It is that time of year when our Los Osos Choir hosts its very own ‘Broadway Night’! Taking songs from popular musicals, talented students sing and perform them, even adding choreography and humor to them. The choir truly helps revive this vibrant culture through our school with their students’ beautiful and gifted voices.
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The show started with a performance from the entire choir, performing “Willkommen” from “Cabaret!” to begin the show and create an introduction to the upcoming, exciting show. Everyone sang on the stage, the beautiful harmonizing instantly quieting the theater with its beauty.
The choir continued by taking a more lighthearted approach, having Charlee Gilland sing ‘Stupid with Love’ from ‘Mean Girls’, wearing an outfit to reference the show itself. Gilland’s acting during the lyrics sung made the audience laugh, but the most memorable part of her performance had to be her strong and confident voice.
A more poignant turn was taken when “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid” began playing. Performed by the amazing Lily Pourtabib, the whole audience enjoyed her sweet, almost melancholy, performance.
Her soft expression truly helped bring her song to life, and her sweet high notes she could reach most definitely sent shivers down everyone’s spine, just like mine.
Nothing screams a little fun without a duet, right? The mixture of Arianna Orozco and Camrbia Scarlett Sterbas’ voices elevated their performance of “City of Stars” from “La La Land.” The creative blend of a deep, strong, and confident voice with a soft, high, and melancholy one was a wise choice as it led to the same yearnful feeling from the actual move.
Everyone knows that “Wicked” was one of the movie-musicals of this year, which is why the choir included their own version of “Dancing Through Life” with their own stool to go with their choreography. It shows a great amount of fun to be on the stage and off of it. The upbeat and joyful song and dance helped the audience truly interact with the fun being had on stage.
The song was followed up by “What is this Feeling,” however, this song was exclusively sung by Danielle Relph, Alaina Hecht, Isabelle Ball, Izaiah Montoya Mejia, Dilnoor Kaur, Raymond Leija, Tanush Menon, and Katelyn Silver. The fun choreography showing Elphaba and Glinda disagreeing with each other and the acting from the students added depth to the show and enriched the song as a whole. From dramatically throwing a notebook and doing choreography around school tables it brought the Shiz university right here to Los Osos High School.
“Blue Skies” from Betsy changed the mood of the show as Bear Voices sang live and also played with real instruments. The real piano, cello, and drums in the background ignited the stage with their passion as the girls harmonized together in the song and the boys harmonized too. The jazzy piece’s vibrancy was a highlight of the show with so many talented students being able to perform altogether to bring such a great song to life.
One thing is for sure, you can never go wrong with a good classic. “Edelweiss” from the famous “Sound of Music” was a beautiful duet, also with a real instrument, a Spanish guitar, that assisted Katelyn Rudy and Gabriella Casequins’ dulcet voices. The merge of their voices did not disappoint the crowd, but instead created a roaring cheer from the audience by the end.
The movement of everything from her arms, to the sudden change of expression led to the audience feeling the same sadness that Adrienne Magno acted as she sang “She Used to be Mine” from “Waitress.” Her sad expressions made her shine with her heartfelt singing and the connection from her acting to the lyrics felt as if she was the character.
I know all the Hamilton fans were cheering when Amber Becerra came out to sing “Burn.” The confidence and strong voice imbued her performance with empowerment and resilience just how the lyrics implied. Her high notes lead to constant cheering from the crowd, using that to sing with her utmost confidence to achieve her amazing performance.
The first male solo performance was introduced by Lucas Elliot singing “Lonely Room” from “Oklahoma!” His deep, strong, and brave voice powered through the theater. The audience could feel his connection to the lyrics, almost feeling the desperation from the lyrics which Elliot sang beautifully.
The song “You Will be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen” was performed by Michael Gibson, Lucas Elliott, Charlie Gomez, Adrian Aguilar, Aiden Yang, Evynn Domench, Olivia Gonzalez-Salgado, and Alexis Marqueses, as a tribute to Connor Furutan who was an amazing part of their choir community. All the students wore green for the tribute, and a student shared a heartfelt message about Furutan and his lasting impact in choir.
The performance was followed by “No One is Alone” from “Into the Woods“,performed by Serenata. A soft song that featured a few students, and travelled all throughout the theater, surprised the audience, and felt almost a part of their performance.
A desperation in Ella Collin’s voice transformed her “What Happens” performance from “The Notebook” to a heart-wrenching portrayal resonated with the audience, the feeling of desperation for one you cannot have. Her yellow dress and sweet voice displayed hope and also was one of the performances that sent shivers down my spine.
Julie Farraj’s honeyed voice accentuated the hopeful and yearnful tone of the previous performance with her own of “Gimme Gimme” from “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” Farraj’s voice created an optimistic and determined tone by the end of her exquisite performance.
The last solo of the evening was performed by Aniya Green with “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from “Funny Girl.” Her song brought back the humorous tone that was used more in the beginning of the show, but her deep and confident voice still captivated the audience.
The Chamber Singers came out with “Merrily We Roll Along” from “Merrily We Roll Along” with a merge of high and low voices harmonizing together to create an overall mesmerizing and elegant show.
The final song of the night, “Raise Your Voice” from “Sister Act” performed by Mass Choir, was an uplifting and transformation number. It reconnected with the previous optimism from the other performances and brought a final inspiring empowerment feeling before everyone who sang bowed.
Collectively, the “Broadway Night” was a success for the choir, and was an overall fun and enjoyable experience. The efforts done by each student, even the ones behind the scenes, could be felt throughout the entirety of all performances, and brought the great community of Los Osos students to have a fun night listening to everyone’s unforgettable voices.