Whim 2004

We congratulate Something Extra's newest taps into the prestigious senior women's singing group, Whim 'n' Rhythm!
Danielle Marquis '05 (Pitch)
Sara Chihaya '05
Alicyn Cooley '05
Becca Crawford '05
Mo Lee '05
Sally Wagner-Partin '05

Deliberations 2004

The negotiations are over! Congratulations to the newly chosen leaders of Something Extra 2004-2005!

Pitch: Alice Appleton '07
Business Manager: Sabrina Silver '06
Assistant Pitch: Liz Brandwood '07
Assistant Business Manager: Jessica Thomas '07
Rush Managers: Victoria Neiman '06, Robin Pearce '07 and Liz Brandwood '07
Winter Tour Managers (East Coast): Remle Stubbs-Dame '06 and Sabrina Silver '06
Spring Tour Managers (Paris): Lucy Winn '06 and Jessica Thomas '0
Solo Coach: Sabrina Silver '06
Choreographers: Robin Pearce '07 and Victoria Neiman '06
Webmeisters: Remle Stubbs-Dame '06 and Lauren Tarantello '06
Publicity: Victoria Neiman '06 and Robin Pearce '07

Plagiarism Jam 2004

Bright lights, hot women, screaming fans, pumping beats- this could only mean one thing. Something Extra's Annual Singing Jam! Weeks and weeks of sleepless nights, unwritten papers, and grueling rehearsals all came down to one Friday night, February 20, 2004. Despite the valiant efforts of our adoring alums to completely drown out the music, Something Extra serenaded the rowdy crowd in St. Thomas More Chapel for nearly two-and-a-half hours. Maybe they got bored, but we certainly never did! Thanks to our parents and friends and acquaintances who we guilted into joining us- we do it all for you!

Spring Tour 2004: Paris

Something Extra in the City of Love- what could be better? Shopping, eating, sight-seeing, eating, clubbing, walking, eating…oh, and some singing as well. Our debut in Paris was a definite success, featuring concerts in the gorgeous American Cathedral and the plaza of the Centre Pompidou. We also made some harmony in the homes of American diplomats, and at a party thrown by some Yale alums! Our political rhetoric impressed such personages as the head of the Republican Party in France, and our bouncers made it clear that no one messes with SE! Innumerable thanks to the Winns, the Thomases and Mrs. Neiman for hosting 18 star-struck women for a week and a half; we couldn't have done it without you! Now all we need is an idea for next spring…hmmmm…

San Francisco Tour, Winter 2003

To follow a semester of hard work, Something Extra took to the streets of San Francisco. We shopped Haight-Ashbury. We went to Ghiradelli Square. We sang everywhere, in every which way. And at the end of the day, we came back to the lovely Omni hotel, where a lobby concert and a pillow mint were waiting for us. Another successful trip for Something Extra.

A Ninth Album for Something Extra

After a semester of intense recording sessions, painstaking edits and re-edits, and a lot of well-invested time and money, Something Extra's efforts have finally paid off. Our ninth (and best) album to date, "In Other Words", has just been released! The CD features songs by Bonnie Raitt, Fiona Apple, Van Morrison, and many more. It includes timeless SE favorites, as well as new, never-been-heard-on-CD tracks. Want to take a little Something Extra home with you? Click here to order. Or, for the more cautious buyers among you, preview tracks from the new album.

Deliberation Decisions 2003

Once again, Something Extra has braved the process of deliberating over next year's leaders. This year we set a record, finishing all talks in a single session. We are so proud to present to you:

Pitch: Mariangela Sullivan
Business Manager: Sabrina Silver
Assistant Pitch: Rebecca Crawford
Assistant Business Manager: Amy Sarma
Rush Managers: Mo Lee, Lucy Winn, Sally Wagner Partin
Winter Tour Managers (to San Francisco): Hilary McQuaide, Amy Sarma
Spring Tour Managers (to Paris): Lucy Winn, Sarah Chihaya, Remle Stubbs-Dame
Solo Coaches: Sarah Chihaya, Sally Wagner Partin
Publicity: Mo Lee
Web Meister: Remle Stubbs-Dame
Alumnae Coordinator: Alicyn Cooley
Choreographers: Alicyn Cooley, Hilary McQuaide

Recording

We pile out of cars and into a warm pink room. Nineteen girls encircle a twist of metal poles and wires, as Roger's voice, piped in from the next room, admonishes us, "Don't touch anything. That center mic alone is worth $10,000." We are all excited about the large glass window through which we can see many small buttons, buttons that will make our voices famous. We chuckle and roll our eyes at the "Horizon" plaque, ripped off an early model Plymouth and affixed to the front door of the cement hovel-turned-recording studio. Time after time, we groan as Eleanor raises her hands and then drops them again, waiting for yet another insistent train whistle, motorcycle engine, ambulance siren to fade into the distance.

We know that we have to stand perfectly still, but somehow invisible chicken pox erupts on every inch of our bodies just as we take a breath to start. Our earrings need adjusting, our feet cramp up, our hair NEEDS to be brushed; we explode into a dance of scratches, twitches, and twirls. We learn the strength of our own voices: "Sabrina," Eleanor says, "take two steps back. Danielle, Mari, take one step forward. Joy, move to the center of the bass section. And, Arija," she sighs, "maybe you could go into the other room?"

Secretly, there is a Whitney Houston buried in all of our diaphragms, but we are fearful. We all recorded ourselves as children, crooning into the Fisher-Price tape recorder, and were horrified at the sounds that were returned to us. The human ear is persuasive and can sugar-coat, but digital recordings do not lie. What seemed harmonious and fresh as it was passed around the room from our mouths actually sharps by the end, has audible breaths, and the alto ones are way too loud. But we keep trying because we know that amidst dozens of takes we will make one that blends effectually, captures the precise dynamic nuances, and sounds damn good too. And then our smiles burn with the exhaustion and pride of accomplishment because we did this. We MADE this. We are only aware of small parts each time we enter Horizon; the whole is far-off and intangible. But all of these gems will be strung together in sequence, smoothed and lacquered, packaged and named, and we will hold in our hands something we thought was confined to our vocal chords. - Arija Weddle

VIPs in San Francisco

Midterms: over. Jam: over. After some flurried packing, we got on the plane to San Francisco, CA and said goodbye to the weather that lives in New Haven in the early spring. San Francisco greeted us with open arms; we stayed, very stylishly, in three different hotels in succession, that aptly separated the three tones of the tour. First was the Omni, in San Francisco's financial district. Our four days there were spent equally in concerts and in wandering the city, completely gobsmacked both at the beauty of it and at its t-shirt weather. Then we moved into the Doubletree, and got down to business. We had a serious working tour; on two occasions, we had five concerts during one day. We sang at schools of all shapes and sizes, for the US congressman for the district, at country clubs, at retirement homes, and of course at Ghirardelli Square. For fun, our freshmen treated us to a magnificent Casino night-themed dinner. Our final stop was the Marriott, right on the San Francisco Bay. We were there for one night only, and spent it in a state of relaxed bliss. Another tour was over, and worth every second. And then we went back to freezing New Haven. -Rebecca Crawford

26th Birthday Jam

"Here we go. Long black dresses, some lace, some silk; some modest, some reminiscent of a classy Marilyn Monroe. Dusky red gloves that stretch all the way up to the elbows, flashing shadows of a dark 1940's club and the women who sang there. Brilliant smiles, and stomachs full of fluttering nervousness. The brilliant smiles are the important part, though. Rehearsal after rehearsal had ended at midnight, some stretching even later--and then when we got home, we had midterms to study for. Illness struck, and two members of the group discovered with horror that even their speaking voices had tragically decided not to come out and play. The runthroughs of skits creaked along endlessly. But all of those long hours, all the rehearsing, all the runthroughs, paid off enormously when, as we took our place on stage, we forgot to forget what we were supposed to do. We slid through dynamics and choreo, suspensions and skits, as comfortably as a fish navigates through water. We knew what we were doing, and it felt good. When the alumnae came up to sing the New Jerusalem at the end of the concert, we basked in the warmth of dozens of voices joined with our own. We'd done it. Jam was over. Best of all, we had fun. Something Extra's 26th Birthday Jam was a tremendous success." -Rebecca Crawford

A Perfect Tap: TAP NIGHT 2002

We are so proud to have seven incredible taps this year. They are:

Mo Lee (SM '05) Seoul, Korea ~Bass
Victoria Neiman (MC) Buenos Aires, Argentina ~Alto I
Amy Sarma (SM) Farmington, CT ~Soprano II
Sabrina Silver (CC) Saratoga Springs, NY ~Soprano I
Remle Stubbs-Dame (JE) Newton, MA ~Bass
Mariangela Sullivan (PC) Wellesley Hills, MA ~Alto I
Lucy Winn (DC) Paris, France ~Soprano I