Just when the Manhattan Pops Choir was preparing for their performance at the Kansas State Fair on Friday, the girls of the group were given some troubling news. They would not have their signature red-sequined dresses for the big performance.  

“[Choir director Chad] Pape found out that the dress company that he usually gets them from went out of business and got rebought,” senior Macy Hendricks said. “We are dancing in outfits that we’ve created.”

“We always have strange things that happened with wardrobe,” Pape said. “This year, the funny thing that happened was the dress company that we buy, or pops dresses from went out of business suddenly.”

Since the whole performance is an ABBA medley, the choir has planned something extra special to make up for the missing dresses.  

“People are wearing some like ‘70s dresses, the guys are wearing some flashy stuff, and just the way we’ll do our hair is like the ‘70s and ‘60s,” Hendricks said. 

With there new idea came a lot of scrambling to make it happen.

“It’s different because this has never happened before,” senior Ella Rosenkranz said, “but we’re trying to make the best of it in light of what we’re dealing with.” 

Even with the change, Pops is still keeping things groovy and having some fun with the wardrobe change. 

“I think it’s it’s been pretty fun. We’ve all been hyping each other up with our outfits,” Rosenkranz said. “We didn’t have any wardrobe malfunctions during our dress rehearsal.”

But just because they have something down doesn’t mean that the choir had to scramble to find something new. 

“Personally, I feel frustrated. I feel like we should definitely have them,” Hendricks said. “But it’s also understandable that it’s hard to find them.” 

The choir thought about using some of the older dresses they had but that was soon ruled out when they realized they weren’t in the best condition. 

Even with their fun new outfits, Pops still want to restore the iconic image of the sparkly red dresses and black tuxedos.

“We have a plan now, but they wouldn’t have been in to the singers on time,” Pape said. “The dresses we use are individually constructed dresses, so it’s about an eight week turnaround for the custom dresses.” 

“I can’t think of any main event that’s coming up that we need dresses besides later in the year,” Hendricks said. By then they plan to have their signature look back.

“We hope to have them in before our October concert,” Pape said. 

Even with the wild time the choir has had, they still love their idea and still love the dresses. 

“I love the classic Pops image but I think it would also be fun to try something new,” Rosenkranz said. “So whatever we do, I’ll be happy.”