Moapa Valley Shows Off Its Talent In Annual Showcase

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

The depth and breadth of Moapa Valley’s talent was in evidence at a Moapa Valley Talent Showcase put on by the MV Performing Arts Council (MVPAC) on Monday, September 12. The show was the season opener for MVPAC and is a long-standing valley tradition.

This year’s show was organized and coordinated by Lynda Dimick and Marquessa Aikele. Aikele said she was pleased with how the show turned out. “I’ve attended this show for many years and I’m constantly amazed at the talent in the valley,” Aikele said. “I am amazed at the willingness of people to give up their time to come share these talents. It gives me hope and pride in the place we live.”

The Master of Ceremonies for this year’s show was Bryce Hardy, who introduced each performance. The show began with a performance by the MVHS jazz band under the direction of Kim Delgadillo. The band played a piece of funk-style music called “Honk” by Jeff Jarvis. Solos were played by Zach Anderson, Barry Petersen, and Austin Doble.

Ora Mae May then performed a solo on the xylophone. May said that she figured out recently that her xylophone was 75 years old.
“When they said it was 75 I thought, ‘That sounds really old!’ and then I remembered I got it new when I was 12!” she said. “We’ve been good friends ever since.”

After May’s performance, MVPAC president Lance Mortensen presented May with the annual MVPAC Lifetime of Service Award for contributions to the community. May taught 5th grade in Moapa Valley for 19 years and Elementary Music for 2 years.

After May, local voice teacher Erin Cornwall performed the song “Burn” from the musical “Hamilton”.
This was followed by 11-year-old Olivia Leavitt, daughter of Tracy and Amber Leavitt, who did a ballet dance to “Esmeralda Variation”.

MVHS senior Anna Stratton played a piano solo entitled “Golliwigs Cakewalk” by Claude Debussy.
The tenor and bass sections of local choir, the Zephyr Singers, delighted the audience with a rendition of “Wand’rin Star” and “They Call the Wind Mariah” from the musical “Paint Your Wagon” by Lerner and Loewe. The solo was sung by Merlin Wollenzein.

Next a trio group made up of MVHS seniors Madison Mortensen on vocals, Kelly Prisbrey on the ukelele, and Sage Jarrel on drums performed, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
They were followed by the MVHS dance team Pirate Motion performing “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid and choreographed by Anjie Lee.

The high school portion of the program continued with Zach Anderson and Eden Whitmore performing, “I Got Rhythm Variations” by Gershwin as a piano duet. They were followed by senior Madison Bush on the guitar and doing a beautiful job singing an original composition she called, “Come What May.”
Jane Solomon performed a flute solo next accompanied by Sam Aikele. She performed, “Histoire du Tango; Bordel-1900” by Astor Piazzolla.

Next, the youngest performer of the evening, 9-year-old Faith Kelly, played a ukelele duet with her mother Becky. They sang a rendition of “You Are My Sunshine.”
The Kellys were followed by Darren Hardy, who played “The Bell Carol” on the piano. Hardy had heard the arrangement he played on YouTube orginally and had tracked down the music and learned the piece himself.

Eighth grader McKenzie Caldwell sang next accompanied by Chau Kim on the piano and Jason Ham on the bass. She sang “Lost Boy” by Ruth B.
She was followed by sisters Marya Hoffman on the viola and Josephina Romero on the violin playing “String Duet No. 1 in G for Violin and Viola” by Mozart.
Pirate Motion was joined by the Goldenettes, a group of women over the age of 50 who were former MVHS Debonettes. Together they performed a number called “Save the Last Dance” by Michael Buble, choreographed by former Pirate motion member Kaleigh Hill.

The last number of the night was a duet by Brent Taylor with his son Kyle. Although Brent has performed all over the valley, the show was Kyle’s first time performing in public. Together they sang a beautiful rendition of “Live This Life” with Brent on the guitar.

MVPAC president Lance Mortensen was pleased with the night. “I thought the show went incredibly well; from the beautiful decorations by The Front Porch to the great turnout, and from the 1st performer to the last. It was even better than I had hoped for. A lot of work went into it and a lot of good people helped out.”

The next MVPAC performance will be by popular group Gentri: The Gentleman Trio on October 24 at the Ron Dalley Theater at 7 pm.