The opening act of the show came out with a bang! CMW’s own home band performed the classic rock song “Misery Business” by Paramore for the audience, knocking everyone off their feet. The band honestly brought life to the show, with loud live music that made the crowd go crazy. The band consisted of Anne Newberry on vocals, Adam Furman on guitar, Connor Alban on bass, and Adam Furman on drums. To end their act, Adam Furman had an amazing drum solo that stunned the crowd and sent his drumstick flying to the other side of the stage, a perfect band performance ending. The group added extra “flare” with their outfits, dressed up in white button downs and ties on themselves and the instruments, and the singer wore groovy glasses!

Next up was Josh Adams and the Rubix cube! Josh opened his act to volunteers from the crowd and brought up student John Webber to challenge in a 1v1 Rubix cube solving match! And while the anticipation for the timer to start was long, the match definitely wasn’t! Josh solved the cube in less than 30 seconds, amazing the crowd!

Time for some Tunes! Layla Biggs blew the crowd away with her vocal performance of “Valarie,” originally sung by Amy Winehouse. Walking right out onto the stage, Layla showed such confidence and energy as she danced to the rhythm while singing. The crowd absolutely loved her, and her vocals were incredible! Layla has had lots of practice performing for the school, as she frequently sings the National Anthem at home basketball games. It was very exciting to see her sing something that fits her personality and shows off her vocals with very high ranges. Layla made her act seem so easy and light, even though the song is very challenging.

Let’s kick up the intensity with Leika Kimbrough’s impressive baton routine! Leika took the audience’s focus right off the bat with a difficult performance with multiple batons. This twist of dance, gymnastics, and control matched the energy of her music, which was a mashup of empowering, upbeat songs. Her control and stage presence were so eye opening, and the crowd loved her tricks and excitement. It was a really fun surprise to see an act like this being performed, because it is typically an outdoor sport, showcased in football games.

The biggest crowd-pleasing performance of the night was handed to Sam Kollra, a sophomore that performed a violin piece called, “March of the Meistersingers” composed by Sandra Drackow. At the end of his playing, the crowd went crazy, and stood up to applaud him. I had the honor of interviewing Sam three days later, where I asked him how his experience was in the variety show. He told me, “It was incredible, I actually had a standing ovation, and everyone that was there did a standing ovation right in front of me.” I proceeded to ask him if he was nervous before his big performance, and he confidently said, “Not at all, not one nerve got in.” Watching Sam perform was very inspiring, as I had played that same music piece with him in eighth grade. Seeing him work hard for three years on the music to perform an act was so exciting!

Continuing with the music acts, Nick Anderson blessed the crowd’s ears with his piano performance on “You Got a Friend in Me” by Randy Newman and composed by Brent Edstrom. Everyone knows the jazzy Toy Story version of this song, but Nick added so much beauty and class that everyone admired. His act was brilliant, and his instrumental piece showed the heart of the song and gave us all a “blast to the past” of remembrance to listening to that song the first time, in our kid films.

A stunning act was performed by Ruby Villodas. She sang and acted the scene “Burn” from Hamilton, with so much ease and control. The song is extremely difficult and emotional, and Ruby nailed it. She took demand over the stage with such confidence and heart that the audience could understand the heaviness of the song’s meaning. Ruby performed beautifully, with a gorgeous outfit and a planned stage set up that really tied it all together. Her acting while singing really stook out and shows you the impressive talent that she has to master both. It was an emotional piece that gave the crowd goose bumps, and I cannot wait to see her perform in the future.