On April 23, Shaler Area High School showed off its talent at the annual Talent Show which also featured the Mr./Ms. Shaler Area Competition. With a total of 22 performances, the night was packed with music, laughter, dancing, and some unforgettable moments.
This year’s show featured 18 talent acts and four Mr./Ms. Shaler Area contestants, making it one of the biggest shows yet.
“We made that happen in exactly 2.5 hours. We were very happy with the pacing of the show and the efforts of the Stage Crew to set up, tear down, and mic/light each act efficiently,” said Mr. Scott Krenn, one of the show’s directors, said. “Each act had an average of 3 minutes and 30 seconds to perform, but with emcee introductions and transitions, each one took about 5 minutes of stage time.”
There were plenty of auditions this year, but not everyone could make the final cut.
“We always have to make a few cuts,” Mr. Krenn explained. “Sometimes it’s because the act wasn’t quite polished enough. But other times, performers were already in the show too many times, and we want to give more people a chance.”
When choosing between similar acts, Mr. Krenn added, “The directors openly prioritize group acts over individual acts. We also try to prioritize seniors over underclassmen in those bubble circumstances.”
As for the highly anticipated Mr./Ms. Shaler Area competition, it featured four strong contestants: Josh Brown, Murrow Gill, Christian Mendoza, and Lane Wright. The competition included four different judged categories—Talent, Videos, Karaoke, and Costume.
“There are anonymous judges in the crowd,” said Mr. Krenn. “Mrs. Thiel gives community members and alumni a QR code to scan in order to be a judge, and the results come in through a Google Form.”
This year’s competition was so good that all four of the contestants were recognized in the end.
“Christian Mendoza won by one of the closest margins of victory ever,” Mr. Krenn said. “It was a really great group of contestants—so much so that we gave the whole group the Schweiger Award.”
The Paul Schweiger Award is one of the biggest honors of the night. It’s given to the act, acts, or people that best show the “Spirit of the Show”—being helpful, positive, and essential to its success.
“This year we chose The Color Guard and the Mr. Shaler Area contestants as Schweiger Award winners,” said Mr. Krenn.
No matter how much planning goes into a performance, sometimes the unexpected happens.
“Jimmy Spagnolo was playing his drums so hard during his act that the bass pedal broke off his drum,” Mr. Krenn said. “He had to fix it mid-song to continue his act.”
Even though the talent show doesn’t name an official “winner,” the performances always leave a lasting impression. Krenn shared that some of his favorite acts from past years include Corrine Brazelle singing Les Mis, Antoni Miladinov’s beatboxing, Zach Grabowski on piano, the energy of the drumline, and Sean Lang’s guitar/vocals.
“But every year there’s an act that sticks in my memory,” he said.
So what were the best performances of the night? Krenn had high praise for several students.
“I really enjoyed our seniors this year. Talent Show veterans like JGJ, Erin Raymond, and Jordan Fowler all performed flawlessly,” he said. “Newcomer Morgan Killmeyer also blew me away with her guitar playing and singing.”
The show kicked off with an incredible opening number featuring JGJ & the Swingers, a group of 15 to 20 jazz musicians who lit up the stage with their energy and sound.
“That’s definitely one I’ll remember from this year,” Mr. Krenn said.
