Aragon’s talent shows

Aragon’s annual Talent Show was held on Friday, May 6, and included talents such as singing, dancing, handshaking, and playing rock-n-roll music. The show was divided into two acts with an intermission; the first act was composed primarily of people singing and playing instruments, while the second act primarily had dances.

For a group to enter the Talent Show, it was necessary for them to audition for drama teacher Shane Smuin, who selected 20 groups out of the approximately 40 that auditioned. After selecting the final participants, Smuin held tech rehearsal the day before the talent show.

The money raised from ticket sales and candy/baked goods sales during intermission goes to a scholarship fund for Aragon seniors pursuing performing arts in college.

Some highlights from the first act include the Aragon Improv Team performing to begin the show. Later, senior Jessia Hoffman sang “Climbing Uphill” describing the struggle of the audition process from the musical “The Last Five Years.” Later, Junior Sammy Shufton and senior Alex Phinney abruptly walked on to the stage each dressed like businessmen and carrying a briefcase; the two stared at each other for a few seconds before breaking into an elaborate handshake that included some dancing, clapping, spinning, and stripping of their pants (both wore a second pair underneath the pants they took off). To close act one, Aragon’s mens acappella group, “September”, comprised of junior Shufton and seniors Andrew Cohen, Jason Galisatus, Michael Miyahira, Phinney, sang the classic “Over The Rainbow” by Harold Arlen.

After the intermission, the second act began with the musical rock fusion group “Iron and Ice”, comprised of junior Luna Lynch and seniors Reza Moein-Taghavi, Charlie Pai, and Brendan O’Brien. The group performed “Back from Cali” by Slash and two other rock songs. Junior Mariko Ishikawa, wearing a golden tiara and yellow tutu, danced to “La Esmarelda” by Cesare Pugni, and used a tambourine as she demonstrated her ballet talents. Later, Ishikawa performed a duet dance with sophomore Ashley Lu to the song “Count On Me” by Bruno Mars, an act that exhibited precise timing and skill. For the finale, the Aragon Indian Club, consisting of a handful of Aragon students, performed a medley of Indian music which included lots of spinning, stepping, and hand turning.

The talent show has different significance to different people. For senior Haley Malinverno who sang “Take It All” by Adele with her father, Don Malinverno accompanying her on piano, the show helped her face her fear. After performing, the younger Malinverno said, “…I’m glad I did it, I had stage fright [and it] helped with stage fear.” Sophomore Brittany Pisoni, who danced to “The Messenger” by Linkin Park, called the Talent Show “…a great experience and the highlight of the school year.” For senior Kathy Shield, the show provided an opportunity to demonstrate her dance skills in “The Dream Song” by Sam Sparro; Shield said after the show “That was the first time I’ve ever performed on stage; I’ve done a lot backstage…it was nice to show my friends what I’ve been working on [in dance].”

While construction of the new theater continues in the background, Smuin reflected on the show saying, “It’s a bitter-sweet moment because this was the last public performance for this theater. Exciting as the new theater is, there are a lot of memories here.”