Like true Broadway troupers, students at Elmwood School overcame their nerves to perform under stage lights for the school’s annual Variety Show.
Sixteen acts perform on stage the afternoon of April 2 in the school’s gym. Another show was scheduled that evening so parents, family and friends could attend.
Lisa Anderson, a sixth-grade teacher at the school who coordinated the show with Lauren Deutsche, said the schools doesn’t need to persuade students to take part.
“We have a lot of kids try out,” she said. “We always let them know the show can only be one hour.”
This year’s theme was “Elmwood on Broadway,” and those who put their best foot forward during last month’s auditions came back to sing and dance. The performances also included comedy and magic acts.
Students laughed as Mark Klockenkemper told jokes, and Zoe Rice acted as the straight person saying “Wocka Wocka” after every punch line, in true Muppet Fozzy Bear fashion, in their performance called “Muppets Take Broadway.”
Magnus Shipinski, 10, also known as Magnus the Magnificent, performed several magic tricks, making bottles of soda disappear and pulling several boxes of flowers out of a bag that appeared empty.
How did he do it? He said he would never reveal the secrets to his tricks.
“I have fun doing it,” he said. “I’ve been doing magic since I was 5.”
His father, Jason Shipinski, who was in attendance at the afternoon performance, said he taught his son everything he knows when it comes to magic.
“Now he’s starting to get beyond me,” he said. “He loves to perform and the bigger the audience the more he enjoys it. He’s a ham.”
Abby Beatty, 12, gave a tap dance performance that excited the crowd. She admitted she was a little nervous, but she enjoys performing, especially tap dancing.
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“It really makes me happy,” she said.
Anderson said they didn’t have any practices, and the performers’ parents play a big part in getting them ready. Naomi Toledo, 12, her sister Sophie, 7, and Aria Loranger, 11 practiced together for several days. The group performed a dance routine with Sophia adding acrobatic cartwheels and flips to the routine.
Naomi and Sophie’s mother, Stephane Toledo, said they all practiced in the basement of her home.
“They were awesome and did a good job,” she said. “It takes a lot of guts to get up there.”
Lori Imes traveled from DeKalb, Ill., to Elmwood Park to hook up with her sister, Madeline Imbrogeno, and see her great niece, Madeline Helin, 10, who is Imbrogeno’s granddaughter. Madeline was part of a group performing and singing, “Wash that Man Right out of My Hair,” from the Broadway musical “South Pacific.”
“I thought it was great,” Imbrogeno said. “They all did great.”
“It’s a great achievement to have the confidence to get up on stage,” Imes said.