“I know it’s been a long time since I released some music,” senior Jalen Benjamin said on Friday after bringing down the house with his new original song, “Outcasts,” “so I’m happy to announce that I will be dropping my second mixtape in a week!” The audience roared with excitement at the news, as he received a standing ovation from many in the crowd after hitting every note, high and low, with his inspiring lyrics.

Every talent show, a well-known Parker favorite, gives all students of the upper school a chance to courageously share their various talents to the rest of the community. Every show takes a great amount of work and planning from the elected Performing Arts (PA) heads and each brave performer. Behind the scenes, participants work hard to perfect their acts, while the PA Heads work to ensure everything will run smoothly.

“This talent show was definitely very fun to plan,” PA head and sophomore Ryan Humphrey said. “We had no problem trying to find a good amount of different acts.”

After a brief introduction, the talent show kicked off with a courageous sixth grader, Naomi Geller, who stunned the audience singing the upbeat song “Dancing in the Moonlight.” Her sweet voice was accompanied by a huge smile that stuck to her face the entire performance. The moment she finished, the auditorium filled with applause.

Next sophomore Joryin Pender confidently entered the stage with poem in hand. Her poem, from a TV showcalled “Martin,” beautifully depicted her feelings about the topic of “connection.” She spoke with poise and emotion, strategically pausing at certain moments to add emphasis. Her inspiring words touched the audience, as they continuously snapped to the poem.

“It felt great,” Pender said.  “It always feels awesome after I perform, especially when it’s a poem because I get what I’ve been feeling inside out to the audience.  Even though I write pieces all the time, I write some pieces specifically for performances, so I hope everyone had an opinion on my work. I think the overall reaction was mostly positive.  I always get a lot of compliments, although a conversation would be appreciated as well.”

As Garg happily walked onto the stage after Pender, carrying nothing but an apple, the audience knew they were in for a unique experience. Garg stopped at center stage and promptly and easily broke a whole apple into two halves, leaving the audience in a mixture of shock and cynical suspicion. Garg’s was a fifteen-second act.

Once lively circus-like music began, the audience was on the edge of their seats–Weinberg entered the stage with his diabolo and started to whip around the sticks attached to the yo-yo’s. The crowd watched in astonishment as Weinberg creatively moved the yo-yo’s in between his legs and around in different shapes. Weinberg then started to toss the yoyo’s up in the air and catch them before they fell to the ground. The audience ooed and awed as Weinberg caught them (almost every time) from great heights.

Following Weinberg’s engaging act came a number of musical acts, each one bringing a new emotion to the audience. Performances by seventh grader Lydia Blasko, freshman Leila Simone and her family, senior David Rothman, junior Hannah Kershner, and senior Maya Plotnick stunned members of the audience, leaving many in awe.

“When I finished my act, I was proud and relieved at the same time, but mostly proud of Hannah for deciding to sing and letting me perform with her,” Plotnick said. “I loved how the audience was really supportive.  I could even hear a few of my friends when I first walked out.”

Benjamin finished off the show with his original song, stunning the audience once again.

About two weeks prior to the show, the PA Heads sent out an email to the entire middle/upper school, suggesting everyone step out of their comfort zones and share their talents with the rest of the school. Interested students sent video attachments of their acts.

The PA Heads’ jobs can become very difficult when the number of acts is inconvenient. “Last show, we only had a few acts signed up with about a week remaining,” Humphrey said prior to the show. “We got a few last-minute acts, but the MX still ended short. This one has already been so much more successful, as we’ve had so many entries. We have eight acts this time, while last time we had just barely gotten to six.”

Not only was there a great level of interest for this show, but also a wide range of acts. “Last talent show, the MX went really well, and had acts of many different genres,” PA Head and junior Audrey Shadle said. “This time, we have 3 singers, which are always super fun. We also have David Rothman beatboxing, Olivia Garg breaking an apple, and even Aidan Weinberg doing the Chinese Yo-Yo.”

The PA Heads have noticed that talent shows in the past have mostly ended up consisting of singers and other musical acts. “Music acts are definitely common, and we are hoping to change that this year by encouraging more of the unique acts,” PA Head and junior Zoe Laris Djokovic said. “We do this by simply spreading the word and asking around for unique talents to bring to the show. I’m always excited for the strange acts, like the mannequin dancer last time and the apple act this time.”  

Although the PA Heads were still hoping to get some more acts, they believed the show was on the road to success, for they’d gathered a unique number of acts and continued to approach the talent show just as they did previously. “It should be really great!” Shadle said. “The last one we had gone really well because we had a clear communication with MX because we successfully coordinated with them and each of the performers in terms of time, supplies, lights, and music. Hopefully, this one will go just as smoothly!”

The performers were also wishing for the best, as they prepared their acts. “I feel pretty good about this act,” Weinberg said of his Chinese yo-yo routine. “I’ve been working on the diabolo for a while now, and I will also be performing this act at the CircEsteem show.”

After practicing, Weinberg felt pretty confident going into the show. “I hope the audience likes the diabolo,” he said. “Most of the high school got a sneak peak when I inadvertently sent a reply all response.”

Garg felt less courageous going into the show with a unique act. “Hopefully I can break an apple in half with my hands!” she said. “That is my main goal.  I’m not very confident, and it would be embarrassing if it doesn’t work, but also really funny. Hopefully, the audience will think it’s cool and staged or something.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen talent shows in the past with such variety as the one this Friday,” Laris Djokovic said. “It was amazing!”