A cappella music will fill the halls of the Overture Center November 10th when the red-jacketed MadHatters set foot inside for their fall concert.
The MadHatters, the University of Wisconsin men’s a cappella group, was founded in 1997 by two students. The founders, Chris Yahng and Chad Musolf, started the group with a goal to give back to the community and sing to those who needed music in their lives. In a short amount of time, the group’s concerts have grown from an audience of 300 to sold-out shows at the Orpheum Theater with more than 3000 screaming fans over two nights.
Music Director Grant Hendrickson said after three years at the Orpheum Theater, the group is more than excited to take a step forward and perform in the 2,251-seat Overture Hall. “This is just our golden opportunity after years of hard work,” Hendrickson said. “We’ve dreamt about performing in this venue.”
With all of the hype surrounding the grand opening of the Overture Center and upcoming Broadway shows like The Producers and The Phantom of the Opera, booking a concert for a student organization was not easy, according to Business Manager Tyler Knowles.
Knowles spoke with the theater manager on several occasions even though there were no openings in Overture Hall. “One day I called [the theater manager] and they had just lost a hold on November 10th. The next day we were in there signing a contract,” Knowles said. “It’s very lucky we got a date so early because it’s booked for a long time to come.”
The MadHatters’ concert is a great opportunity for students to see the state-of-the-art performance hall at a decent price, Hendrickson said. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and the Overture Center box office with prices ranging from $8 to $20.
“We never even dreamed that we could reach this level at the Overture Center,” Knowles said. “It doesn’t get much bigger.”
Over the past year, the MadHatters have performed at Miller Park for the Brewers/Cubs game and traveled to the west coast over winter break for their second major tour. They sing at everything from fundraisers, local schools and sororities to UW basketball player Mike Wilkinson’s wedding this spring.
Their demanding calendar, which pans out to about two gigs and two 3-hour long practices a week, allow little free time for the MadHatters according to President Adam Vanderloo. “Really it’s like having a job, but we’re doing what we love so it’s well worth it,” Vanderloo said. “It’s nice to think you can make people happy.”
The group is also in the process of recording their second studio CD, which is planned to be released in time for their spring concert at the Orpheum Theater April 29th and 30th.
Besides popular a cappella songs such as “Blue Moon,” all of the songs the MadHatters perform are original arrangements of contemporary songs transcribed by members of the group.
The state-of-the-art acoustics in Overture Hall will allow the MadHatters to display their talent better than they ever have before, according to Publicity Manager Joe Lee. “We are really excited and are looking forward to sharing this with our fans,” Lee said.
The concert begins at 7:30p.m. with Tangled up in Blue, UW’s women’s a cappella group, and Redefined, UW’s coed a cappella group, opening for the MadHatters. Visit www.uwmadhatters.com for more information on upcoming events.
