Andrew Gilmore ’17
This past weekend Laurel School hosted a talent show featuring some of Laurel and US’ best. The show included 14 acts ranging from mediocre dancing to off the hook stand up comedy, and everything in between. The stakes were high. Winners received gift bags filled with candy. At 7:30 the show began promptly and the acts were underway. As the contestants performed their talents judges scored them on their performances. The judges included a wide range of faculty members within the Laurel and US community. The audience got to see another one of Chaz Whitfield’s stellar rap performances, a stand up comedy skit which made precisely zero people laugh, and an awesome take on the Beatles’ “Blackbird” by Adam Gurary. These acts, in addition to 11 others made this talent show a memorable one. As the acts went on and off, the crowd also had the opportunity to listen to Firas Abboud’s commentary and introductions to each contestant. The show lasted about two hours, with a short intermission to give the audience an opportune moment to clamor about the acts they already had seen.
After the intermission the show picked up again with a wonderful dance performance by two freshmen at Laurel. The acts proceeded and the crowd grew more interested and more involved, shouting and clapping along. With the final act concluded, the judges went into deliberation. As the envelope was delivered to Firas, tensions rose in the room. They announced third place, and the winner was Chaz Whitfield with his original rap. He went to claim his prize, and the announcer promptly realized they had “Steve Harveyed” it. Yes, that’s right, Chaz came in first. Next, coming in second place was the duo of Alex Cha of US and KK Cronin of Laurel School performing their original compilation of Justin Bieber songs. And finally, in third place the duo of Maddy Massey and Lauren O’Keefe of Laurel School performing “In a Week” by Hozier.
The winners timidly accepted their bags of candy, and with that the show ended. Upsetting most expectations the joint Laurel US talent show proved itself to be a well-rehearsed, elegant, and fun experience for all who attended. We hope to see more events such as this one in the near future and in years to come. Congratulations to all contestants who showed off their talents this past weekend.
