Yet another beautiful performance by the PPBHS Performing Arts. The doors to the Loren Donley Center of the Performing Arts open again for the one-night showing of the Point Pleasant Borough Show Choir performance.
I had the honor of watching them practice, even though I was the only person in the room it felt like the room would have been a full house with how well and how much passion they performed for me. They were all engaged and smiled ear to ear, you could tell how much they enjoyed being on stage, having the light shine on them, and being together. To quote one of the amazingly talented performers Gabrielle Greffen, “Show choir brings together such a beautiful group of people. We all share a combined love for music performing!” You could truly tell how real their love was for music just by the look on their faces.
The guys being accompanied by a few girls had performed their song Uptown Girl and did an amazing job at it. The song opened strong with Catello DiVuolo’s solo followed by the other seniors performing the song. When asked about how he thought the performance went Catello said, “I'm happy with how the show turned out, especially for how little time we had to get the songs and dancing down. I'm proud of us.” This brought me to shock finding out they only had a short amount of time and put together a show as well as they did.
The girls had their song of I Say A Little Prayer, the way their voices came together was art in itself. At the end of the some, they all walked to the center of the stage and posed, smiling at each other. You could see some people’s stage smiles turn into a true genuine love for what they were doing and the people they were doing it with. When I asked one of the seniors, Emily Ruggiero, about the performance at the end of the show she said, “I’m thankful for everyone in show choir and especially the other seniors for making me feel so welcomed and a part of this little family since this is my first and last year doing it.”
Personally, I loved their performance of A Change is Gonna Come which was played on the piano by Laim Hulse. To open the song Aly Stefan and Aidan Gay walked out and meet in the center to hold hands and bring each other to the front of the stage where they then separated to sing their solos. The only words I could say at the moment were wow, oh my god, and wow. They both have such strong voices, it was honestly powerful, the best part about it is how you could see their love for what they were doing like it was spelt out to you.
The show choir also performed the song Respect, the song opened with Emily Ruggerio’s solo and that alone was great. She was then followed by the beautiful and talented Alana Kulazewski, who is only a sophomore that completely took over the stage. Jacqueline Murphy’s smile was contagious as she sang her heart out. When Jacqueline performs she shows so much emotion with every step.
The last song in the program was And So it Goes. From the first note, their voices harmonized perfectly. Their voices filled the audience. Once it reached me in the booth I felt goosebumps crawl up my arms. It was a perfect way to end the show. Or so everyone thought.
They had yet to be over. Miss Villa student had a surprise waiting for her and the rest of the audience had the pleasure of sharing the heart-touching moment with the performers. Without Miss Villa's knowledge the senior had organized a plan, they were going to get the whole show choir to perform yet another song acapella for her to listen to. They pulled out a chair and placed her on center stage with all of them hugging each other around her. The room filled with emotion, tears ran down the face of just about everyone there. It was snitching less than magical, to see how close they had grown and so fast. You could tell how proud they were to do it for her.
At the end of the show, they all joined together and hugged Miss Villa, surrounding her with the love and friendships that she helped to build.
Lastly I would like to quote one of the performers Olivia Bruno, “I'm so proud of the show choir this year. I loved working with everyone. It really is such a fun thing to do and I highly encourage others to be confident and try out next year!” Confidence is the most beautiful thing someone can wear, and all of these students wear it with pride.
Comments