Over the Rainbow

On May 29, 2026, at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gay Men's Chorus of Tampa Bay reached the emotional summit of "Love in Technicolor" with "Over the Rainbow." Composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and immortalized by Judy Garland, the song arrived in Mark Hayes's lush full-chorus arrangement, a centerpiece of the Act 2 reverie "Let's Go to the Movies!"

Hayes's setting is distinctive for restoring Harburg's rarely heard opening verse, "When all the world is a hopeless jumble," before the famous octave leap of the refrain. His writing favors warm, close-voiced harmonies and a rolling piano accompaniment that cushions rather than crowds the voices, letting the melody breathe across long, arching phrases.

The chorus answered with disciplined ensemble blend. That signature opening interval bloomed cleanly from the lower voices, and the sectional balance held steady through Hayes's shifting textures. Diction stayed crisp on Harburg's wistful imagery, while the singers shaped each dynamic swell with patience, withdrawing to a hushed pianissimo before the final, glowing cadence.

Allendale's resonant sanctuary proved an ideal partner, the church's generous acoustics ringing out the chorus's sustained chords and lending a hymn-like radiance to the closing measures. The audience held a brief, reverent silence as the last chord faded, then rose into warm applause that filled the room.

Within "Let's Go to the Movies!" the number landed as more than nostalgia. For a chorus built on chosen family and visibility, "Over the Rainbow" has long been an anthem of yearning and belonging, and these voices claimed it as their own, offering the hope that somewhere, that brighter place is real, and that singing together is one way of arriving there.