Taking advantage of cooler June weather, Director C.J. Brooks is putting Chieftain Marching Band camp through its Broadway paces this week behind Union High School.

By lunchtime Tuesday it remained pleasant, with a nice breeze. It never got hotter than the 70s.

Some musicians wore sweaters when they stepped off that morning.

“I wanted to try something new,” said Brooks, who gets the perk of a sturdier perch borrowed from the football program. “There are no conflicts this week from sports or the fair. It’s taken four years, but these are all my own kids. It’s fantastic.”

Like the Class of 2011, “I have a great group of (five) seniors,” Brooks said, versus three dozen freshmen for “another young group.”

“Since we’re having camp so early this year, we’re going to have some rehearsals throughout the summer. The first game in August, we’re going to meet at noon and rehearse all afternoon to make sure everything’s all back up to shape.”

Another change concerns the show itself consisting of three longer songs instead of four.

“We’re almost done with drill for ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ We’re finishing up with that this morning,” Brooks said. “I told them the goal is to have it on the field, marching and playing, by the end of the day. They’re going to be there. Not a problem.”

Drills fill the morning. Afternoons are devoted to sectionals until about 3 p.m., then the whole band comes together again until 5:30, joined by the “great pit,” which Brooks augmented with some eighth graders.

For the “A Night on Broadway” halftime show, the band will also be performing “Jesus Christ, Superstar” and “West Side Story.”

“We’re doing a combination of ‘Maria’ and ‘One Hand, One Heart’ from West Side Story. Hopefully, it’s all familiar themes that everybody knows. I was really surprised at how energized the kids were to come back,” he said.

“I can push them harder now. They’re not out here dying” in the usual stifling heat, he grinned.

“It’s supposed to be 67 (Wednesday). We did 3 1/2 hours of basics Monday. We’d never get away with that when it’s 96 degrees. They’d be dropping like flies. I’ve taken this week and no one else gets it. Last year was terrible, rain every day. We were so far behind with drill when we left band camp, I think that affected us all year.”

Brooks sounds particularly pumped about “Jesus Christ Superstar,” where musicians mass in a block of long files between the 45-yard lines.

“The (color) guard from down in the pit— it’s a tingly moment — puts this huge yellow pullover over the entire band. We’re ready to take things to the next level. More visual things that have never been done here. The kids are really open to it, so I’ve been working really closely with the color guard instructor. We’ve been practicing in the gym. We’re going to bring out the pullover Thursday morning.”

Unless the forecasted 30-percent chance of rain materializes. Brooks would like to avoid “40 yards of mildew.”

“We borrowed it from Edwardsburg. You can buy them, but it’s like a thousand dollars. It’s a lot of material. They made theirs.”

The band director formerly known as Christopher said C.J. was a nickname hung on him in the trombone section his first year of college that stuck.

“Now I can’t get rid of it,” he said, perhaps appreciative he didn’t get saddled with Dryer Sheet, like a college colleague who teaches in Tucson, so dubbed when she had one stuck to her shirt at rehearsal.

The third piece, West Side Story, “I pasted some pieces together to make it one whole song. All three pieces are a little longer. We’ve usually done four in the past. The show is 7:20. It has to be seven minutes, and they say the magic number for good judging is seven to eight minutes. You can’t have more than 12 minutes to do MSBOA (the band and orchestra association). After 12 minutes, you’re penalized.”

Looking ahead to the new school year, navigating budget buzzsaws, Brooks said, “There’s still uncertainty about the Jazz Band,” which might become an after-school or evening program.

“It’s going to be a good year,” in Brooks’ estimation.