Students showed off their talents on March 8, at the annual talent show. From singing to dancing to hula-hooping, the performers gave it their all and surely entertained the audience.

Run by International Thespian Society, the talent show helped to raise money for Utica’s theatre department. Some members of ITS helped keep the show going between sets with clever commentary, such as junior Gianna Bratke, who was joined by juniors Gabby Hotaj and Dez LaCourse onstage.

“The talent show was fun, and it was interesting to be onstage and center, but still not the main focus,” Bratke said. “We had a running joke with our group where Gabby was acting dumb and I was annoyed.”

Auditions were held the Monday prior to the show, also run by members of ITS. All 19 auditions made it into the final show.
“The diversity of talents at Utica came as a shock,” junior Daniella Russo said. “The different acts whether it was dancing, singing or comedy were all incredible.”

For some acts, this was their first time auditioning, such as sophomore Rennee Cillufo. Although nerve-wracking to some, Cillufo described the audition process as “pretty cool”.

“Seeing everyone’s reactions when they were expecting another singer, but getting the unexpected was fun,” Cillufo said.

Cillufo rolled out on stage with a rather unusual talent– roller-blading. She’s skated for fun since she was in third grade, but started attempting tricks a year and a half ago.

“It was very hard choreographing a routine to show a glimpse of what I could do, so I did what I could in my power to train for hours everyday after school.” Cillufo said. “It turns out the majority was improvised because I had trouble hearing the music on stage.”

A variety of acts were showcased, such as senior Hanna Deckert’s hula-hooping. She has been hula-hooping for four years, and this was her third year in the Talent Show.

“Performing went really good,” Deckert said. “It was nerve-wracking at first, but after you start performing you get more concentrated.”

Although those performing didn’t get to see all of the other acts, performers with friends in the show, such as Deckert, did their best to see other performances.

“I tried to watch as many as I could,” said Deckert. “All of the ones I saw I loved.”