”
She added, “It’s really great. I love working with Mr. Yannette…we have so many voices in this room that we didn’t know we had. We were in dance. We didn’t know we were going to be singing on the first day of school. When we came in, it was really fun and he got us to where we are now. It’s just been incredible.”
Walkingstick is not new to singing and performing. “I’ve sung since I was little. I would go into church with my little ukulele and sing and play all the time.”
She loves the atmosphere in the musical theatre and choir. “I definitely feel like we are very close in here, almost like a family. Outside of here we are still friends and everything, we talk to each other and when we see each other we say, ‘hey’, or even talk for five minutes before class. It’s just so fun because, coming up, our show that we’re going to be doing for the National School Board, that’s fun and we’re going to get to hang out and connect more and bond more and just get to know each other more. I’m really looking forward to that.”
Noqwisi Crowe, a CHS senior, who is set to play the ‘principal’ in “Grease”, loves the environment of musical theatre and choir. “One of the most important things about here is that you have to support each other and that’s what we do. That’s mainly why I like it because whenever we have to do a solo or just say things by ourselves then we are saying that ‘we’re here to support you and you did a great job’ and we won’t say anything negative about it. We just get along because when we’re here, that’s what we’re in here for. We all share a passion for theater and singing.”
She went on to say, “We all support each other and treat each other fairly like we’re a family.”
Jade Squirrell, a CHS senior, will play ‘Patty Simcox’ in “Grease” – a role she feels very comfortable with. “She (Patty) has all this energy and she’s very all happy and she goes with her instincts and everything. I’m a very joyful and happy person.”
This will be Squirrell’s third production having been in “Sister Act” as a sophomore and then playing ‘Morticia Addams’ in “The Addams Family” as a junior.
“It is very supportive, and I love them all.”
