The Magic Drum and Bugle Corps
| Location | Orlando & Clermont, FL |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1989 |
| Folded | 2006 |
The Magic Drum and Bugle Corps (originally Magic of Orlando) was an Open Class/Division I (now World Class) drum and bugle corps. Initially based in Orlando and later in Clermont, Florida, the corps was a member corps of Drum Corps International (DCI). The Magic was a six time DCI Division I World Championship Finalist and the 2002 DCI Division II World Champion.
History
In the wake of seven-time DCI Finalist Suncoast Sound Drum and Bugle Corps going inactive after the 1989 season, the Magic of Orlando was founded that autumn by staff members and supporters of the Tampa Bay area corps. The new corps made its debut to thousands of spectators at the 1990 Walt Disney World's Easter Parade. Playing music from the Disney film Fantasia, the corps toured and performed in fifteen states and Ontario and was named "Orlando's Musical Ambassadors" by the city. At the DCI World Championships in Buffalo, New York, the corps advanced to semifinals, placing 16th of 34 Open Class (now World Class) corps. While the finish was very good for a first year corps, it fell short of the expectations of the many who had presumed that the corps would easily replace Suncoast Sound in DCI's Top Twelve.
The corps would fail to make DCI finals for three more seasons. Again performing music from Fantasia, Magic placed 18th of 29 corps at Dallas, Texas in 1991. Playing a Danny Elfman program in 1992, the corps finished in last place in its first 14 Division I contests, then ended the season 21st of 27 corps at DCI Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1993, Magic of Orlando performed the first of five successive programs written and/or arranged for the corps by Robert W. Smith; Cirque de Magique, an adaptation of music from Cirque du Soleil, returned the corps to semifinalist status at Jackson, Mississippi, placing 16th of 29 corps.
In 1994, Magic would finally break into the ranks of DCI's Top Twelve finalists. Cirque De Magique, Part Deux would propel the corps to an 11th-place finish in Foxboro, Massachusetts. With Smith's Danse Animale, Magic would place 12th in 1995 at Buffalo, and rise to 8th at home in Orlando with his Twelve Seconds to the Moon in 1996. 1997's show was part-Smith, part-others, and the corps placed 10th, again in Orlando.
A third season of Finals in Orlando saw the Magic falter; playing a program with no Smith compositions for the first time in six seasons, the corps just missed finals, finishing 13th. In 1999, Magic performed a program of Chuck Mangione music, and slumped further to a 14th-place finish in Madison.
Never truly financially stable, Magic of Orlando went inactive after the 1999 season to try to build a stronger fiscal base. In order to keep the name in front of the public, the organization marched a small corps called Micro Magic that did exhibition performances at a number of DCI shows and other events in 2000 and 2001.
When the corps returned to competition in 2002, DCI ruled that, under the rules, the corps had lost its Division I status and had to re-qualify by performing as a Division II corps. Marching a corps of well over one hundred members, Magic of Orlando then proceeded to win 29 consecutive Division II contests, including the DCI Division II World Championship in Madison with a score of 99.050, a record high score that stood until the discontinuation of divisional scoring in 2014. The corps then advanced to the Division I Championships, placing 11th in quarterfinals, 10th in semifinals, and 11th in finals.
In 2003, the Magic maintained its finalist status at DCI in Orlando, again placing 11th. However, mounting debt forced another reorganization and a move to Clermont, Florida, where the corps would also open a bingo hall. The 2004 season witnessed the corps once more falling from finals, placing 17th at DCI Finals in Denver, Colorado. In 2005, the corps would change its name to The Magic, but it would fail to make semifinals at Foxboro, ending the season in 21st place. The Magic managed to move up only one place in 2006, placing 20th at DCI in Madison.
After the 2006 season, The Magic's management announced that the corps would again be inactive for the 2007 season, with plans to return to the field in 2008. As it came time to begin working toward the 2008 season, it was once more announced that the corps would be inactive for the following season. So far, the corps had not yet returned to the field.
Show summary (1990-2006)
Source:[3]
Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.
| Year | Theme | Repertoire | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Walt Disney's Fantasia |
A Fantasia (Unspecified) by Ralph Vaughan Williams / Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach / Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky / Ave Maria by Franz Schubert |
83.000 | 16th |
| 1991 | Selections from Fantasia |
Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach / The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas / Ave Maria by Franz Schubert / Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky |
78.2000 | 18th |
| 1992 | Music for a Darkened Theater |
Selections from Music for a Darkened Theater by Danny Elfman | 74.100 | 21st |
| 1993 | Cirque De Magique | Cirque Fanfare and Procession by René Dupéré adapted by Robert W. Smith / Rideau & Eclipse by René Dupéré / Shango: Chant to the Goddess of Fire by Robert W. Smith |
78.500 | 16th |
| 1994 | Cirque De Magique, Part Deux |
Cirque Fanfare and Procession by René Dupéré adapted by Robert W. Smith / Odyssey & Shongo by Robert W. Smith | 81.500 | 11th |
| 1995 | Danse Animale | Sea, Land & Sky by Robert W. Smith | 82.400 | 12th |
| 1996 | Twelve Seconds to the Moon |
Twelve Seconds to the Moon by Robert W. Smith | 85.500 | 8th |
| 1997 | Carnivale: Celebrations for Sinner and Saint |
Li'l Liza Jane by Countess Ada de Lachau / When the Saints Go Marching In by Virgil Oliver Stamps and Luther G. Presley / Bourbon Street Crawl & Mass by Robert W. Smith Mintzer's Voodoo Magic by Bob Mintzer / Do Whatcha Wanna by Kermit Ruffins |
85.700 | 10th |
| 1998 | Muddy Water Blues | God Bless the Child by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. / St. Louis Woman by O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley / Willow Weep for Me by Ann Ronell / House of the Rising Sun (Traditional) |
85.000 | 13th |
| 1999 | The Music of Mangione | Echano (from Children of Sanchez), Lullabye for Nancy Carroll & Land of Make Believe All by Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione |
81.300 | 14th |
| 2000 | Micro Magic Exhibition corps |
Repertoire unavailable | ||
| 2001 | Micro Magic Exhibition corps |
Brass Machine by Mark Taylor / Hard Rock Medley (Undetermined) / Remember the Magic (Unknown) / Lil Liza Jane by Countess Ada de Lachau / Santana Medley by Carlos Santana and others |
||
| 2002 | Desert Winds | The Wind and The Lion by Jerry Goldsmith | 99.050 84.850 |
1st Division II 11th Division I |
| 2003 | Silver Voices | Sinfonia Voci & Abram's Pursuit by David Holsinger / Sanctus & Offertory (from Mass) by Leonard Bernstein / Easter Symphony by David Holsinger |
85.6000 | 11th |
| 2004 | Pirates of the Caribbean | Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt | 77.000 | 17th |
| 2005 | A New Beginning | Silhouettes, Metamorphosis, Admiration & Evolution of a New Hope All from A New Beginning by Key Poulan |
75.950 | 21st |
| 2006 | Imagine! | Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Johann Sebastian Bach / Joy! (from Imagine) by Key Poulan, Lee Beddis, Ray Donato, and Johann Sebastian Bach / One Day I'll Fly Away (from Moulin Rouge) by Joe Sample and Will Jennings / Chaos by Gavin Greenaway / Peace! (from Imagine) by Key Poulan, Lee Beddis, Ray Donato, and Johann Sebastian Bach |
75.225 | 20th |
References
- ^ http://www.corpsreps.com/corpsreps.cfm?view=corpshist&corps=39&corpstype=Junior
- ^ A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, 2 Vols.; Steve Vickers, ed.; Drum Corps World, 2002, 2003
- ^ http://www.corpsreps.com/corpsreps.cfm?view=corpsdet&corps=21&corpstype=Junior