After 12 years,  Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School finally brought back the talent show.  Hosted by the BBHHS drama club, the talent show was hosted as a “fun”draiser benefiting the auditorium.  With 11 acts and two virtual reality artists, the drama club raised $1245.88 towards the auditorium’s lighting needs.

“The district is about to drop a ton of cash on audio-visual needs in the auditorium. Unfortunately, we also have a need to make significant upgrades to our lighting system’s infrastructure and hardware: new lights, new software and touchscreens that join antiquated tech with currently updated things. With the amount of money being spent on AV things now, it’s kind of rough going to the Board with our hat in hand for even more money for the auditorium,” said Ben Lesh, an English teacher and one of the drama club advisers at BBHHS 

According to the website Control Booth, the average high school theater lighting system is around a quarter-million dollars, and with all the money the district is about to drop on audio-visual needs, any separate fundraising the drama club does is dedicated specifically to the auditorium’s lighting needs. 

In all, the goal for the auditorium is to add a wing and update the tech with hopes to possibly have a “black box theater” as well as more rehearsal spaces.  “While the talent show is to raise money for the auditorium, it’s also a way for students to show off their talents and express themselves in their own ways.” Lesh said.  At the end of the acts, the audience was asked to vote for their favorite and the top 3 acts would win a cash prize.

The first place winner, Leah Spacek, a junior, and her accompanist were selected as the favorite show and won $50. “I was pretty surprised to win, but very excited,” said Spacek who sang the song ‘Rise Up’ by Andra Day, “I chose the song ‘Rise Up’ because I loved the message it gives.” 

The second place winner, Dawson Still, a freshman in the drumline, sang the song ‘When I was your Man’ by Bruno Mars and is a self-taught pianist and has never had vocal lessons.  “My goals would be to secure my singing voice and make it sound cleaner while boosting my vocal range a lot and I wanna show more people about my voice and piano skills and get out there.” Still said.

The third place winner, Timothy Hawkins, a freshman and robotic engineer, sang the song ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ by Frank Sinatra and had never performed seriously before (excluding choir), though he has been practicing his whole life. “I love making people feel emotion while singing. It makes me feel happy to share my feelings with others.” Hawkins said.

Another fan favorite was Garret Travers and Nicole Hirsch, seniors in the BBHHS choir, singing the song ‘In a Crowd of Thousands’. “I truly went into the show without setting any expectations.  Nicole and I prepared well, worked hard and tried our best. No matter what happened, we knew that it would be worth it,” Travers said.

“I’ve been performing in the arts since I was a toddler.  I started taking dance classes when I was 3 years old and started my vocal journey in my freshman year when I joined the freshman choir class. I was drawn to the stage at a young age and always enjoyed performing.” Hirsch said.

“I would love to perform in another talent show! The group of students were incredible, and working with such motivated individuals was incredibly inspiring!” Travers said.

The goal for the next talent show is to incorporate more of a variety of art forms like dance, visual arts, and more.  “Singing is great and all, but our students are super-talented in a ton of ways and I want everyone to get the spotlight they deserve,” the English teacher said.

“We had a good crowd for the revival. Would I have liked a little more? Yes. But I’m not going to get too greedy over it.  The crowds will only get bigger from here.” Lesh said. 

With that being said, not everyone is open to the idea of performing in front of a crowd or even auditioning in front of a few people.  According to Very Well Mind, 77% of the population has some level of anxiety regarding public speaking, known as glossophobia. 

“Auditions are always very difficult because as much as you can prepare and work on your technique, your voice has its good and bad days.  The only way to come to terms with nerves that you may face is to continue to audition.  I always get nervous, but living with the nerves has greatly helped me keep my breath strong during any audition,”  Travers said.

“If there was another talent show, I would love to see more people participate with whatever they feel comfortable with.” said the Junior.  In all, the talent show “fun”draiser hosted by the BBHHS drama club was a huge success and if you’re ever looking for a way to show off your talent, be on the lookout for the next talent show.