As guests arrived and enjoyed hors d’oeuvre and tours of the arts building, Carlmont performing art students were frantically preparing backstage in preparation for the performance portion of the second annual Carlmont Arts Showcase Gala.
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- Guests arrive & art is on display
Gala attendees walked through the arts building and sampled many food items from different buffets provided by popular restaurants such as Mistrals. All the classrooms in the building displayed student-created art of many types and there were students in each room acting as “tour guides” and making demonstrations.
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- Foods are sampled and students make demonstrations
Meanwhile, students in the theater were having last minute rehearsals, stretching their muscles, singing their scales, and tuning their instruments.
“Everybody is running around and some people are freaking out,” said dancer Drake Lem. “It’s kinda funny. Everybody helps each other out though, and it’s actually really fun.”
First to show off their talents were the instrumental students, who played a variety of medleys from different movies, operas and a ballet.
Next came the drama department. A select few of the advanced drama students read monologues, and a couple of scenes from the fall play, William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, were shown. Also a very comical performance from the Carlmont improv troop had the audience laughing out loud. Even the emcee, George Metropolis, was trying to muffle his laughs backstage.
“The Improv troop was so funny,” commented dancer Emily Heck. “But when one of the actors, Tim Gachot, had to change super fast for choir, he realized he was missing his blue handkerchief! Us girls were running around the dressing room looking for something blue he could use as a make-shift handkerchief. He ended up using one of our samba skirts!”
Gachot made it on stage just in time to join choir in a performance of songs from their Pops benefit concert.
Last but not least Carlmont’s Intermediate and Advanced dance classes closed the show with an array of pieces, including some of which were student choreographed.
Afterward, all performers went back to their dressing rooms and hurried to pack their belongings so they could join the guests that had filed out into the lobby to mingle.
“It was crazy backstage during the show,” laughed dancer Natasha Stergiou. “But everything ended up looking really good on stage. It was a fun night.”
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- A view from back stage
