There was no better place to see the diversity of gifts that Aragon students possess than at the 17th annual Aragon Talent Show. On Friday, May 3, students, teachers, and parents gathered to watch 42 students sing, dance, and recite poetry.
Because of construction, the Talent Show was held at the Borel gym last year. Sophomore Katie Kilcullen, who performed the song “When You See My Friend,” by Mayday Parade, says, “Last year we had so many technical problems. The microphones weren’t working, the guitars sounded weird… The microphones were too loud, the guitars were too soft. It sounded all off.”
Drama teacher Shane Smuin says, “I organize [the show] basically, but I put it on each of the individual acts to do their own outside rehearsals, with the exception of one rehearsal that we have on stage where we focus the lights and work on the mics.”
Auditions for the Talent Show were on Thursday, April 18. Kilcullen says, “[Auditions were] definitely different from last year because this year it was in the theater, making it a little more intimidating. Last year [they were] in the choir room where it’s a pretty comfortable environment.”
Sophomore Reggie Vuna, who was part of a quartet that sang “Lego House” by Ed Sheeran, says, “There was originally a set date for auditions, but I didn’t know about it at that time. But [my friends] needed a fourth for a song that they were doing, so they asked me to do it. So I actually had to go in at lunch the Wednesday before and audition.”
Smuin says, “As usual, we dedicate the talent show to all the moms out there for Mother’s Day. [However], the ‘why’ of doing the Talent Show is not to just give the kids a chance to perform for their friends and family but also to raise funds for the Aragon Drama Boosters Scholarship, which goes to seniors that graduate and continue their performing arts lives at [various universities]… Whatever the ticket sales and concession sales are is what we have for the funding for the scholarship. And then the applicants apply, and depending on [how] many are accepted we divide the money up evenly.”
This year, $1,200 dollars were raised for the scholarship. Says Vuna, “Most of the funds that schools in California get go to science and math, so we [the music department] have to do most of the fundraising ourselves.”
The artistic support the talent show provides goes further than just financial aid, though.
Kilcullen says, “Backstage people are so encouraging… It’s just a really warm environment. And it’s awesome to have the support of everyone and to come off stage and immediately get ‘Wow, good job’ and right before you go on people are like ‘Good luck!’”
Vuna says, “I thought it was really diverse, with the Indian Club at the end, and the kind of more modern dance in the middle. And all the singing acts were really different. There was [a] guitar theme to it, but all the songs were different. Everybody had a different thing to bring to the table.”
Says English teacher James Daniel, “That’s the fun of it. You get someone who is kind of shy and they get up there and belt it out, and it’s like ‘Good God!’ Like Reggie and Kelly Chang, they are students in my class and I just saw them in a whole new light.”
Many students had a purpose for performing. Says Kilcullen, “It’s important to be comfortable performing and playing your music in front of people. The talent shows at Aragon really helped me personally because I was so afraid to sing in front of people. But now I can do it no problem… If you love what you do so much, you shouldn’t be scared to do it in front of people, especially if it means as much to you as music means to me.”
