Talent rocks the house at Sullivan West

Annual National Honor Society fundraiser featured diverse acts and an evening of fun

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Year after year, the talent show hosted by the National Honor Society of Sullivan West is a real crowd pleaser. This year’s show packed the house as the audience was treated to 14 acts. Fine performances ranged from the lilting classical violin playing of Julia Berger of Jules Massenet’s “Meditation from Thais,” to the ear-splitting rock of the band Eight Minutes Late.

Other musical interludes included the original piano piece “Awakening Dawn,” performed by Kevin Pinkel, the fine singing of John Mayer’s “Vultures,” by Alicia Baldwin and Evelyn Hett, the great rapping of Marcus Brown of his own composition, “Tale of Two Hearts,” the sonorous flute playing of “The Last Rose of Summer,” by Brian Calvet, the tuneful duet of “As Long As You’re Mine,” by Laura Berger and Ross Bernhardt and the singing of Nora Jones’ “Don’t Know Why,” by Catherine Peters.

Two other musical numbers brought the house down. First, Shawn Bailey’s vocal rendition of “Supernatural,” by DC Talk, had the audience in a state of rapture. Then, the show’s finale featuring Noah Barker on drums and Matt McArthur on guitar as part of the duet “Bruised” had the joint jumping.

Dance numbers punctuated the night of diverse acts. They included the performance by Christina Micciulli and Samantha Bassett of “Beep,” by the Pussycat Dolls, the gorgeously choreographed version of the Cheetah Girls song “A La Nanita Nana,” done by Emily Kramer and Tracey Pincus, and the awesome duet of Jackie Ellmauer and Erika Schmidt as they cavorted to “One, Two Step” by Ciara.

The night’s emcees included Randall Grimm, Skie O’Hara, Diana Justus and Ross Bernhardt, whose comic repartee kept the show going. Prizes donated by Clear-Rite Pools, Wagner Century Oil, Michaelangelos, The Other Store, The Secret Garden, Cinema 6, The Pantry, The Sullivan County Democrat and Landers’ River Café were given to all of the performers.

Click here for a photo album of the talent show