Backstage at the Hermosa Valley Talent Show — PHOTOS
Jitters before performing in a school talent show are natural.
“I’m fired up!” said Karli Wallace inside the Hermosa Beach Playhouse, balling up her fists and smiling.
No nerves?
“Well, I’m feeling pretty confident, but it’s also pretty nerve-wracking, too.”
In the dim lighting stage right at the playhouse, Wallace was not alone.
But exactly how nervous were the performers?
“A lot,” said fifth-grader Kira Levin with a wide smile, guitar in hand.
[scrollGallery id = 388]The Hermosa Valley Talent Show is meant to give kids a sense of accomplishment by showing what they can do on stage in front of their peers and parents. It’s also a fun event that inspires classmates to participate, as some did this year after watching last year’s show.
In the dim shadows off the stage, Brinn Borowsky and Kailey Taugner learned they would sing “Starships” following the Hula Hoop Trio.
They were both feeling good, they said.
“It’s been a little sloppy,” Taugner said of rehearsals.
“It hasn’t been sloppy!” Borowsky answered.
When the curtain went up and the house band Frozen Sea Rabbits played “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” the 50 or so youngsters performing the 25 acts watched, with many grooving to the classic rock beat and dousing those nerves a little.
Gianni Broquard kicked things off onstage with “God Bless the USA,” while the mental rehearsals backstage continued, with feet shuffling, costume adjusting, quiet conversation and calls to strike up the band between acts and for microphone switches.
Some kids weren’t nervous at all, such as Jake Linnell, who performed “La Bamba” with Kainoa Crow, as well as Dunham Stewart, who helped emcee the event. Most students did their best to keep the nerves at bay by listening to their chatty classmates in behind the curtains, such as fifth-grader Isabella Biggs, who had only been on stage once before, she said.
After Biggs performed her vocal solo “Someone Like You” and returned backstage, she was congratulated by classmates and stage hands. Asked how she thought she did, Biggs said, “I think I did pretty well.”
When Levin came off stage, she was greeted with congratulations as well, to which she smiled.
“You did great,” said EJ Benford, a 22-year-old performer helping out with the production.
“Did I sound bad?” Levin asked.
Evan Fortier, a guitar player in the house band, shook his head, gave a thumbs-up and said, “Good job.”
Levin smiled some more.
For the past three years, the talent show, which includes students from both View and Valley schools, has been put on by Craig and Suzanne Greely, who have four kids in the district. Their company, Family Theatre Inc., puts on musicals at the playhouse year-round, and the couple operates after school programs in the district as well, beginning after budget cuts in 2008 and 2009 cut musicals and music classes.
This is the third year they have put on the talent show after it had been nixed in 2009.
The first year the show was sponsored entirely by the Greelys, 2010, they lost money. Last year, they broke even. Both years, they still made small contributions to the district. They are hoping to make their largest contribution to the district yet, Craig Greely said.
The theater must be reserved more than a year in advance, which includes a deposit and non-refundable application fee. They pay for the lights, sound, house manager, and extra staff, advertising, liability insurance and five days of rehearsal time.
Students pay a $25 dollar registration fee and tickets are $10.
The Greelys also credit the Hermosa Arts Foundation for donating theatre hours in order to reduce the cost of renting the theater.
The Greelys use students as ticket-takers as well as to introduce each other’s acts onstage, making it a true student event. Throughout the show, youngsters made sure they looked good backstage without any costume malfunctions, and also kept track of how many acts they were lucky enough to introduce.
While the Monster Mash was performed onstage complete with dry ice steaming, Joie Culligan and Wallace practiced their dance moves behind the side curtain.
“Do you have something on your head? How many times have you announced something?” Wallace asked her friends.
“I’m freaking out,” Wallace said, making several girls giggle just before heading out onstage to do her vocal solo.
After Wallace sang “Burn it Down,” she hugged her friends backstage.
“I’m very happy,” Wallace said of how she performed.
Three hours after the show began, the loyal audience members that stuck around to the end applauded heartily for the entire cast. Students left with smiles and chatty conversation about the fact that the next night’s show might be easier with this performance under their belts.