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MadHatters serenade sold-out Overture Center crowd

Aubre Andrus

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by Aubre Andrus

Friday, November 12, 2004

The MadHatters, a University of Wisconsin men’s a cappella group, turned a dream into a reality Wednesday night, singing for a sold-out audience at the Overture Center’s Grand Overture Hall.

Rudy Lienau, Director of Theater Operations and Facilities at the Overture Center, said the MadHatters is the first student organization to perform in Overture Hall, selling out the theater in their first try.

The box office sold all 2,251 seats of Overture Hall one week before the opening night, leading a few people to scalp their tickets outside the Overture Center.

Tyler Knowles, business manager of the group, said he was pleasantly surprised the concert sold out so early. A majority of the advertising for the concert was by word of mouth, he added, from singing at sororities to singing on local radio stations early in the morning.

Knowles added the concert went extremely well.

“It was a great success,” Knowles said. “We made a good case that we could perform at a venue at this level.”

Robert Palmer, ticket office manager of the new performing arts venue, said he was not surprised the concert sold out so early.

“I am pleased for them,” Palmer said. “We hope they are able to come back on an annual basis.”

According to Lienau, the design and technology of Overture Hall allows groups like the MadHatters the ability to produce the most amazing show of their careers. He added the Overture Center draws a more diverse audience than the ‘Hatters have had at other venues.

The ‘Hatters concert began with a video parody of the MTV show “Diary,” giving a comical behind-the-scenes look into their preparation for the concert. Bucky Badger made a special appearance on stage, delivering the group’s signature red jackets.

For the first time, the ‘Hatters sang two original songs and stuck to their standby of contemporary songs, including a Britney Spears medley complete with four members costumed in attire like the singer’s and blonde wigs.

Redefined, UW’s co-ed a cappella group, and Tangled Up in Blue, UW’s women’s a cappella group, opened for the MadHatters.

Getting ready for the concert, the group held three-hour-long rehearsals three times and performed at about two gigs a week.

After all the long practices and work, the MadHatters can finally hang up their red jackets for a couple nights before they begin recording their new compact disc this Saturday.

According to MadHatters President Adam Vanderloo, the fans, as well as the staff of the Overture Center, contributed to the success of the concert.

The audience ranged from students to families to Chancellor Wiley, who received a special thank you from the group for being so supportive.

Grand Hendrickson, music director for the MadHatters, said most a cappella groups do not get the chance to perform in front of such a large audience and at a venue such as the Overture Center.

“It’s a pretty unique experience at the college level,” Hendrickson said.

Despite the success of Wednesday’s show, the concert in Overture Hall will be the last for Hendrickson, who plans on moving to Los Angeles or New York next semester to pursue a career in writing music.

“I don’t know what would be a better place for me to depart,” Hendrickson said. “An awesome, awesome end to an amazing experience.”

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Anonymous (November 13, 2004 @ 7:48pm):

I appreciate your articles on the UW Acappella groups. Many students are unaware of the amazing talent that these groups have. However, I am disappointed that the student newspapers tend to disregard the other groups and focus solely on the Madhatters. I am not disputing that the Madhatters are very talented and charismatic on stage, however, the ladies of Tangled Up in Blue have just as much talent and charisma, if not more. I'm surprised that you overlook them every concert. I'm sure that if you were to speak to many in the audience at the Overture Show, you would find that they were there to see all of the groups, if not Tangled Up in Blue or Redefined alone. I hope in the future to see more about the other groups. They deserve the press as much as the Madhatters do.

Thank you

Anonymous (November 13, 2004 @ 9:30pm):

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to the Madhatters a capella group for a job well done especially Joseph Martin Salvo for the hard work.

Anonymous (November 13, 2004 @ 10:00pm):

Articles on any a cappella group on campus only help the other groups as well. It doesn't matter who is opening for who; the 2,200-plus fans that saw the MadHatters on Wednesday also saw Redefined and Tangled Up In Blue, whether they wanted to or not. This University is unique in that it has a balanced a cappella community with three main groups (each with their own sound and style) that share many of the same fans.

This article was about the MadHatters sold-out show. It wouldn't have worked if it had been about Tangled Up In Blue's sold out show or Redefined's because they were not the focus of the concert. They may have helped sell tickets, but not in the same way the main act did.

Anonymous (November 14, 2004 @ 10:17pm):

I apologize for my bluntness, but realistically speaking the crowd at the Overture Center was there to see the Madhatters, who did all the advertising, got the venue in the first place, and had almost an entire set of new material for the crowd to listen to. While all the
a-cappella groups did fantastically, the Overture center did not sell out because of Tangled Up in Blue's 4 song extraveganza (Three of which were songs that the group has been singing for ever...where's the new material???) Furthermore, to get an article in the badger herald you go to the office and ask for one, they are not going to hand you one on a silver platter (perhaps if you did something worth writing about, like selling out your own concert at the Overture center, the Herlad would be more inclined.) Be thankful for the opportunity to sing at such a fantastic venue and don't bite the hand that has been feeding you for years.