CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the Marching Illini perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, they’ll march and play for 2 1/2 miles, in front of 3 million people lining the parade route.
But the most crucial part of their performance will be at the end – one minute and 15 seconds when they’ll be featured on television, with an audience of 50 million people, while they perform in Herald Square. And the biggest challenge will be the 15 to 20 seconds they’ll have to move into place in the area where they’ll perform.
“It’s going to be difficult with the numbers we have,” said Barry Houser, the director of the Marching Illini. “When we have 375 (band members) marching forward to hit the center of the Macy’s star in the middle of Herald Square, we have to do that in a very intricate and very precise way. There’s very little margin for error, so our preparation for this is crucial.”
The dimensions of Herald Square are taped out on the marching band’s practice field before each Macy’s practice. The tape marks the “red ready line” where the band will line up and wait its turn to perform. The two-block area leading up to the ready line is a quiet zone, so the music from other parade performers doesn’t interfere with the routine taking place in Herald Square.
When the band gets the signal to go, it moves into position – 80 feet from the ready line to the Macy’s star in the middle of the Herald Square staging area. The area that will be seen on TV is 87 feet 8 inches long, and the entire staging area where the band will perform is 194 feet long.
During their practices in the next month and a half, the band members will repeat their maneuvers and practice hitting the mark in the center of the square until they have it down to a science, Houser said.
Although this is the first appearance by the Marching Illini in the Macy’s parade, Houser was a director at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida, in 2000 when its band performed there, and he has been serving as one of the directors of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band. This will be his seventh year as a band director in the Macy’s parade.
That experience has helped him in developing a routine for Herald Square, where there’s a limited amount of room for the band to move.
“It looks large on TV, but with bands our size, NBC can’t get everyone on camera,” Houser said, especially with 375 band members, including the drum majors, color guard, twirlers and Illinettes. It’s the largest band in U. of I. history.
Houser is focusing the band’s efforts on the center of the performance area and featuring the drumline, twirlers and Illinettes. The color guard will be staged along the back so the custom silks will be seen behind the band.
The music the band plays in Herald Square depends on where they are positioned in the parade. They are one of 12 marching bands, and if they are at the beginning of the parade, Houser will plan on something more pop-oriented. If they are at the end of the parade, they will play Christmas music and the band will open a path for Santa Claus to come through at the end of their routine, while playing “Here Comes Santa Claus.”
The band will play U. of I. music along the parade route. Houser said there are 15,000 Illinois alumni in Manhattan alone. “This is a statistic we will certainly play to and we’ll be sure the Illinois brand will be known throughout the parade,” he said.
The band members will leave on the 18-hour trip to New York City on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, on seven charter buses and with one 26-foot box truck. They’ll go sightseeing early in the week. On Wednesday afternoon, they’ll rehearse at a high school in New Jersey. The rehearsal will be open to any U. of I. alumni in the area.
Houser has arranged for a Wednesday evening reception for Marching Illini alumni in Times Square, and he hopes to have the band perform a short pep rally.
The band members will begin preparing for the parade sometime after midnight, when they must dress in their uniforms for a rehearsal with all the parade performers, which takes place from 2:30 to 5 a.m. The parade kicks off at 9 a.m. EST and is broadcast live on NBC.
Social media users may follow the Marching Illini’s journey using the hashtag #IlliniAtMacysParade.
“We’re really excited to be in the Macy’s parade, for our students to experience this amazing trip to New York City and to continue to serve as great ambassadors for the university as well,” Houser said.
Following the parade, the band will have a Thanksgiving dinner and see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular Thursday evening before boarding the buses to Chicago.
They’ll rehearse Friday afternoon in Chicago, then perform Saturday at the Illinois football game at Soldier Field before getting a well-earned day off.