By Ainsley Northrop

People Editor

On Thursday, Nov. 3, LGHS hosted its annual talent show, Unplugged, which featured various performances, including singing, guitar, harmonica, and more. 

One act featured juniors Ro Venezia and Oliver Longhi, who made their talent show debut singing “Jimmy the Chameleon” by Brookside. In addition to singing, Venezia accompanied on the guitar. Though this duo put together their performance in one day, it was impeccable. Venezia described his interest in auditioning, stating, “I meant to do Unplugged last year, but I couldn’t because of schedule conflicts, and [Longhi] had been asking me to duet…so I thought this would be a good opportunity.” 

Describing the best part of the show, Venezia mentioned, “Just sitting backstage listening to everyone else, because we hadn’t gotten to hear all of the acts until the actual opening night of the show…so it was cool hearing everyone else and getting all hyped for them.” Venezia reported that he would happily participate in another school talent show, and cannot wait for any chances to perform in the future.

Another participant was Senior Carys Grespan, who sang Sara Bareilles’ song from the Broadway musical Waitress, “She Used to Be Mine.” Grespan explained her reasoning for choosing the song, expressing, “I sang it in the car with my uncle in LA over the summer, and he got very emotional and wanted me to sing it for either a talent show or choir.” After practicing for months by singing in the car, Grespan finally got her chance to perform, and sent the video of the heartfelt performance to her uncle. Grespan managed to balance the show with her packed schedule and described the rehearsal and audition process as very accommodating and quick. Like many people, Grespan was slightly nervous about the performance, but when she walked on stage, she “happily noticed that [she] couldn’t see anybody because the audience was completely dark, which calmed [her] nerves.”

According to both Venezia and Grespan, the community backstage was filled with support. Grespan exclaimed, “the backstage environment was lovely. It was really nice to hear everybody sing, collaborate with them, and hear about how long each person had been practicing.” Behind the scenes, students in the show passed the time spent waiting to go on stage by watching the live stream of the show that was displayed in the drama room and congratulating those who had already performed.

Unplugged was filled with LGHS’ impeccably talented students and staff, and provided a supportive, welcoming community to those who participated.