Gina
Ogden, tenor
Debbie Connelly,
lead
Cindy LeMasters,
baritone
Dana Hitt, bass
From:
Tampa, Florida
Convention City:
Indianapolis, Indiana
One
of Sweet Adelines'
most popular and
entertaining quartets,
Showtime competed
internationally
six times before
winning the championship.
The original foursome,
formed in 1984,
included Gina, Debbie
and two other friends.
Cindy became baritone
in 1987; the quartet
won its regional
contest that year
and performed at
the 1987 international
competition in Hawaii,
placing third.
The
following year at
international contest
in Houston (1989),
Showtime presented
what Debbie called
"the infamous
Cheerleader set."
She later lyricized,
"The cartwheels
and the splits were
only planned to
entertain; Too bad
that it's impossible
to sing well when
you're in pain!"
By
1989 the quartet
had a new bass and
placed fourth at
internatioanl contest
in Miami Beach.
And, by this time,
they were fulfilling
a full schedule
of performances
around the country.
Perhaps the crowd-pleasing
entertainment aspect
of all those performances
overshadowed the
group's focus on
the "compulsories"
in contest, or perhaps
the memories of
the cheerleader
set had faded; when
Showtime took the
international contest
stage for their
quarterfinals appearance
in 1990 (Salt Lake
City), Debbie quips,
"A package
of two parodies
- 'Dick Tracy' was
the theme...Looking
back, it seems that
it was just a real
bad dream. The audience
seemed to like it;
they all laughed
and applauded plenty;
But when 'the roll
was called up yonder,'
we were not in the
top twenty!"
For
the first time in
their international
contest experience,
Showtime did not
make the cut for
the semifinals.
Debbie's lyric quartet
history continues,
"That year
we realized (although
it took that little
nudge), that in
a singing contest,
it's the singing
that they judge!"
So it was back to
regional contest
to attempt to qualify
for international
again, with another
new bass - Dana.
At
the international
contests in both
1991 (San Antonio,
Texas) and 1992
(Baltimore, Maryland),
Showtime came in
second - the championship
eluding them by
less than 100 points
out of close to
3,000 in both cases.
And then, in Indianapolis,
Indiana, in 1993,
the quartet's dream
came true, the result
of nearly a decade
of hard work and
harmony.
Since
winning the championship,
Showtime has continued
to perform and delight
audiences across
the country and
the world. Donna
Rose replaced tenor
Gina Ogden in November
1994. No stranger
to the group, Donna
had been a friend
and fan since she
and Debbie were
college roommates,
attending the same
school as Cindy,
where the three
sang together in
a pop group and
a college quartet.
In
1996 Showtime and
five-time international
champion Gem City
(Dayton, Ohio) represented
Sweet Adelines in
a nationwide television
special, More Voices
in Harmony, produced
and videotaped for
public television
by WCET in Cincinnati,
Ohio. In 1997 Showtime
represented Sweet
Adelines at the
Guinness Roaring
'20s A Cappella
Festival and Harmony
College in Killarney,
Ireland.
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