The Saints All Male Choir started a social media campaign this week to bring the actor and musician Jack Black to the Deep South next month.
Saints founding member Dean Addie said it was probably even more of a long shot now Black and his band Tenacious D had cancelled their New Zealand tour, after band-mate Kyle Gass made comments about the Donald Trump shooting, but the choir hoped he still might consider coming .
"We don’t know whether that will make it easier or harder for him [to come], but we’ll have a bit of fun on the way through anyway, trying to get him in.
"But it would be a great surprise if people were sitting there and all of a sudden Jack Black comes on stage."
The idea came when they were organising their annual fundraiser for August 10.
They will be singing only music from movies, including one song from Black’s movie School of Rock.
"We were sitting around one night and someone said that he was coming to New Zealand to do a tour.
"We thought, man, it’s our 10-year anniversary, wouldn’t it be awesome if he came? It’s a real long shot, but ‘hey’ should we have a crack and see if we can get him down?"
He also believed the actor would appreciate their efforts as they were raising money to get children into music, a cause close to Black’s heart.
The choir wrote a letter to him saying they were a "ragtag group of dads" who were united by their inability to carry a tune and by their love for the community.
"Isn’t that what rock’n’roll is about? Taking the wildest dreams and turning them into reality?
"We have been doing this for 10 years raising money for kids and we’d love to amp things up."
If Black came he might help change Invercargill’s image of being the "arsehole of the world", something Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger once called Invercargill.
"We are not thrilled about that label, but we are ready to flip the script.
"We thought [Black] could help reverse the opinion of Southland, of Invercargill."
He knew it was now a "long shot"— especially now that Black cancelled this month’s Tenacious D New Zealand tour.
"We don’t know whether that will make it easier or harder for him [to come], but we’ll have a bit of fun on the way through anyway, trying to get him in.
"But it would be a great surprise if people were sitting there and all of a sudden Jack Black comes on stage. "
The fundraising event will be held on August 10 at Ascot Park Hotel.
