Although many Fourth of July weekend fireworks in Chicago may have been rained out, some shone oh so brightly from as far away as California.
While it wasn’t pyrotechnics and lasers, it was dazzling nonetheless, as Chicago’s Jesse White Tumbling Team did the city proud with their explosive audition on the new season of “America’s Got Talent.”
Their televised July 7 performance at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium garnered four enthusiastic “yeses” from show judges — Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Mel B and Sofia Vergara — and a thunderous standing ovation from the audience; all of it good enough to send the troupe into the reality competition series’ live rounds, which kick off on Tuesday night. Viewer votes will determine which acts move on in the competition. The ultimate prize: $1 million and a chance to headline a Las Vegas show.
Their winning form follows that of another Chicago organization, the Leo High School Choir, which made it to the final five last year on “AGT,” finishing in fourth place overall.
The tumblers’ current run on the show follows a 2008 “AGT” initial audition that did not fare so well, as they failed to advance in the competitive rounds. Nearly 20 years later, the show came calling, said Emmanuel McGhee Sr.
McGhee is a 26-year organization veteran who worked his way up through the organization’s ranks to his current role as head coach/choreographer/manager. He also works full time in the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office.
“The [show] reached out to us maybe about a year ago … asking if we wanted to audition again. And, of course, we said yes,” said McGhee.
Nineteen tumblers are in the competition, culled from the 11 units that comprise the overall organization.
The hardest part, McGhee said, was keeping everything on the QT from family, friends and even other tumblers from last October until a week before the audition aired. The organization’s regular practices and busy schedule (more than 1,500 shows annually) served as the perfect veil for the big secret.
For the audition, McGhee choreographed a two-minute routine instead of their usual 15-minute show. Tumblers “flew in” from two directions, which is something they never do, he said. They also sped up the timing of their moves overall, which also meant speeding up the accompanying music track — Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You”— to ensure everything was in sync. The team practiced two days a week, six hours each day to pull it all together.
On the show, they made full use of the massive stage — jumping, flipping, dive rolling and catapulting across the stage and over fellow team members. Their gravity-defying feats were not lost on the judges, especially Vergara, who gushed, “You literally fly.”
“They really impressed me as well,” said a chuckling Jesse White, the organization’s 92-year-old founder and the longest-serving (now retired) Illinois Secretary of State.
But amid the celebration, there was also great sadness, as one of the team’s longtime members, 34-year-old Jeff Williams, died in a motorcycle accident in suburban Mundelein the night before the pretaped audition round aired. McGhee called Williams, whom he trained and mentored, his “little brother/son.” “We talked pretty much every day,” including an hour or so before the accident, he said.
White released a statement via Instagram honoring Williams, writing in part: “Jeff was a cherished member of the Jesse White Tumbling Team and a dedicated employee in the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. … He will always be a part of the Jesse White Tumbling Team family, and he will be deeply missed.”
White started the after-school tumbling program in 1959 as a gym show at Tuley Park on the South Side while he was working as an instructor for the Chicago Park District. The organization today also boasts a central hub/training center at the Jesse White Community Center, 412 W. Chicago Ave. More than 18,000 young people have participated in the program over the past 67 years. (They must maintain a “C” average in school and daily school attendance is mandatory.)
“We just want to put these young people on a path by which [they become] a positive force in society,” White said. “I want the kids to move forward in society, to be the kind of individual that all of us can be proud of.”
While the tumblers have entertained tens of thousands of fans across the globe, White acknowledged there is one special performance invitation they’re hoping — and praying — will come to fruition.
“Jesse Bianco!” White said with a hearty laugh, in homage to the Italian word for “White” and, of course, a hint to Pope Leo XIV, himself a fellow Chicagoan.
The team’s first “AGT” live performance airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on NBC.
Interested in trying out for the Jesse White Tumblers in Chicago? The next tryout date is Sept. 12 at the Chicago Avenue location and at Tuley Park, 501 E. 90th Place. Perspective tumblers must be a minimum 6 years old and enrolled in first grade, and possess some basic gymnastics skills.
Miriam Di Nunzio is the former Features Editor for the Chicago Sun-Times.