Band director Bre Osbourn wanted to have some fun with her students with the band theme. For months, she pranked them. She claimed they would dress up as mustard and ketchup for a sandwich-themed performance.
Drum major and senior Emma Vincent did not find dressing up as sandwiches funny.
“You’re lying,” she told Osbourn. “I’m not doing the show.”
Vincent was right; and eventually, Osbourn revealed the actual theme. The band would dress in Dr. Seuss-themed uniforms and use fun props for a show called “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”
Over the summer, the band started working on the show and has put in countless hours fine-tuning it. The hard work paid off at the group’s first UIL competition on Oct. 18. The band made straight 1’s (the highest possible marks) and advanced to the Area competition, which will be held on Saturday.
“It’s tough to achieve that,” Osbourn said. “For our theme, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go,’ the band has these special uniforms and props. When you look at the field, it’s like looking at a page out of the book. And the judges made a lot of really awesome comments about how the band made it seem just like the book.”
In addition, three of the bands that competed in front of Kingwood Park had bigger props and various electronics on the field to boost their sound and add to their show.
“We don’t do that, and ours came out got straight 1’s,” Osbourn said. “And actually we scored even cleaner and got higher scores than some of the schools that have all of those things to buffer for their stuff. So that’s a confidence building thing for sure.”
Osbourn had the show planned for 10 years, waiting for the right group of kids to come around and perform it. It is based on her favorite book. When she came to Kingwood Park four years ago, she met the exact group of kids she was waiting for.
“The seniors were freshmen my first year here,” Osbourn said. “They had never done shows like what we have done. And they were like, you want us to do what? And they’ve done it.”
They’ve done it well. Each of the last four years, the band has scored higher in UIL competitions than the year before – a streak Osbourn expects them to continue at this week’s Area competition in Channelview, where 46 teams will vie for the chance to compete at State.
After receiving feedback from judges and former colleagues, Osbourn said this is the band’s strongest show since she arrived in 2022. This year’s show will be a core memory for not only Osbourn but for all the seniors after high school, who have put in the hard work to get to this point.
“That’s the cool thing to see – that all the hard work paid off and you get to be excited about being rewarded for what you do,” Osbourn said. “That’s the fun part.”
