Opportunity Strikes

Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. Third-year CSP student MaryLynn Mennicke can attest to that. As part of the professional ensemble, the Mila Vocal Ensemble, Mennicke had the opportunity to sing a solo in the animated fantasy-action movie “Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight.”

Opportunity struck at a restaurant after one of the ensemble’s performances. Their impromptu singing at their table was overheard by an impressed man who approached and asked if they would sing for the movie’s soundtrack. Seven months later, Mennicke and the group found themselves in a Minneapolis recording studio. The 12-hour day was split up by a lunch break in which Mennicke offered to stay back and record the solo.

“Everyone in Mila Vocal Ensemble still says, ‘What the heck was that?’ And laughs about the weirdest day we ever had,” said Mennicke.

The straight-to-DVD movie, featuring the voices of Lucy Lawless and Keifer Sutherland, was derived from the comic strip and book “Dragonlance.”