Show stealers

For a few years, they’ve tugged at heartstrings.

This year, they’re all about theft. But your heart isn’t the target.

The Jay County High Schools Winter Guard starts what it hopes will be a three-week postseason run today as it takes its show — “Heist” — to the Indiana High School Color Guard Association state preliminaries at Hamilton Southeastern.

“It’s just very different and fun,” junior Audrey Hummer said of the show, during which she and her fellow guard members orchestrate an art heist. “Our past two shows were love stories. … This one’s just more fun and interesting.”

The show is loosely based on the 1990 art theft at the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston. Thirteen works, including Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” were stolen and the heist remains unsolved. (A $10 million reward is offered for information leading to the recovery of the stolen works.)

JCHS guard director Emilie Garringer is fascinated by the story, which was made into the 2021 Netflix true crime documentary “This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist.”

She created a show that opens with color guard members — clad in black and wearing masks — breaking into an art museum. Once inside, other guard members use black flags with red laser beams on them to mimic museum security devices.

Some members use the laser flags while others use sabres as they skulk around the museum, reaching toward paintings all while a security guard — he’s played by Garringer’s son Caleb — snoozes off to the side. Eventually the security guard awakes and shines a flashlight on the targeted work — it’s based on “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” which could not be used for copyright reasons — just before it’s stolen. That same painting is emblazoned on the flags that are used in the second half of the show.

Eventually, the security guard returns and chases off some of the intruders. But, unbeknownst to him, the rest of the group makes off with the stolen artwork.

The entire scene plays out over Eklipse’s orchestral cover of “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish.

“The song is very good,” said sophomore Madi Schweigel. “I love it. …

“I like upbeat songs. … You hear it, and you can feel it.”

The Patriots scored 55.91 points to finish fourth in Regional A Class in their season-opener Jan. 28 at Snider, trailing NorthWood, Winchester and Northrop.

Their score jumped to 66.42 in a ninth-place finish at Greenwood two weeks later. And last weekend at Carroll they posted a 67.35 to tie Twin Lakes for fourth.

Those results have come during a learning season for a group with no seniors and only three experienced juniors — Skylynn Powell, Alyssa Best and Hummer — among the group of 13. There are two other juniors — Madeline Hudson and Angel Clairday — who are in their first season with the winter guard. The remainder of the roster — Avery Wentz, Cherith Butler, Sophia Hoevel, Allie Jellison, Lizzie Schutz, Sophie Henkle, Kaitlyn Moeller and Schweigel — is made up of underclassmen.

Garringer has been pleased with the progress thus far.

“They have come a long way this year,” she said. “They still have room to grow, which is a good place to be in. They just need to push themselves and have two really, really good shows over the next two weekends in hopes of making a bid to finals.”

The Patriots — they perform at 1:27 p.m. today — had been semifinal regulars previously and broke through to make the IHSCGA finals last season for the first time since a format change in 2017. They hope to make it two in a row.

The top 18 teams from each of two preliminary sites — the other is at Zionsville — will advance to the state semifinals March 11 at Franklin Central High School. From there, the top 16 will move on to the state finals March 18 at Center Grove.

Confidence over the next two weeks will be key, Garringer said.

“They have a great show,” she added. “Each one of them has had multiple really good runs. We just need those really good runs all happen at the same time.”