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Movie song medleys a favorite of the night

The stage was set with small romantic Italian-style tables for two on the sides, band in the center and it was time to begin.

Red Carpet! Music and the Movies, the school of Fine and Performing Arts’ spring Cabaret featuring musical theater majors, started off with a spotlight performance by junior Mariana Saba, who sang the solo for a sultry song that the audience ate up. In “Hanky Panky,” from the movie Dick Tracy, Saba and the female cast danced and showed off their feisty sides as they pulled handkerchiefs out of their dresses and tops and whirled them above their heads. It was a powerful and high-energy performance that the audience loved.

The next big song of the night was “Cuban Pete,” made popular by Jim Carrey’s performance in The Mask. The entire cast was featured with a solo by senior Matt Caccamo. It was so easy to see the cast having fun performing on stage that the audience couldn’t help feeling that same energy too — especially when Caccamo and the rest of the cast began to shimmy around onstage.

A medley featuring the James Bond theme songs, “Goldfinger,” “The Man With The Golden Gun” and “Skyfall” was another memorable series of performances. Audience members’ excitement went up as the cast brought back the classic instrumental 007 theme a cappella style. There was plenty of slinky and sneaky dancing all around the stage. Then, freshman Janayla Montes went up to the center stage microphone and shone in her sparkly red dress to sing “Goldfinger,” leaving the audience in awe of her incredibly strong voice. In “The Man With the Golden Gun,” junior Madeline Chandler took the opportunity to work the stage and move with the music. To end the medley, junior Margaret Warrington wowed the room with her solo in “Skyfall.”

The biggest hit of the night was the animation medley. As it began, the audience lit up with excitement. The entire cast started off by singing “Somewhere Out There,” from An American Tail before moving on to junior Ashton Schaffer singing “Friend Like Me” from Disney’s Aladdin. As soon as he began, the audience was clearly ready to join in to the old favorite. After Schaffer finished, senior Kyle Geraghty gave a powerful performance of “Colors Of The Wind” from Disney’s Pocahontas. He was a little reserved at first, but he quickly let himself get into it and moved all around the stage.

The audience got excited again when freshman Terrie Goins came out to sing “The Gospel Truth” from Disney’s Hercules. She walked in from the theater’s side door, and as the song built up, she climbed the stairs to center stage so she could really showcase her powerful voice. Ending out this medley was “Deliver Us,” from The Prince of Egypt. It was a very moving and powerful performance, featuring small solos from Goins, Warrington, freshman Amy Hine and freshman Taylor Jackson.

The final performance was the classic song from Dirty Dancing, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.” It featured the cast members paired up and dancing, each doing some of the moves from the iconic final dance number in the film.  Everyone in the audience was clapping and dancing along in their seats to the beat. The entire cast came down from the stage and into the audience to dance with each other and audience members in the last moments of a truly great show.

 

Originally published in The Rider News 2/17/16.