There are many talented students here at ALHS, and these students were given the opportunity to showcase their skill in the Follies talent show. The talent show offered a lot of different talents from singing to dancing, and even comedy. 

Although these shows don’t go on without a lot of planning and time behind them. Drama teacher Steve Mandelko was one of the show’s directors. 

“It’s a great experience! For the performers, it is an opportunity to build their confidence in performance and put themselves out there in front of their friends and family. For the techies, it is a real-world experience of quickly putting together a show and running it as smoothly and professionally as possible with very limited practice,” Mandelko said. 

However, like every show, there were some hiccups during the process. 

“When preparing for a live show there are always bumps in the road. In this case, performers and techies got sick and we had to adjust on the fly. However, I would say people did a really good job adjusting,” Mandelko said. 

One of the students given the opportunity was Tayden Smith, a sophomore here at ALHS. She has taken dance for many years and decided to share her talent with the rest of the school and perform on stage. 

“It was lots of fun hanging out with them, they are all very welcoming,” Smith said. 

However, everyone has things they can improve on and Tayden gave her honest opinion when reflecting on her dance performance. 

“I think the only way I would change my performance would be the choreography only because it wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be,” Smith said.

Smith also chose to recognize other performers in their triumphs and performances. Referring to Kirsten and Nick Spurgin.

“In my opinion, the best performance of the night, I can’t remember the names of the performers, but one person singing and the other was playing the drums. I liked it because she has an amazing voice,” Smith said. 

The night came to an end, but the memories of these students and their talents and the incredible show will last forever in the minds of the audience and their peers.