The song begs for the action, and nearly demands it.
So Columbus North High School sophomore Josh DeGroot will happily oblige and let the music from Chubby Checker’s 1960 classic tune “The Twist” crawl up his legs and move and groove him at the 33rd annual American Pie hybrid concert and rockin’ history class May 11 at Judson Erne Auditorium.
Even his grandmother, Karen Allen, who tells DeGroot that she is an aging hippie, told him he’s got to do it, despite the fact that the student missed Checker’s live demo at a show in Mill Race Park locally Sept. 2, 2006.
“The twist was such a popular dance move,” said DeGroot, who has listened to the song on grandma’s original LP on her turntable. “I love all this. So I couldn’t have asked for a better song.”
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You can bet that during the 31-song show that a number of the expected crowd of 1,000-plus will be twisting part of the night away with DeGroot, making his first appearance at the gathering that began as former North social studies teacher Ed Niespodziani’s way to help students appreciate history and current events alike. The presentation has twisted and turned into one featuring a professional pop-rock band and backup singers, plus a full brass section and often strings and more.
More than 100 singers and musicians — some students and some from the Columbus area — make the three-hour show an extravaganza so unique that several other schools have successfully copied it. Niespodziani just attended Westfield High School’s American Pie the other night in front of a sold-out crowd of 660.
“I’m really excited that the idea has caught on,” he said.
This year’s theme locally is “Changes From 1955 to 1975.” Organizers will help build a bridge between the two eras.
“You’re alive in 1955, and you’re standing in awe at the world that the United States helped create after World War II. Along comes Rod Serling (of TV’s “The Twilight Zone”) and he somehow takes you into The Twilight Zone and you are then transported to 1975. And when you look around while standing on the same street corner in 1975, you may look around and ask, ‘What is the same?’” Niespodziani said.
“The answer is that nothing is the same. Everything from civil rights to technology to sexual mores to codes of dress to trust in government — all of that in this short, 20-year span changes dramatically,” he added.
The focus sprang from a conversation between the retired teacher and his full-time, nationally touring singer-musician son Nick Niespodziani, who has led the American Pie band for years, and frequently electrified the audience with his passionate vocals and high-energy stage presence.
In fact, a couple years ago, his son unleashed an aggressive rendition of “American Woman” that literally had the older women in the crowd standing and cheering. The concert founder relishes such moments, along with seeing students thrill to music that sometimes they never knew existed.
“I think that goes back to the whole point that American Pie is based upon,” Ed Niespodziani said. “And that is that music is more than a melody and song lyrics. It moves people. It changes people.”
And it excites people. Doubters need look no further than veteran Columbus East singer Delaney Jackson, a senior enjoying her fourth such show. This year, she’s presenting the Aretha Franklin 1968 hit, “Chain of Fools” — and already is more than pumped to present what she calls “a funky, groovy” rendition.
“Oh, I love Aretha Franklin,” Jackson said. “She’s so sassy.”
Actually, that’s a fitting description of many of the students’ performances. Some years, even in rehearsals, they have appeared somewhat reserved or even slightly timid. But mix in full orchestration and a sold-out crowd and enough social awareness to start a whole new protest movement, and students often turn into bold, belting performers doing the tie-dye generation proud.
Jackson, who grew up on her parents’ music collection of classic rock, explained.
“American Pie is so different because it’s literally a rock concert,” Jackson said. “I’m so used to musical theater, where there’s normally just a quiet orchestration in the background.
“But with American Pie,” she added, “you just get to jam out and party onstage, and I love that.”
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What: The 33rd Annual American Pie: Changes From 1955 to 1975. A history class-turned-rock-concert founded by former Columbus North High School social studies and history teacher Ed Niespodziani.
When: 7:15 p.m. May 11.
Where: Judson Erne Auditorium, 1400 25th St. in Columbus.
Tickets: $10 for students and $15 for adults, available in the bookstores at Columbus North and Columbus East high schools.
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