For their 19th season, the Ottawa Gay Men’s Chorus is avoiding the same old, same old. This year, the OGMC has decided to shake things up by adding a theme throughout the concert season – Lights, Camera, Action.

“It came about through a discussion [musical director] Leith [Chu] and I had last year about using a common theme,” says Dan Bougie, OGMC President. “Thinking a lot about movie themes, thinking about Broadway songs made into movies and stuff like that.”

“We thought it would be a good way to present our concert season as a whole set of concerts rather than as ‘this concert,’ ‘this concert’ and ‘this concert,'” says Chu. “It also makes it easier on the volunteers with things like posters and all of that because we have things set up for a whole year, and it lets us do a bit more continuity planning for the year.”

Each of the three concerts will fall into the theme – Lights being the holiday concert, the spring concert Camera centring primarily on TV and movie tunes, and Action being the Pride 2005 extravaganza.

Lights will take place on Sat, Dec 4 at 8pm and Sun, Dec 5 at 2pm at the First Baptist Church, at the corner of Elgin St and Laurier Ave.

“Not necessarily every song being about lights, but just to bear in mind the holiday season. That’s what people want to hear in December, they want to hear holiday music,” says Chu.

“We’re opening with a piece, Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light, from the Christmas Oratorio by Bach, and then going on from there, doing all sorts of funny, serious and silly stuff,” says Chu.

The spring concert Camera will feature tunes from both the big and small screens – from commercials and music videos to movie musicals. Though the music hasn’t been finalized, Bougie is looking at a program more centred on Broadway tunes that made it into the movies, like those from Victor, Victoria and Chicago.

For Pride, Action will include a variety of meanings, from political action to action movie themes like James Bond.

And can we expect someone to do his best Shirley Bassey?

“Something like that,” Bougie says with a laugh.

LIGHTS!

OGMC Holiday Concert.

8pm, Sat, Dec 4 & 2pm, Sun, Dec 5.

First Baptist Church (Elgin St & Laurier Ave).

Tickets: $15 door; $12 advance.

Available at: Wilde’s (376 Bank St), One In Ten (216 Bank St), After Stonewall (370 Bank St), and mother tongue books (1070 Bank St).

Info: www.gaycanada.com/ogmc or 685-3024.