Musical Mayhem to rock Boardman center tonight

By BRUCE WALTON

bwalton@vindy.com

Boardman

The Boardman High School rock orchestra comes together every year to create Project Mayhem, popular rock ’n’ roll performances for generations of students.

Now it will celebrate its 10-year anniversary in the Boardman Performing Arts Center on the high-school campus at 7 tonight.

Project Mayhem combines music and visual spectacle as about 50 students perform popular songs as far back as the 1970s, while a laser light show, conducted by Lightwave International of Pittsburgh, dazzles the crowd.

General admission is $5.

The event’s director and co-founder, Bill Amendol,

said he first proposed the idea 10 years ago when he began teaching at the school.

He had the idea while brainstorming with music teacher, Michele Prokop. Amendol recalled a similar event by a visiting that school’s rock orchestra while teaching at Newark High School in Columbus. He said he wanted to do the same thing here.

The director had a lot of work to do on his own, especially writing the original music of the songs they performed since he couldn’t find any written before. By the first show, Amendol had about 15 songs he both created in Boardman and used from his time in Newark to critical acclaim.

James Harker, a senior guitarist, vocalist and master of ceremonies for Project Mayhem, recalled when he witnessed the event’s debut in 2006.

“I was [really] little. I don’t remember much about it, but I remember it being a huge big new thing,” Harker said. “Boardman had never seen anything like it before.”

The style of music the orchestra plays is called, “Trans-Siberian,” which uses electric string instruments and acoustic bass. One standout of the rock orchestra, Amendol said, are the vocal performances for nearly every song. The show also gains popularity because of the authenticity the show has as a rock band, he added.

“For anybody who’s been at a rock ’n’ roll concert, it’s very much like being at a professional rock show,” he said.

The students have practiced since September for two hours every week, and they have rehearsed almost daily this week.

“The hardest part is probably learning it separately and then coming together with everything and figuring how to blend it all together,” said Sydney Boggs, a sophomore vocalist for Project Mayhem.

The event’s proceeds will fund next year’s show, as they have the past nine shows. Amendol said the annual event costs about $3,000 to $4,000, and he reinvests any leftover money toward the music program.

Though about 1,000 people usually attend the performance, Amendol expects to exceed that number tonight and hopes to keep Project Mayhem for as long as the community supports it.