What Goes into the Talent Show?

Each year, Coach Lynott is faced with a tough decision: what senior he will choose to MC the talent show. Back in March, Lynott met with his four senior MC’s, Max Dreitlein, Mike Dreitlein, Mary Cate Mantone and myself. The four of us were beyond fortunate to be apart of this whole experience but at the time we never would’ve expected the amount of work that it actually takes.

Between school, sports and work, us four had to manage our time wisely in order to get the videos done and be ready for the night of the show with what we wanted to say in between acts. With the help of spring break, we were able to film the intro video which basically gave a funny backstory as to how we were chosen to become an MC. Along with the intro video, we included some filler videos: the infamous look alike video where students are compared to one another or someone in the world because of their looks, the spelling bee where students are given certain words to spell, carpool karaoke where the MC’s sing in the car with teachers, and the Memorium video which reflects on and jokes about the things that “died” throughout the year. All these videos were not easy to film and edit and they certainly didn’t take a short amount of time.

Along with the preparation of videos, the talent show also incorporated an array talents across the board. Between singers, piano players, comedians, jugglers, drummers, dancers and much more, the talent show was a perfect way of displaying the school’s many talented students. Amongst the talents, juggler, Mitra Sharif, shared with us that she “was up until two in the morning the night before the talent show”. The performers put in hours and hours of time practicing before they get up on stage that night. Especially being in front of such a large audience, nerves certainly built up and the suspense behind stage was present. Singer, Emma Schuszler, shared her experience on stage when she said, “Getting up there was really exciting. Performing in front of all my classmates and seeing them clap so loud after was just such a good feeling”. The performers all felt so accomplished once the show was over because all of their hard work finally had paid off.

Behind the scenes, Coach Lynott is sacrificing hours of his own time and free periods in order to make the show a success and enjoyable for everyone. His job is tough because he is in charge of regulating what is put in as far as appropriateness goes. Lynott does such a good job in not only organizing the show, but also making the experience memorable while at the same time making his job look effortless. Mrs. Bonamana runs through all of the films to check the audio and picture on them before they’re shown that night. Without her, none of the screenplay or sound would be the way it was and no one would have any idea how to do what she does.

Ultimately, anyone who attends the talent show will walk away still laughing hysterically, but not many realize just how much work is put into making the show the way it is. The Senior Talent Show has always been a fun tradition at Madison and if it wasn’t for the help of so many people behind the scenes the show wouldn’t be possible.