Spike Tape X SHADES Cabaret Wows ’92 Theater

Music lovers rejoiced as the ’92 Theater hosted the latest edition of the Spike Tape X SHADES Cabaret, coordinated by Vivian Orthwein ’27, Leela Yohannes ’29, Celeste Belin ’28, and Osato Oronsaye ’29. On Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:00 p.m., audience members entered to the dulcet piano tones of Jack St. Amand ’28, and after brief remarks from Belin and Orthwein, the lights went down, and the performers took the stage.

The evening started with a bang, as Cary Tran-Trong ’29 and Isabel Miller ’29 performed a tempestuous “What Is This Feeling?” from “Wicked,” accompanied by St. Amand. The audience was then treated to Charlie Manzano’s ’27 delightfully macabre rendition of Tom Lehrer’s “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,” with Ben Watanabe ’30 on piano, wowing the audience with the murder ballad.

Alexandra Simon ’27 took over the stage next, bringing the crowd to a roar with a soulful rendition of “Independently Owned” from the musical “Shucked.” The evening then shifted to a sweeter tone, with Sasha Cohen ’29 and Gracie Halverson ’28 performing “Only Us” from “Dear Evan Hansen,” before Ale Philippides ’27, accompanied by St. Amand, delivered the magnificent song “Maria” from “West Side Story” with unmatched tone and emotion.

In a change of pace, Brendan Kelso ’27 treated the audience to a preview of his senior project, performing a stirring rendition of “Ginny Lives On” from his upcoming original musical “Ginny! An Unconstitutional Musical,” which will be performed this spring as a senior music capstone.

“It was incredibly heartwarming to see the enthusiastic response from the audience, especially since I’ve been working on my musical for around two years now,” said Kelso. “I think that’s really what I love about Cabaret: the ability to express ourselves through our favorite theater songs, original or not, to an equally theater-loving audience.”

The next two numbers, both duets, were undoubtedly the evening’s comedic highlights. First, roommates Avi Kahtan ’28 and Adam Kleber ’28, in full costume, performed “Marry the Man Today” from “Guys and Dolls,” before Katherine Ball ’27 and Avery Schweitzer ’27 donned ginger and blonde wigs for “Granger Danger” from the Wizarding World parody “A Very Potter Musical.” The audience was then given a second, equally moving number from “West Side Story,” as the lights dimmed for Micah Wolfensohn ’30 to perform a hope-filled rendition of “Something’s Coming,” before the spotlight landed on Zoe Nagle ’27, as she performed “Words Fail” from “Dear Evan Hansen.”

After these two soulful solo pieces, Har-El Shrem ’29 and Ethan Diamondstein ’29 varied the mood by celebrating the holidays early, with a rollicking, hilarious, fully choreographed performance of Tom Lehrer’s “Hannukah in Santa Monica,” another highlight of the evening. Francisca Wijaya ’27, accompanied by Abigail Weintraub ’30, kept the audience in a good mood with a punchy performance of “Right Hand Man” from “Something Rotten,” before Bre Jordan ’27 and Simon Sidney ’27, with a sock puppet in hand and a whiteboard at the ready, got the audience out of their seats with a brilliant performance of “We Both Reached for the Gun” from “Chicago.” Matching that energy, Elijah Philip ’28 performed a soaring, searing rendition of “Pacencia y Fe” from “In The Heights,” bringing Manhattan heat to the ’92.

Gabi Schneider ’29 and Kira Tilton ’28 gave us our last comedic number of the evening, with a very “Inside Baseball” performance of “Secondary Characters” from the meta-musical “Title of Show,” followed by a sweet, charming, delightfully heartfelt version of “Old Friends” from “Merrily We Roll Along,” performed by the trio of Chloé Naudet ’27, Simon Holland ’28, and Kekoa Dowsett ’28. Isha Bhandari ’30 brought the house down with the immortal “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserablés.” Elena Jin ’28 and Fiona Kim ’28 ended the evening with a touching, emotional rendition of “For Good” from “Wicked,” and there was not a dry eye in the audience. As the lights came up and the performers took their bows, the audience rose to its feet and showered them with applause. Musical theater is alive and well at Wesleyan.

Brendan Kelso is an Arts and Cultures Editor for The Argus.

Ezra Cooper can be reached at emcooper@wesleyan.edu.