Auburn band students make appearance on Ride-Along

From press release

Their acting skills more than their musical ability were put to the test, but the chance to appear in a new FOX TV police drama was a learning experience three dozen band students won’t soon forget.

Music teacher Lynne Olson and 37 members of the Rockford Auburn High School Marching Knights boarded a charter bus before dawn Tuesday, Oct. 5, and spent the day on location in Chicago’s Millennium Park, filming a scene in Episode 6 of Ride-Along.

The yet-to-air series stars Flashdance actress Jennifer Beals, but the scene in question revolved around the Auburn Knights, who went before the cameras wearing their own red-and-black band uniforms adorned with the cursive letter “A.” In the scene, the show’s mayor strays off message at a news conference to announce his youth music initiative when reporters instead ask questions about a rash of murders.

Olson estimates the scene took as many as 40 takes to complete. In the process, students became quite proficient at cheering and applauding on cue to open the news conference, then looking surprised as the press event goes awry. Between takes, the band spoke with Ride-Along cast members and performed the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song. The script didn’t call for the Marching Knights to play on camera.

“It’s going to be really exciting to see the final product,” Olson said. “The scene took a good six hours to film, but probably won’t last six minutes. We were on stage the entire time. Everyone said that it was a pleasure to work with us.”

Olson said the casting agent for Ride-Along contacted her last week indicating an interest in Auburn because show creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan is a Rockford native, though not an Auburn graduate. The show is making a donation to Auburn’s music program in return for the band’s appearance.

Ride-Along is scheduled to debut on FOX in January or February, with Episode 6 expected to broadcast in mid- to late February or early March.