The Roaring 20s

A Night With Gatsby

Anagabriel Trevino
Staff Writer

This semester’s variety show at John Abbott College was the party of the decade, inspired by the Gatsby style known by its illegal booze and excess.

The show itself was an amazing mix in time periods and styles. When the show started, the energy onstage was great. Just like one would imagine it would feel like to attend one of Gatsby’s parties, playing songs that speak to the public. The performers had such great energy on stage, from the amazing and dynamic dances to the heart-felt songs, every act moved the public.

Of course this is all thanks to our great organizers, amongst them, the producers of this show; Riley Alexander and Tali Starzenski. They told Bandersnatch that organizing the show was quite stressful, exciting and a lot of work. One of the biggest challenges they faced was choosing the performers, because “our school is full of talent”. In the end, though, they were both “super happy with the result” and very proud to be doing this for a good cause.

All the proceeds from the event and the bake sale will be donated to Mira, a Quebec based, non-profit organisation that helps people with visual impairment. They offer full trained seeing eye dogs to people in need.

Backstage, some performers agreed to a short interview: Matthew Patrick and Lucas, all from the Legion crew dance team, said that preparation and practice were very intensive, they even said that last adjustments were being made up to the eve of the event, but they all enjoy dancing and performing.

Paula Medina, an exchange student from Mexico and an amazing dancer, said she really enjoyed participating, that she felt both nervous and excited. She has been dancing for over 6 years, two of which have been in her current style, contemporary dance. It was a challenge for her to go onstage without a group, but once she was up there, the audience was speechless.

The final result, though, was nothing short of spectacular. Hard work and A Lot of talent came together beautifully to make an amazing show for a wonderful cause.