On Friday December 11, Greylock Plays put on a talent show at 7 pm in order to raise funds for Friends of the Arts. Tickets were $5 a person and concessions, such as bottled water and cookies, were $1. Overall, the event raised $600 for Friends of the Arts and attracted over 100 audience members.

The emcees of the night were seniors Luc Park, Nicole Jones, and Noah Savage, three Mt. Greylock actors who recently performed in Shakespeare and Company’s Macbeth. The first act of the show featured junior Jaedin King, who played piano and sang “Waiting Outside the Lines” by Grayson Chance. Following King came a string quartet including violinists: Orchestra teacher Ouisa Forhaltz, Anya Sheldon (‘16), and Serena Chow (‘17) and Mercer Greenwald (‘17), a violist. The four performed Mozart’s “Table Music,” a musical piece that, when played backwards, sounds the same except for being an octave higher. Jake Bryan, an eighth grader, then took the stage and sang “It’s Not Unusual,” by Tom Jones. After Bryan’s song, which also included energetic dancing, seventh grader Ruth Weaver sang Adele’s ever-famous “Rolling in the Deep,” which her father Ben accompanied with guitar. Maddy Art, an eighth grader, sported a red tutu and performed a snippet from the ballet “Don Quixote”. Sophomore Cedar Keyes then played ukulele and sang Ingrid Michaelson’s “I Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Greylock Plays veteran duo violinist Anya Sheldon and math teacher Robert Thistle, who was on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, took the stage and performed “I Still Do,” a song written by Thistle himself. Marleigh Briggs, an eighth grade, and Crystal Moore, a seventh grader, then sang David Guetta and Sia’s hit-song “Titanium.” Finally, to finish off the first act, band teacher Lyndon Moors, oboe, and his wife Joan Devoe, piano, performed “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission by Ennio Morricone.

After the 15 minute intermission, Owen Tucker-Smith, an eighth grader, played a piano piece called “Prelude” from Suite Bergamasque by Debussy. Next came ballerinas Hannah Fein, a senior, and Lauren Jacobee, a freshman, who performed a modern ballet to Sia’s “Breathe Me.” Juniors Jenna Benzinger, who sang, and Dagny Albano, who played piano, performed “The Way I Am,” by Ingrid Michaelson. Tara Kristensen, a sophomore who, despite a sprained thumb,  performed  Benedetto Marcello’s “Andante and Allegro” on the baritone saxophone. Next to the stage was Mt. Greylock history teacher Drew Gibson, decked in a petticoat. He recited “Prinderella,” a comedic and gibberish version of the fairy-tale Cinderella full of the sad Prinderella’s “hoo booing” and her “wirty dags.” The Greylock Glee Club then sang “Shake It Out,” by Florence and the Machine. The penultimate act of the night was seventh grader Nicholas Thayer who sang Maroon 5’s hit song “Sugar.” Finally, student teacher Will Herrero set up a complex system of computers and sliders to perform an original electronica composition accompanied by a polychromatic light show. Herrero also informed the audience that it was his last night at Mt. Greylock and, as a parting gesture, Luc Park presented him with an official Mt. Greylock hat from the Red Zone.

Overall, according to talent show organizer and director Emily Brannan, “[the show] was a great success and we had such a variety of talent.” As a new member of Friends of the Arts, Brannan was eager to revitalize the long dead talent show. “There used to be a talent show [at Mt. Greylock],” Brannan said, “but then it went away. I thought it would be a good idea to start it up again”. Due to the event’s success, Greylock Plays at Night will become an annual tradition at Mt. Greylock.