Albert Lea High School students perform talent show

Published 10:57 am Friday, March 11, 2016

Abby Sencio performs a Bach suite on the cello during rehearsals for Albert Lea High School’s Tigers’ Roar talent show. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Abby Sencio performs a Bach suite on the cello during rehearsals for Albert Lea High School’s Tigers’ Roar talent show. – Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

A showcase of high school talent will be on display this weekend in Albert Lea.

Albert Lea High School students will present Tigers’ Roar tonight and Saturday night at the Albert Lea High School auditorium. Both shows are at 7 p.m. and admission is $5.

The talent show doubles as a fundraiser for fine arts programs and resources.

Email newsletter signup

Students will sing, dance, rap and perform instrumentals and country-style comedy.

The show includes a rendition of “Touch the Sky” from the movie “Brave” by seniors Kendra Manges and Abby Sencio; “Falling Slowly” from the musical “Once” by Heather Wirkus and Jack Buendorf; and Hozier’s “Work Song” by Lydia Boorsma, Sencio and Sam Ware.

Juniors Hanna Johnson, Darren Guildner and Wirkus will perform Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.”

Wirkus, a junior who is performing in three acts, said Wednesday that she is excited to perform.

and Fleek are serving as sound and light crew.

Raelin Bizjak, Michael Smith, Justine Nelson, Kayla Overland and Neidermeier are on the steering committee and serve as backstage crew.

The ALHS jazz band will perform before the show at 6:30 p.m. each night.

Cookies and refreshments will be available at intermission as a fundraiser for the choir, and Heaney expects the shows to last about two hours.

“There’s so much variety in this show,” Wirkus said. “It’s just going to be so much fun for everyone to watch. There’s singing, there is dancing, there is bands — it’s just going to be a really great experience.”

Greta Hagen, Andrew Field, Jenna Seavey and Mai Dang will perform a sign language rendition of Shawn Mendes’ “Stitches.”

The first show was Thursday night, and director Diane Heaney said she hopes to exceed last year’s average total of 400 attendees per night. She said the show provides the school a chance to showcase its talent.

“I see this talent every day and it is so fun to be able to share it with the general public,” she said.

Auditions were a month ago; Heaney has met with each individual involved in the show at least three times in the last few weeks.

The show will also include individual performances by Kyle Neidermeier, Charley Fleek, Bri Shea, Jacob Leal, Rickon Peterson, Grace Chalmers and Aaron Zogg; and duets featuring Alexis Tasker and Ashlee Whebbe, Wirkus and Simon Knettig, Jared Schmidt and Denzel Acha, Emma Tewes and Schafer Overgaard, and Matt Palmer and Jack Buendorf.

The ALHS CATaclysmic show choir will perform a number of songs during the performance, such as “Love Shack,” “Country Roads” and “Wagon Wheel.”

Masters of ceremony are Tianna Abrego, Camryn Keyeski, Sam Ware, Sam Moyer, Overgaard and Kailey Christensen.

Christensen, a junior, said she enjoys making people laugh and likes the show’s creative skits. She said her mother has always encouraged her to perform.

“I was always scared to do it, and I finally did it and I really loved it,” she said.

Carson McGivern, Nathan Reichl, Logan Alfson, Jake Ware

and Fleek are serving as sound and light crew.

Raelin Bizjak, Michael Smith, Justine Nelson, Kayla Overland and Neidermeier are on the steering committee and serve as backstage crew.

The ALHS jazz band will perform before the show at 6:30 p.m. each night.

Cookies and refreshments will be available at intermission as a fundraiser for the choir, and Heaney expects the shows to last about two hours.

About Sam Wilmes

Sam Wilmes covers crime, courts and government for the Albert Lea Tribune.

email author More by Sam