Four minutes to show time and there was not an empty seat to be seen. It wasn’t Gaga or Beiber who enticed the crowd to fill the auditorium, but a group of talented teens, poets, singers, song writers and actors– the Lady Gagas of the future. After folding chairs were hastily dragged into the hall to create another row, a hush fell over the crowd. The show began.
The 2012 justCommunity Performing Arts Festival held December 11th at the James Lorah House in Doylestown was an outstanding success and a night to remember for the twenty-one student performers from Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Each performer wrote either an original song, poem or play based on the theme ‘What’s on Your Mind’.
justCommunity board members Teresa Gallagher and Jan Jalenak organized the event and did an extraordinary job with overseeing the entire production. The songs were brilliantly written and performed by: Aliza Berger, Timothy Bilodeau, Aaron Braverman, Alden Braverman, Lauren Elliott, Andrew Galena, Emma Gibson, Gel Gibson, Ganesh Greenwald, Grace Guggenheim, Zoe Long, Hannah McCausland, Alyssa Neiman, Sarah Rubinstein and Lindsey Todd.
The poems were thought provoking and delivered with emotion by: Victoria Deck, Paige Ierubino and Stina Stannik. The plays written by Erin Farrell and Emily Reese, were incredibly moving and “read aloud” in what is called a “staged reading”. Throughout the show, background and interlude music was shared by flute player Nick Hall. Special thanks to Jules Thin Crust Pizza, Quakertown National Bank, First Savings Bank of Perkasie and the Cardinal Video and Camera Center for providing in-kind and/or major financial support for the event. A special thank you goes to David Phillips who mentored the student performers and also provided the sound system. The event was such a success that there is talk of getting the group together for an open mike night and discussions as to how to make next year’s event bigger and better!
The resounding applause and smiling faces at the end of the night both on and off the stage marked the end of an exciting event. The night was such a success that there is talk of getting the group together for an open mike night and discussions as to how to make next year’s event bigger and better! Our extreme gratitude goes out to the parents, board members and contributors for making this an extremely special night.
The event raised close to $2,000 which will benefit the Upper Bucks Healthy Communities Healthy Youth Coalition and the Project CARE Training Program, two major initiatives supported by justCommunity, Inc.
