This Saturday at 7 p.m., lights will hit the stage in Davie High’s auditorium as the Drama Club gears up for its spring talent show fundraiser. This weekend’s showcase, the first of its kind held on Davie High’s current campus, will see students and staff alike strut their stuff and showcase their skills.
Plans for a talent show during the 2023-2024 school year fell through after too few students auditioned, which theater teacher Chad Edwards identified as a major setback.
“I think that the word didn’t get out as much,” Edwards says. “So we are trying to drum it up a lot this year.”
This year, the club advertised auditions on social media early to grab more attention from potential acts. The group also made another change to fill out the event’s run time. In addition to the performances, the show will also feature comedy acts from the drama club between the acts.
Much of the organization and planning of this year’s event has been spearheaded by Drama Club President Hazel Reavis. Reavis, a junior, has been a part of Davie’s Drama club all three years she’s been in high school. In addition to hosting the event, she has helped coordinate each of the interlude skits and will be performing one of her own.
“I actually was planning to sing ‘She’s Always a Woman’ by Billy Joel,” Reavis says. “My other person that’s hosting ( Mr. Edwards) it asked if we could do something else to add variety.”
Like Edwards, Reavis is hopeful that their promotion of the event will help not only draw more attention to the club but also highlight the talent around Davie High. And those talents will not be limited to only students. English teacher Kasandra Pond, along with Edwards, will also be performing at the show. Pond will be performing “When I Get There” by P!nk. She has been interested in singing since childhood and is excited to perform this song for others, one that resonates with her beyond the beat.
“I lost my grandfather not that long ago, and it kind of got me through the sadness and brought back joy,” Pond says.
For Pond, sharing something so personal with a crowd is giving her some butterflies ahead of this weekend’s event, but this is nothing new for the English teacher. Even while teaching in front of her classes, Pond sometimes finds herself feeling nervous, but for her, it is important to face that fear.
“I think to myself, ‘This is a great way to show others, yeah, I’m scared, but that’s not gonna stop me,’” Pond says.
Edwards explains that the end goal of the talent show is to build a yearly school tradition and to host a fun event that helps students build community.
“We’re getting a lot more acts this year,” Edwards says. “We think it’s something that, if it’s successful this year, that we can build on for years to come.”
Come see this one-night-only performance this Saturday, March 14, at the Davie High auditorium.
Lila Moore, Grace Carroll, and Caylee Barrett contributed to this story.
