Alex Scopino got stuck with stick men. Dawn DiNome popped her sequins.
Clark Barrios played that funky “white boy” music. And Sue Schuler was caught in a rainstorm of men.
Put it all together and you have “Divas vs. Divos” in a wild, woolly and thoroughly entertaining show Monday in Savannah Center.
This was the fourth consecutive year for the “girls” versus the “guys” singing competition organized by Schuler. The concept is a singing battle of the sexes: head-to-head challenges performing a song.
One team picks a song category at random. Then they must sing their song while the other team decides which one of their two songs can beat that one. The audience selects the winner by cheering.
This battle ended in a tie, and the highlights included an appearance by the Shaka Crew zombies, who took a bite out of everybody and acted as judges. Two local dance groups – Dance Synergy and Dance Fusion – also performed, along with some Broadway Bound Players.
It was an evening of inspired performances, cheered on by a raucous crowd rooting hard for the guys and gals.
Scopino, a classically trained opera singer, was in a feisty mood. One reason was his gang of supporters in the audience who held up and waved oversized “stick men” photos of Scopino as he sang.
“I love the stick men,” said Scopino, of his backers. They were joined by Scopino’s wife, Kimberly, and his parents, Elissa and Mauro Scopino.
“Who says I can’t dance,” Scopino said early on. The audience hooted and hollered as Scopino shuffled around the stage wearing a blue feathered boa around his neck while singing “Dancing Queen.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Scopino also sang doo-wop rock to “Runaround Sue.” He hit all the deep bass notes on Low Rawls’ “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” And things turned serious and majestic when Scopino sang “Some Enchanted Evening” with power and grace.
DiNome was nostalgic as she took the stage.
“This was my song when I was growing up,” she said, putting on a silver-sequined jacket. As she put it on, a couple a sequins popped off and went flying across the stage.
“What we have here is a wardrobe malfunction,” DiNome laughed. Then she tore into Laura Branigan’s classic disco anthem, “Gloria.”
“This is the first time I’ve sung it on stage here and it was special,” DiNome said of the show-stopping number. Later, DiNome would bring equal emotional strength to a cover of James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s World.” There was also a rocking ’80s’ vibe to Journey’s “Separate Ways.”
Clark Barrios can sing just about any song and make it his own. He has a knack for working a crowd.
Barrios ripped into Garth Brook’s rousing country bar song “Friends in Low Places,” with a shot-and-beer abandon. Then, he turned up the funk with Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music.” Barrios showed his softer side with a romantic and moving version of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.”
Schuler grew up in Detroit and offered a heartfelt tribute to Aretha Franklin with “A Natural Woman.” There was more intensity on Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself.”
Schuler was joined by the Dance Fusion dancers for a rollicking “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls. She displayed a sharp and nasty country edge with “Before He Cheats.”
All night long, Schuler had a cheering section of children, grandchildren and her husband, Craig, in the front row.
“We’re all rooting for the divas,” Craig said. “That’s our team.”
At one point, the grandkids passed out candy to convince the audience to vote for Grandma.
Both sides had a chance to team up for duets.
Scopino and Barrios jumped off stage and into the audience for an up-close-and personal take on “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” DiNome and Schuler combined to rock hard on “River Deep and Mountain High.”
All four singers closed the show jumping and jiving to Manhattan Transfer’s “Trickle, Trickle.”
“This is a chance to get together with friends and have a good time,” Schuler said afterwards. “That’s why we keep doing it.”
“What I like about it is that nothing is scripted,” Scopino said. “We make this up as we go along and that’s what makes this show so different.”
“We have no idea what’s going to happen when we’re up there,” DiNome said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
