Last Saturday night, Kemper Auditorium came alive with the hustle and bustle of last minute adjustments and a flow of people eager for a great show. The masters of ceremony, Ben Manuel ’12, Dennis Zhou ’12, Pat Wolber ’11 and Jesse Bielasiak ’11 hilariously introduced the first act, catching the attention of the audience. Zach Sturman ’12 began the night with a short presentation on a newly founded UNICEF club, co-founded by Gabo Cordero ’12, Kastle Jones ’12 and Sturman. The club presented a video that detailed their focus on the improvement of education in South American villages. The video featured smiling children alongside words that motivated the audience to put “a smile on these children’s” faces. The presentation ended by offering the audience an opportunity to get involved by contacting the founders of the club. The theater dimmed, awaiting the illumination of the sensational glow group, Illuminati. Composed of Alex Esakof ’12, Tim McLaughlin ’11 and Zach Esakof ’11, Illuminati transfixed the audience by artfully twirling their glowing tools to the beat of “Spectrum” from the TRON legacy movie. They performed different tricks and moved through the aisles of the theater in an impressive fashion. Following Illuminati, Hypnotiq commanded the audience’s attention with quick and rhythmic displays of hip-hop dancing. The impressive choreography led the audience to think of Hypnotiq’s performance as one of the highlights of the evening. Kate Taylor-Mighty ’11, whose act was another highlight of the evening, awed the crowd with her upbeat performance of One Republic’s “Stop and Stare,” on her ukulele. McLaughlin braved the stage once again, with his interpretive juggling act. Throughout the act, McLaughlin added and took away balls according to the amount of activities he described in his story. One of the funnier narrations detailed a PA student during senior fall juggling a variety of activities. McLaughlin added balls during “fall term” and reduced the number of balls during “senior spring,” signifying the change in workload. Elizabeth Paul ’12 surprised the audience with an original song titled “At All.” Her soulful lyrics and soothing voice moved the audience and quickly earned her a place as a favorite of the evening. Pease House Band, comprised of Cal Brooks ’11, Sky Yoo ’11, Thomas Armstrong ’11 and Dominic Chang ’11, took the stage next. While Yoo spat out rhymes, the band accompanied him with rock and roll beats. The combination of catchy lyrics and a great rhythm proved to be very successful. Huzar and the Noon O’Clocks, featuring Alex Huzar ’11, performed the well-known song “Blitzkrieg Bop,” by The Ramones. Passionate vocals, loud drums, and guitar riffs filled the auditorium. Though relatively new to the spotlight, the band commanded the stage. The last act was the band named “Bizzare Bazaar.” The band featured Anna Stacy ’13 on drums, Nicodermo Scarfo ’13 on guitar, Jeannine Anderson ’11 on lead vocals and David Tylinski ’12 on guitar, notably dressed in drag. Tylinski caused quite a stir as he performed wearing heels and a dress. Later he said, “It’s not that difficult [to play in heels]. I was planning on doing this for a while.” Leading the audience into a stirring performance of “We’re not Gonna Take it,” “Bizzare Bazaar” concluded the show on a high note. Despite the long process and stress that went into the show, the product was phenomenal. Stage Director Miranda Haymon ’12 said, “That’s what I like about Abbot Cabaret. It’s very stressful and random, but the end product is raw and natural.”
