Good Time Singers have concerts April 8 and 9

The Las Cruces Bulletin

The Las Cruces Good Time Singers, directed by Diane Schutz, will perform two birthday concerts on Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9 in the fellowship hall at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 225 W. Griggs Ave.

The Friday, April 8 concert begins at 7 p.m. The Saturday, April 9 concert begins at 2p.m.

Tickets are $5 each. Dessert (birthday cake) will be served during the intermission of the 90-minute concert, Schutz said.

The concerts celebrate the choir’s 10th anniversary. It was founded in 2006 at Trails West senior community in Las Cruces and has expanded in the past several years to include members from all over the city, said Good Time Singers charter member Jean Hunter.

Titled “MGM Musicals and More,” the concerts will feature songs from Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer musicals from the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s and 60,” said Schutz. St. Paul’s fellowship hall will be decorated in a Hollywood theme for the concert, she said.

Songs will be performed from classic musicals such as “Oklahoma,” “That’s Entertainment,” “Singing in the Rain,” “San Francisco,” “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love” and “Get Happy.”

“It’s a really fun show,” Schutz said, with “show themes and music the community will appreciate.” The concerts will include a singalong, duets, trios and some choreography.

Jean Hunter said the choir was the brainchild of her husband, David Hunter, and the late Norm O’Brien.

“It was a unifying experience when it was first born,” said David Hunter, who no longer performs with the group. Recruiting Schutz was “a very, very key factor” in the success of the choir, he said. “We had known Diane quite well and realized she was very well known within the Las Cruces community and was a person who could entice people to join such a group.”

The Hunters said the choir has lost a lot of members due to “physical problems and old age,” but many original members continue to participate. And the choir, they said, is “attracting new people all the time.”

Being in the choir has given her “a great feeling of fulfillment,” Jean Hunter said. “Music is good for you.”

We have such a great number of talented singers in this group,” said Jean Hunter.

Schutz said the choir today has 50 to 55 members, and always welcomes new members. There are no fees to join the choir and no audition is required. Members must be age 50 or older. The choir usually performs three to four concerts a year, between August and April, and rehearses weekly at St. Paul’s.

Schutz retired from Las Cruces Public Schools in 2006 after 20 years as choir director at Las Cruces High School. She continues to work with middle and high school choirs in Las Cruces and El Paso on a part-time basis.

Tickets will be available at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and the Music Box before the concert and at the door, Schutz said For more information, contact Diane Schutz at 644-6863 or Jean Hunter at 6408251.