Webb City Showcase Gathers Joplin, Warrensburg and Others

By Anne Marie Wright, Heartland contributor

After many amazing events and performances across the area, the 2026 season here in Missouri is coming to a close. This weekend, Webb City will host their annual Showcase, one of the final events for Midwest choirs each year. The conclusion of this season is bittersweet for many, but especially for Webb City and Joplin students. Melinda Benham and Monica Reynolds-Brown, two long standing directors in the Southwest Missouri area, will be retiring after the season. Monica Reynolds-Brown will lead her Joplin choirs to Mt. Vernon to wrap-up her final season (after the event was postponed in January due to winter weather). Webb City is unable to attend the rescheduled event, so the 2026 WC Showcase will be Webb City director Melinda Benham's final hurrah–and it is sure to be a great one this year.

With a judging panel consisting of Hannah Green, Stacie Campbell, Mary Richmiller, Grant Benham, and Drake Thomas, we will see 12 high school groups and 8 middle school groups combined into one performance-packed competition day. In the 4A/5A division, we will see Warrensburg Soundwave, McDonald County Rhapsody n’ Rhythm, Joplin Sound Dimension, and St. Thomas Aquinas Swingin’ Saints battle for the top spot. In 3A, we will see Mt. Vernon Vocal Motion, Cassville Center Stage, El Dorado Springs Sound Collage, and East Newton Patriot Singers. In the single gender divisions, Joplin Men of Note will stand alone in a bass division, with Joplin Touch of Class, Warrensburg Prism, and St. Thomas Aquinas Saintsations in the treble division.

The middle school division is packed this year. So packed, in fact, that they split into a large mixed division and treble division. In the mixed division, Neosho Wildcat Singers, Carthage Sound Machine, Nevada Future Sounds, Joplin HarmonE, Mt. Vernon Velocity, and El Dorado Springs Sound Investment will be competing. In the treble division, Neosho Sho Stoppers and Carthage Sound Intensity will go head-to-head for first place. And based on the placements so far, Neosho Wildcat Singers and Carthage Sound Machine look like the favorites for that division.

Predictions

Let’s talk finals predictions. Joplin Sound Dimension has placed on the podium each year at this competition since pre-COVID, so they will undoubtedly be a favorite to take a Grand Champ this weekend. Joplin has been quite successful this season, finally breaking out of last year’s slump. Taking a Grand Champ at Webb City would be an amazing way to close out Joplin’s last season with their current director.

Another contender for a top finals spot is Warrensburg Soundwave, having recently taken their program's first ever GC (and almost all of the caption awards) at Carthage Soundfest. They have had an interesting season this year, with their win at Carthage being the only time they have placed this season. If they can channel the momentum from last week’s win, they could be a contender to run with the big dogs at this competition.

With six finals spots for the taking, we will most likely see some significant smaller school representation this weekend as well. This season, Mt. Vernon Vocal Motion has proven that they are absolutely a force to be reckoned with, so they will be a contender for the top three. They’ve made finals at three of their five competitions, placing as high as second overall. At the two comps where they missed out on finals, they still won first place in their division.

Two of the other three spots will most likely be occupied by one–or both–of Joplin’s single-gender groups, Touch of Class and Men of Note. For their debut season, Men of Note came out SWINGING. They’ve placed first, second, and third in their division throughout the season. Also, Touch of Class has stepped it up since last year, taking two fourth places and a division win.

The sixth finals spot is anyone’s game. Most likely, though, it will be a toss-up between McDonald County Rhapsody n’ Rhythm and St. Thomas Aquinas Swingin’ Saints. Swingin’ Saints has historically been very successful at Webb City, winning the entire competition last year. Their challenger for the final spot, McDonald County Rhapsody n’ Rhythm, has made finals multiple times this season, the first time in several years that they have made a finals appearance.

Overall, this weekend in Webb City, Missouri is looking to be a great competition, with tight rivalries and dazzling performances at all levels. Good luck to all of the competitors this weekend, and congratulations to Melinda Benham on an extremely successful final season!