“Who needs American Idol?” proclaimed the Abbot Cabaret flyer, “We’ve got our own ABB Cab Idols!”
This past Saturday, Abbot Cabaret presented its annual talent show, featuring students from all clusters.
Every year, proceeds from the show’s ticket sales go to a charity of the cluster’s choice. This year, Abbot chose to support the James Rice Memorial Fund of the Peabody Fire Department.
Talents featured in the show included the Yorkies, Azure, Hypnotiq, Keynotes and Spectrum. Eleven acts performed, and the show lasted almost an hour and a half.
The show started off with a skit by MCs Max Block ’12, Ben Manuel ’12 and Andrew Schlager ’12.
Manuel suddenly tackled Block and forced Block to introduce himself to the audience and announce the first act, Unaccompanied Minors, Andover’s student-run orchestra.
Dressed in white T-shirts and jeans, 13 members of Unaccompanied Minors walked up onto the stage with classical instruments including violins and clarinets in hand.
Informal and lively, the group performed a rousing rendition of “Into the Storm,” composed by Robert W. Smith.
Next up was Sam Hewat ’12 who performed John Mayer’s “In Your Atmosphere.” Hewat’s impressive acoustic guitar performance received many accolades from the audience.
Sirus Han’s ’13 Chinese yo-yo performance, set to a Dubstep song, brought a different kind of talent to the stage.
Han twisted and twirled his yo-yo in various patterns and sometimes tossed it high into the air, and his tricks gained momentum as the beat of the music increased.
The Yorkies, Andover’s all-made a cappella group, took the stage to perform “Grace Kelly” by MIKA; their rendition featured soloist Ben Croen ’13.
Croen impressed the audience with his technical mastery, as he hit his lowest and highest falsetto notes often in the same breath.
Croen said, “MIKA basically puts two characters in the song that I tried to follow–one is his sad self and the other one is his very sassy self, which is imitated by the high voice. So I tried to imitate those two.”
Afterwards was Tasmiah Ahmad’s ’14 solo performance of Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You.”
Azure, Andover’s female a cappella group, followed with a rendition of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love?” Elizabeth Paul’s ’12 beat boxing provided a backdrop to Azure’s rappers.
MCs Schlager and Block performed their own rendition of “A Whole New World” from Disney’s “Aladdin.”
In an attempt to lure Block into Andover’s theater world, Schlager serenaded Block until Block responded by singing four dulcet notes of the song.
Hypnotiq then took the stage with its shoulder-popping dance. Hypnotiq’s dancers rotated positions on the stage, performing dances that included different numbers of dancers.
Next came the band “Sometimes Even the Muppets Get the Blues,” featuring David Tylinski ’12, Bernhard Fasenhest ’12, Nicodemo Scarfo ’13 and Dan Krichmar ’12.
The band performed a song by the group “The President of the United States of America,” and Tylinski’s aggressive baseline meshed well with Scarfo’s guitar riffs.
Afterwards, Paul took the stage to sing The Eagles’ “Desperado.” The combination of her dramatic piano playing and voice embodied the sentiment of the piece.
Keynotes, Andover’s co-ed a cappella group, followed with a rendition of Coldplay’s “Fix You.” The performance featured soloist Anna Stacy ’13, whose clear voice resonated throughout Kemper.
The final act presented the duo Spectrum, featuring Alex Esakof ’12 and George Avecillas ’13, who ended the Cabaret with a spectacular glowsticks light performance.
“Last night was a wonder,” said Croen, “I think I have to say that I absolutely loved all the performances.”
Zach Sturman ’12, Abbot Cluster President, said in an e-mail to The Phillipian, “Though this is my last year in the cluster, I am confident that the underclassmen who were driving forces for the success of this year’s Abbot Cabaret … will rally together next year to produce another top-notch event.”
“Abbot Cabaret was hugely successful this year, both in terms of audience turnout and overall performance. Because we were able to host some of the best MCs and most talented acts on campus, this year’s shows attracted the largest audience in recent history. The on-stage energy in both shows was unmistakably contagious and well reciprocated by the crowd,” continued Sturman.
Tickets cost $3 and were available for purchase outside Kemper Auditorium. Audience members had the choice between a 7 p.m. show and a 9 p.m. show.
