After months of planning, the sophomore and junior class clubs’ talent show was canceled by administration. The clubs planned to hold the event on April 16, and had many meetings to create the evening lineup. Both students and teachers volunteered to perform and worked to create a night filled with comedy, dancing, singing, and acting.
Sophomore and junior class clubs, advised by English as a Second Language teacher Ms. Sara Choit and language teacher Ms. Anna Valentino respectively, led the initiative, developing the idea at weekly club meetings. The clubs joined for this event in order to make it a larger success and increase the excitement about the event. Sophomore Class Club member Emma Furst spoke of the excitement for the big event.
“We were hoping that everyone would be excited and want to come,” said Furst. “We had so many amazing teachers signed up to perform!”
To prepare for the show, 400 tickets were printed and ready to be sold during 4.1 and 4.2. If every ticket were purchased, the auditorium would have been at full capacity. Each day of both the week before and week of the talent show, students from either grade would have sold these tickets at the table in the Main Lobby.
Club participants expected to come close to selling out of their available tickets. The tickets, priced at five dollars each, and refreshments sold the night of the event were how the two clubs planned to raise money. Money would be split between the two clubs and go towards their junior proms. Members anticipated that the tickets would sell easily, and that enthusiasm would be high.
However, after only a few days of selling tickets, it became clear that the talent show was not drawing in many students. Jessica Hyland, a member of sophomore class club, reacted to the lack of enthusiasm.
“I was disappointed because they had a lot of good acts that were going to be performed and we had a plan to make a lot of money in which were needed for both clubs,” said Hyland. “Now their time and effort was put to waste.”
It was not until a few days later, when no more tickets bought, that the Schreiber administration officially canceled this talent show. Not enough tickets were bought to even slightly fill the auditorium to any capacity. Sophomore and sophomore class club member Rachel Reisman expressed her annoyance with the administration.
“It was a disappointment because they shut it down before we even had the chance to make sure the word was spread, and try to sell tickets to families and friends at the door, which was our backup plan,” said Reisman.
From finding a date for show to organizing the acts, music, and lights, both the students and advisors worked hard to make the night a success. The few students who had already purchased their tickets will be given their full refund for the ticket price, but several were upset by the cancellation.
“I was really surprised when I found out the talent show was canceled,” said sophomore Maddy Lavin. “This was the first Schreiber Talent Show I heard of and I was excited to see was in store for me. I was mostly thrilled to see some of my teachers as performers!”
Sophomore Olivia Gellis, who had not yet purchased her ticket, had a similar reaction.
“I saw all the work my peers did to plan a talent show,” said Gellis. “I was not really sure what to expect from the night, however, I was definitely annoyed when I found out it was canceled. I can’t imagine how the class club members feel.”
Sophomore Zach Shore expressed why he thought the effort was a failure.
“I think this talent show idea could have been as big of a success as planned if it was advertised for longer,” said Shore. “I heard of many students who did not even know the tickets were being sold. If it was publicized it could have raise a lot of money for the clubs.”