By Joseph S. Amster

When they began with 12 members in 2001, it was hard to envision that in five short years Men Alive The Orange County Gay Men's Chorus would have 100 members celebrating their fifth anniversary by singing with Michael Feinstein. “I just had a sense that the chorus was going to go—that it was time,” remembers Artistic Director Rich Cook. “None of it is a surprise—there are some things that have happened quicker than I had in my own mind than they would, and that's always nice. We're very excited about Michael Feinstein—he's been a real gentleman and a lovely man to work with. He's a great talent, an archivist, has done his own performing, and his own Broadway one-man. His voice is so beautiful, so I think combining with Mr. Feinstein and these men's voices is going to be an exciting and warm experience.”

Men Alive's concerts are well known for their choreography and surprises, and this one will be no exception. “The audience loves the lightheartedness and the theatrical productions that we put in our concerts,” boasts CEO Stewart Hall. “The most common comment I get from audience members is, 'I don't know how you're going to outdo this performance. How are you going to do it?' We said this time around we'd try bringing in a celebrity—not that we need him to draw an audience, but to give them a treat.”

Much of the group's theatricality comes from Rich Cook's fertile imagination and background—the seeds of which were planted in his youth. “I have always treated my music with a mentality of making it a production. Since I was a little boy setting up a stage in my basement, building sets and props when I was 7 and 8 years old, making costumes, and wearing some of them myself, it's always been in my blood. Everything in life can be interesting if we let it be. We have a joke where we say, ‘It's got to be fabulous.’ That's not really tongue in cheek though, that's where the production perspective comes from. In this concert, we won't just stand up and sing a song, there'll be a little bit of dialogue before, for instance, “Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat,” from the show Guys and Dolls, that sets up piece so it's not just one song, and then the next song and next song. I like to think of the whole thing as one big production.”

Continuing its growth, Men Alive has outgrown their current venue, the Irvine Barclay Theatre, and is on the move. “Our holiday concert is going to be at the brand-new, yet to be opened Orange County Performing Arts Center's Segerstom Hall—it has 1,700 seats, and we're planning two shows,” says Hall.

Curtain Up! Light the Lights! is scheduled for Saturday, July 15, at 2 and 8 p.m. at Irvine Barclay Theatre on the campus of the University of California Irvine, 4242 Campus Dr., Irvine. For more information, call (866) MEN-ALIVE, or go to www.menalivechorus.org.