On Friday December 2, The Class of 2017 hosted a talent show called “The Key: Encore.” Some of the profits from the event went towards Housing Families, a local non-profit organization that aims to end family homelessness in Massachusetts. Several juniors and seniors displayed their talents by singing, dancing or playing an instrument. The show was hosted by seniors Erin Mulcahy and co-vice president of the senior class Jesse Bouley.
Senior class advisor Heather Northrop explains that the idea for The Encore arose from a talent show that the Class of 2016 did last year. She said that the event “was an opportunity for [the class of 2017] to give back to a local organization. The performers at Junior Varieties last year performed very well, and almost all of them participated in [The Encore] as well.” She claims that it was an easy fundraiser for the seniors because “[they] only had three days for rehearsals, but [they] did a really good job.” Overall, Northrop thought that the show went really well and believes that “MHS students have an amazing way of pulling things together even if it’s at the last minute. [The seniors] came through and did an awesome job.”
Junior and former Blue and Gold member Nada Tuffaha, who played the piano to “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley and sang “Let It Go” by James Bay, claimed that “the show only had two rehearsals and one run through of the whole show.” Despite this, Tuffaha had a great time performing because “[she] loved being apart of JV’s last year, and being in the same environment with the same extremely talented people felt really good. It was also really good to be a part of since half of the proceeds went to Housing Families.”
The students that participated in the talent show greatly enjoyed being apart of it. Senior Julia Cocuzzo, who sang “Someone Like You” by Adele with fellow seniors Erin Johnson and Nayara Andrade, feels that “the show gave [the performers] an opportunity to raise money for the senior class in a way that was fun. Everybody in both acts worked really hard and [the performers] got to show off all of our talents.” Senior Sanaa Bezzat, who performed with The Scorpions dance team and sang “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit was happy that “the show went really well as a quick fundraiser for the seniors and Housing Families.”
Senior class treasurer Cleverina Cong, who played a medley of songs from the musical “Les Miserables,” explains that “rehearsals for the show were really chaotic, and [she] was hesitant to commit to the show at first because [she] had never performed before. But this was [her] last chance, and it seemed like a good way for [her] to come out of her comfort zone.” In the end, Cong was glad that “[she] seized this opportunity and [she] is grateful to be a part of a dedicated senior class.”
