This year’s Westbrook Marching Band production, What Do You See?, explores reflection, growth, and the way we see ourselves.
At the center of the show are large mirrors used throughout the performance. At times, they reflect the field and seem to make the band disappear. At others, they capture and reflect the movement of the students themselves. More than a visual effect, the mirrors become a way to explore a bigger question: What do we see when we look at ourselves?
The theme is rooted in the idea that growth doesn’t happen all at once. When we can look at ourselves honestly, recognize the progress we’ve made, and feel confident in the work we’re doing each day, we can hold our heads high while continuing to strive for improvement.
The music carries that idea of reflection throughout the show as well.
The music carries the theme of reflection through the entire show. The opening and closing sections are inspired by swirling prisms, connecting the sound of the production to the way light bends, shifts, and reflects. The focal point of the production is Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 in A minor, a piece built around a recognizable theme that is transformed through a series of variations. As the music changes and develops, different sections of the ensemble step into the spotlight, giving the audience new ways to hear, and experience, the same musical idea.
The ballad draws from Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Rachmaninoff takes Paganini’s original melody and inverts it, essentially flipping it upside down. That musical “mirror image” connects directly to what the audience sees happening visually with the mirrors on the field.
Featured soloists include Daysha Collins and Declan Bramble, along with several smaller groups of musicians throughout the production.
Together, the music, movement, and visual design ask both the performers and the audience to consider the same question:
When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
