A sea of colorful tops and billowing pants pop across the stage – turquoise, fuchsia, and canary yellow – as a community choir gets into position at The Capri in North Minneapolis. It’s the group’s spring concert and if the light bouncing off the singers’ clothes is any indication, tonight’s show is going to be a joyful experience.
“I’m so happy to see your smiling faces tonight!” says J.D. Steele, the director of Capri Glee!, stepping out in a tropical print shirt and white jeans. Soon he is off – bounding around the stage, light as a feather, throwing his arms into the air as he leads the choir, and the audience, in “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” a tribute to the late Harry Belafonte.
The concert is the culmination of six weeks of hard work for the just over 100 members. Some have singing experience, some don’t – no auditions are required to join. Most have signed up for the spring season for one reason: a pure love of singing.
The cross-generational, multiracial, and multireligious choir is in its eighth year, with Mr. Steele at the helm. As a member of The Steeles, a family of five siblings who has become a mainstay of Minnesota’s music scene, Mr. Steele brings a wealth of expertise. The Steeles have recorded and performed with Prince, actor Morgan Freeman, and producer Jimmy Jam, and have traveled the world with their soulful sound.
More importantly, Mr. Steele wants to show choir members that singing has the power to heal and build community – a need that has been especially evident post-pandemic as people look for ways to regroup.
Rehearsals and concerts are held here in North Minneapolis, an area of the city that has struggled to shed its decadeslong image as crime-laden and impoverished. Mr. Steele hopes that the Capri Glee! choir can help people in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, share and learn from one another, and – most of all – uplift.
“I wanted a multicultural choir, where we could teach inspiration, love, and joy,” says Mr. Steele after the show. “When we keep singing, we keep growing. … I want people to see that music makes community.”
The Capri Glee! adult community choir began in February 2015, on the initiative of The Capri’s then-director, Karl Reichert. The Steele family, who had performed for the company’s galas, was known in the community, and eldest brother J.D. was a natural choice to lead the choir. Mr. Steele was already heading up two local choirs, one for adults and one for young people.