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Classical meets rock for Project Mayhem
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Project Mayhem 2017
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Boardman HS students are producing a rock musical called Project Mayhem.
By JORDYN GRZELEWSKI
jgrzelewski@vindy.com
BOARDMAN
Since Mackenzie Kondas was in the fifth grade, she knew she wanted to be part of Project Mayhem.
“I always went to those [concerts] when I was in middle school, and I always thought, ‘I want to be up there,’” she said.
On Friday, Kondas, now a senior at Boardman High School, will take the stage as a violinist with the school’s rock orchestra.
Project Mayhem will perform its annual concert at 7 p.m. Friday at the Boardman Performing Arts Center. To purchase tickets in advance, call 330-758-7511, ext. 67152. Tickets, which are $5, also will be sold at the door.
“You won’t find a show like this for probably 100 miles,” said Michele Prokop, a music teacher at the high school who directs Project Mayhem along with Bill Amendol and Joel Monaco.
“This is a very unique group, to have the electrics. It’s just like a rock concert – minus the alcohol and drugs, of course.”
Project Mayhem, now in its 11th year, is a Trans-Siberian Orchestra-style group that features an electric instrument line in addition to vocals and acoustic instruments. The show is produced like a rock concert, with laser lights and a mini-mosh pit.
The annual concert drew a crowd of 1,200 people, Prokop said.
“It’s where classical meets rock,” Prokop said. “We do rock from the ‘60s all the way through modern day.”
The group is made up of about three dozen students who had to audition for spots. Project Mayhem meets to rehearse once a week beginning in September to prepare for the big end-of-year concert.
Most student musicians who participate in the rock orchestra began their musical careers in fifth grade. Project Mayhem also features students from choir and band, in addition to orchestra.
At a rehearsal this week, Project Mayhem rehearsed numbers that ranged from classic to contemporary.
Vocalist Robb Lewis belted out The Guess Who’s 1970 hit “American Woman,” then later the 2015 song “Drag Me Down” by boy-band One Direction.
Wearing ripped jeans and a Ramones T-shirt, he commanded the stage confidently.
“Mayhem is one night where you can let loose. Rock on,” said Lewis.
“It’s the coolest thing they do at Boardman High School,” said junior Patrick Kale, a drummer. “You get to be a rock star for a night.”