Students, faculty and members of the community alike packed the Fitzhugh Gordon Samuel Lab Theatre of CSTAC at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 to enjoy a wonderful showcase of talent while simultaneously raising money for Relay for Life.
This showcase was organized by junior theatre major Abbie Swanson in honor of Longwood Professor of Theatre Pamela Arkin. After 23 years of teaching and inspiring students in the theatre department, Arkin will be retiring at the end of this semester.
Emcee Austin Madison opened up the showcase with a few jokes that had the audience laughing and excited before the show even began. He then turned the stage over to the first performer, Kasia Tester, who introduced her portion of the showcase with a heartwarming story about her little sister’s fight against cancer. She then followed up her introduction with a beautiful song dedicated to her sister and her battle.
Jaclyn Siewert also touched the hearts of audience members with her original poem written about one of her best friends, the late Fitzhugh Gordon Samuel. Tears and sniffles could be heard throughout the audience as she choked back a few tears of her own and described the pain of losing her best friend. The audience immediately erupted in applause as she ended her poem advising listeners to “slow down, breath and let it go.”
Not only did the showcase feature beautiful tributes to family members and friends that touched the hearts of many, but it also included many original dances, a few hilarious skits and even more incredible vocal performances. Maggie Williams and Trent Williams stunned the crowd with their original dance that seemed to portray a complicated relationship between two lovers.
Audience member Jennifer Trate described their dance by saying, “It was so beautiful! They completed a lot of difficult moves, but acted like it was nothing. And the way the two of them moved together so flawlessly was pretty incredible.”
Other notable dance routines included Jordan Howell’s original dance to the song “Never Far From Me” as well as Marie Lupia’s original New Zealand style dance featuring veils representing fire.
Mary Beith and Brittni Cogdell had the audience roaring with laughter as they performed a scene from “Drivers Test.” The two made for a hilarious pair as Beith portrayed an overly bubbly driving instructor with a high-pitched Minnesota accent while Cogdell played a typical unamused student who just wanted to get her license.
Shea McCuller also astounded the audience with her vocal performance of a version of “Ave Maria.” While strumming along on her ukulele, McCuller’s voice rang out through the auditorium as she easily hit difficult notes and even covered multiple styles in one song. Audience members were obviously impressed, and one person shouted, “You better work, girl!”
To finish off the showcase Miriam Loya, McCuller, Sarah Breitenberg, Binta Barry, Williams and Swanson stunned viewers with their group performance of “Momma Who Bore Me” from the popular musical “Spring Awakening.” Swanson began the song with a powerful solo, and a few snaps later, the rest of the group turned around, strutted up to the front and joined in to finish the song with a hint of sass.
Before the showcase officially ended, every performer came back out onstage to pay one final tribute to Arkin as they joined together to sing her favorite song “The Impossible Dream.” Despite a few flubs on the lyrics, the group smiled from ear to ear and sang along at the top of their lungs to honor such a wonderful professor and mentor.
It was an incredible night enjoyed by every member of the crowd. We laughed, we cried, we raised money for a great cause, we honored an amazing professor and we were left speechless by the immense talent of every performer.
