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March 2, 2010
Noelle Fujii
The 18 different talent show acts brought an array of different performances in the cafeteria, Feb. 25 and 26. Both nights sold approximately 100 tickets.
Drama teacher Matthew Ballin was pleased with this year’s show.
“It was great,” Ballin said. “One of our best.”
Talents ranged from music to poetry to dancing. Each performance ended with loud applause from the audience.
Junior Kimberly Valdovinos dropped her fan as she danced to Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi,” but she didn’t let it affect her performance. The audience stood and applauded for her as she ended her dance.
Junior Mario Rappa was the emcee. He introduced each person and his or her talent and added some comedy in between. He rehearsed some of his jokes, but he improvised most of them. Friday’s show had a few technical difficulties, so Rappa had to take the stage until they were fixed.
“It was scary [during the technical difficulties] at first,” Rappa said. “But in the end it was fun.”
The performers enjoyed being on stage.
“I think [the talent show] was good. Everyone performed well,” senior Lorenzo Dominquez said.
Freshman Aileen Liang played the piano and sang “Gravity” by Sarah Bareilles.
“I was nervous at first, but it was good later,” Liang said.
Sophomore Kelsi Ocon performed solo on Friday when the night before she performed a duet with sophomore Kenzi Rushton because Rushton was out of town. Her performance was still followed by applause.
Sophomore Taylor Loosli favored the second act over the first act.
“I really liked the singers,” Loosli said. “They really blew me away!”
Freshman Alice Pham thought the show was fun to watch. Her favorite performances by the Magical Unicorn Rainbow Cruise-Ship and the performers who played guitar solos.
The entire show can be found at whstheater.com .
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February 23, 2010
Noelle Fujii
The annual talent show returns with singing, dancing, poetry, music and literature.
“The talent show has always had great attendance, because so many students take part in the show and they all invite their friends and family,” drama teacher Matthew Ballin said. “ It also brings people to the show who don’t usually come to our plays.”
The talent show has been in production during eight of the nine years that Ballin has taught at Washington. It hurt the school financially when the talent show didn’t take place.
Performing Arts Club members run the show, and some Husky alumni return to judge the auditions. They decide which acts are ultimately included in the show. The number of auditions vary every year, but there needs to be between ten to fifteen acts to make the show possible. The auditioning process consists of prospective performers scheduling a time to show their act and then performing for the alumni judges. Judges post the acts and order of the show the day after the auditions. Performers must attend rehearsals before the show.
The auditions took place on February 7 and 8.
Students need to be prepared before they audition. Soundtracks for vocal performances can be recorded but it is better if the performer is ready.
Ballin and the judges want a combination of different acts although they usually get a lot of vocalists.
“I want to see a big variety,” Ballin said.
Judges make cuts because the whole show is limited to about two hours. They judge people based on skill level and entertainment value. There are two or three judges that score each act. Ballin and the judges sort the scores and anything below the bar they have set doesn’t get in the show.
There was a whole different group of students that auditioned for the show.
“Not a lot of people from the drama department tried out,” Ballin said.
Because judges don’t know the students, he feels that the process for selecting the students for the show is fair.
Sophomores Kelsi Ocon and Kenzi Rushton will sing a duet to “Hear You Me” by Jimmy Eat World. In addition to vocals, Ocon will play the acoustic guitar during the performance. Ocon and Rushton went over the song for a couple hours to prepare for their audition. During the audition, Ocon was more excited than nervous.
“We both messed up and forgot the lyrics at the same time but it still worked out and we still sounded pretty good,” Ocon said.
The auditions are the only competitive part of the show. Active Performing Arts Club members will help with the lighting and the sound system, as the performances occur on the cafeteria stage. It is a two-night event. Each night features the same 18 acts.
“It’s cheap to come and see and fun to perform in,” Ballin said.
The talent show will be on Feb. 25 and 26 in the school cafeteria at 7 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door for $6 each. A dollar from every ticket goes to the Haitian Relief.
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December 14, 2009
Simrundeep Kaur
Lights dim and the upbeat music fades. The theme song reverberates from the speakers and the lights slowly increase in intensity. The stage is set and the actors perform.
Seniors Kimberly Chatterjee and Haley Wilks play the leads, Olive Madison and Florence Unger, respectively. The show is fueled with their comical verbal battles. Their different personalities clash; Olive is a slob while Florence is a neat freak.
Seniors Lorenzo Dominguez and Andre Vernot play the Costazuela brothers who exchange comedic turns. The supporting cast also includes senior Kim Dutrow, junior Sarah Kowalski, and senior Lindsay McCargar.
“Having a small cast was nice, because everyone was really dedicated and really talented,” Dutrow said.
Chatterjee admitted that the cast made a few mistakes during their opening night performance, but the cast members covered the flaws up. Chatterjee found the experience bittersweet; the cast members put in so much effort and time, even though there were only a six performances.
As for technical aspects, lighting is basic, but used effectively. There are no spotlights used so the focus is on all the actors on stage, not just a few. The recognizable “Odd Couple” theme song and some fun, pop music (ranging from Madonna to Journey) can be heard during scene transitions and intermission. All the actors successfully project their voices across the stage, despite the lack of microphone use.
The set is painted with pink walls and the floors are carpeted to complete the look of a comfortable apartment. The doorways cut out from the walls are realistic, giving the illusion of several rooms. Senior Nikita Gurnani painted the kitchen window and added a completely realistic apartment window view of the surroundings. The use of levels for the main doorway is also a creative way to showcase stairs.
Props are also impressively utilized. When Florence is cleaning the “apartment,” she used an actual vacuum cleaner with extension cord. Scattered clothes, two tables, a bookshelf attached to the wall, a couch and a coat rack mirror add authenticity to the apartment.
The Neil Simon play was originally written and performed with male lead characters, most memorably in the 1968 film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Simon wrote the female version in 1985. However, the latter version is believed by director and WHS drama teacher, Matthew Ballin to be the funnier one. “The Odd Couple” is a play that should be seen by those that appreciate quality comedy and entertainment.
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November 9, 2009
Noelle Fujii
This year’s fall play at WHS is “The Odd Couple,” by famed comedy playwright, Neil Simon. With rehearsals four times a week, the production is more ahead of schedule than productions of previous years.
Matthew Ballin, the director, has been teaching at WHS for nine years and has directed 12 plays and produced 15. WHS plays usually don’t get many auditions while other schools get around 50 to 90 auditions but there has never been a shortage of talented WHS students.
“This cast of ‘The Odd Couple’ is one of the best I’ve had!” Ballin said.
This year Ballin has a smaller cast, but he was able to fill talented actors in smaller roles as well. Ballin believes the cast is disciplined and hardworking. The cast has even picked up the comedic timing of the play and the rhythms of Simon’s language.
Sophomore Shana Bishop, the stage manager, said the hardest part about this play is the time spent working on it.
“It’s going to be the best ever! It’s really funny,” Bishop said.
Senior Lorenzo Dominguez, who has been acting for about six years, said everything looks well and the production is progressing nicely.
Ballin was initially worried about opening night being right after Thanksgiving break but he’s now confident that it won’t be an issue. He believes that anyone who sees the show won’t be disappointed.
There are also lower ticket prices for this play starting at $5 for children, $8 for ASB/Senior, and $10 at the door. Opening day is Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. and the play will also show Dec. 5, 10, 11 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.
