Of all the things Eddie Gonet could have become after graduating with the 2022 class at Old Rochester Regional High School, a Krokodilo was not on anyone’s radar.
The Fairhaven native who attended ORR on school choice has always been up for a challenge. In high school, he helped start multiple clubs, survived an attempted coup of his leadership role of the school’s DECA chapter that he cofounded, and pressed on in good humor, his effort unrelenting to embrace each adventure and tap its potential.
Now he sings with the Harvard University Krokodiloes, who will perform at ORR on February 3.
“Every show wherever we sing it’s spelled a different way,” said Gonet. “We do 180 shows throughout the year. The summertime and winter is when we get busiest. … Basically, how the group works is three months every summer we travel to six continents … we did 25 countries last summer.”
Pronounced krockahDIHlohz, the singing group at first glance looks like a college version of Straight No Chaser. But it’s hard to imagine their professional counterparts working any harder than they do in performing numbers from the “Great American Songbook.”
According to the event press release, the Kroks are an internationally renowned group with a 75-year history in front of audiences, including the likes of Julie Andrews, Ella Fitzgerald, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Carson, Bill Clinton, Ryan Reynolds and the U.S. Congress.
Harvard students do not Zoom to school – all classes are attended in person – so the commitment is enormous. Miraculously, Gonet was able to spend some time at home for the holidays, but on Tuesday he was already off to New York. Perhaps the Kroks will consider adding the juggling act to their repertoire.
“What happens is, the day after graduation … we fly out and fly in one week before classes start. … A week before the ORR show, we will be in Alaska,” said Gonet, for whom recruitment is not the chore one would suspect. “Surprisingly, it’s not hard … there’s quite a lot of interest. We have a great community of alumni and have a fun time. We’ve never struggled to get people to join.”
The cumbersome audition process to join the “Kroks” filters through many people, and practice in between tours is held five nights a week for a couple of hours each week.
“I don’t think people know entirely what they sign up for,” he said. “That’s one of the jokes is no one has a girlfriend, but this year we have quite a few. … Thankfully, my girlfriend is very supportive.” A relationship is another adventure for Gonet, whose special someone is a Harvard student from Massachusetts.
“I love balancing it. I find it fun juggling things around,” said Gonet, a sophomore studying economics.
Among his professors: a former Russian economist whose job, he said, “was to fix the mess of the Soviet Union.” He has also sat in class with Jason Furman, who had served as President Obama’s economic advisor. “It’s great learning from people who really know their stuff.”
With a year and a half of Ivy League college life under his belt, Gonet advises first-year students. As a freshman, he learned the ropes of the Kroks as a singer; now he is the group’s tour manager and plans its travel.
“There are a lot of sacrifices, including a summer internship. We have to give that up to travel, but the opportunities … are incredible,” he said.
Eddie’s sister (and ORR student) Emerson Gonet is the point person for tickets to the Kroks’ 7:00 pm performance on Saturday, February 3, in the ORRHS auditorium. There will be a meet and greet after the show in the gym. Concessions will be sold. All profits will benefit the ORR Class of 2025.
For tickets ($20 for adults and $10 for students), visit: gofan.co/event/1293957?schoolId=MA14686&utm_source=GoFan&utm_medium=qrcode&utm_campaign=HQEventLink. For more information, email emersongonet@oldrochester.org.
By Mick Colageo