Twelve scheduled acts, two surprise acts, and three untalented acts all took the stage at Key Club’s annual Talent Show on Feb. 7 in the auditorium.
The talent show opened with hosts Rathi Thiagarajan (11), Navya Manchala (9), Ella Quinney (11), and Alexa Kiepe (11) cracking jokes and preparing the audience for the first act.
Act 1: Mind Over Matter
Mind Over Matter is a band made up of Sam Varga (9), Max Wideman (9), Ellie Force (10), Sebastian Tabers (11), and Zach Waltz (12). They chose to sing “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus.
Band member Sebastian Tabers said, “I think it went really well. We decided on ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ because it was one of the songs that we had wanted to do for a while.”
The crowd seemed to really enjoy this song, and most people started clapping along.
Act 2: Raksha Thiagarajan
In this act, Raksha Thiagarajan (12) danced a semi-classical Kathak dance to “Deewani Mastani” from the film “Bajirao Mastani.”
“I think it went really well,” Thiagarajan said. “I kind of blacked out when I went on stage, but overall everyone seemed to like it.”
Act 3: Alex Kercher
For the third act, Alex Kercher (12) sang “The Villain I Appear to Be” by Connor Spiotto.
Kercher said, “‘The Villain I Appear to Be’ is a song very few know by name, but one quite a few people recognize when played. As a song with a lot of tempo changes, I knew ‘The Villain I Appear to Be’ would entertain everyone in the audience, even if they don’t know the song.”
Act 4: Loukya Vaka
Loukya Vaka (11) amazed the crowd with her rendition of “I Need U” by BTS.
“I think that it went very well,” Vaka said. “I chose to play this song because I personally love a lot of BTS’ songs. The messages that a lot of the songs hold are very significant and powerful, so they always make me feel very inspired and happy.”
Untalented Act: Charades
If you haven’t heard of these before, an untalented act is an act that relies heavily on audience participation.
The first untalented act was charades. There were two teams.
The words were easel, chalk, trapeze, and hurdle.
Team 1 won.
Act 5: Lorelei Wise
Lorelei Wise (11) was up next with her original slam poetry. The title of her work is “School of Thought.”
“It’s about a more introspective look at the way we view societal issues. A large part of it was observing contradictions as I’ve gotten older,” Wise said.
Untalented Act: Painting
The second untalented act of the night was painting. Two audience volunteers were selected.
The theme was Cityscape
Winner: Tie
Act 6: Alexander and Sophia Dunavan
Next up was sibling duet Alexander Dunavan (11) and Sophia Dunavan (9). Sophia sang and Alexander rapped to “Let You Down” by NF.
Sophia Dunavan said, “[My brother] was originally going to do a different song, but I was like, ‘Sure, I’m shy, but I’m going to join it anyway.’ Even though I had many reasons not to, I did it anyway.”
Act 7: Sam Woollard
In his act, Sam Woollard (9) had the whole crowd singing and clapping along to his version of “Living for the City” by Stevie Wonder.
He played the guitar as he was singing the song, and at times, even invited the audience to sing along with him.
“I think it went a lot better than I rehearsed it. There are a lot of runs in the song, and I didn’t want to screw any of them up,” said Woollard. “My favorite part was when I cut out the guitar and just had the audience sing with me.”
Surprise Act: Mrs. Gehrke
The first surprise act of the night was from Mrs. Melissa Gehrke. She walked on stage and surprised everyone by monologuing “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley.
Miracle Minute:
About halfway through the show, the hosts welcomed Mr. Barker to introduce the miracle minute. He told us about his grandson with Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome, and introduced the cause for the night: the Pitt-Hopkins Research Foundation.
Key Club volunteers went around collecting money, and in total they raised $282.
Act 8: Clem Arey and Jack Galloway
In this act, Clem Arey (11) and Jack Galloway (11) performed “Velvet Ring” by Big Thief. Arey sang while Galloway played the guitar.
“I think it went really well,” Arey said. “We had been practicing for about a month. It is a lot of fun for me to sing, and a lot of fun for him to play as well.”
Act 9: Navya Manchala
For Act 9, talent show host Navya Manchala (9) came out and sang “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay.
“I think it went great, I had a lot of people cheering me on. I felt pretty nervous up onstage, but it helped with a lot of my nerves because I knew it was a song a lot of people liked,” Manchala said.
Untalented Act: Karaoke
The third, and final, untalented act of the night was karaoke. Anna Fleetwood (12) and Clara Walker (12) got on stage and prepared to sing “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys.
Act 10: Hadassah Haefele
Hadassah Haefele (12) tugged on some heartstrings with her original poem titled “Lessons.”
“I wrote it as sort of a send-off to my time in high school,” Haefele said. “I haven’t graduated yet, but it’s on the horizon, and I wanted to write a piece that could tie it all together.”
Act 11: Brielle Vassel
In this act, Brielle Vassel (10) played “Raine’s Rhapsody/Eda’s Requiem” from “The Owl House.”
“I felt that once I started playing, I was in the zone,” Vassel said. “I feel that I was able to present my piece in a way that the audience was able to feel.”
Act 12: Maddison Woollard and Nicki Bruns
In this incredible duo, Maddison Woollard (12) and Nicki Bruns (12) amazed the crowd with their incredible vocals and harmonies in their cover of “Play the Music” by The Army, The Navy.
Woollard said, “The song had a lot of pretty harmonies, and me and Nicki have a good blend for harmonies.”
Surprise Act: The Fates
For the final act of the night, the drama club had a small surprise planned. The Fates from Hadestown, Sofie Shreve (10), Ellie Force (10), and Marissa Varga (12), came on the stage and sang “When the Chips Are Down.”
“I think it went really well,” Force said. “It was one of our first times performing together, and I think it went well for the time we had.”
Winners:
Teacher Vote: Maddison Woollard and Nicki Bruns
Audience Vote: Sam Woollard
