The 14th annual Gorham Middle School (GMS) Talent Show was held on January 30 in a packed auditorium. It was sponsored by Southern Maine General Contracting and organized by teachers Mrs. Pastore, Mrs. Joyce, and Mrs. Williamson. Student council representatives helped with the lights and brochures.
The night started off on a jazzy note as one of the nights’ three emcees Samantha Hutchinson, declared “let’s get jazzed up for the GMS jazz band” as they performed “Birdland.” Performers included Patrick Cyr, Sam D’Amico, Quentin Riiska, Grace Johnson, Anya Mazaris-Atkinson, Emma Mullin, Phoebe Richards, Megan Wentworth, Kevin Luo, Benjamin Allison, Ambrosia Moore, and Kieran Wilkins.
The talent at GMS is widespread as performances included singing (even a duet from staff members), dancing (including an Irish Step solo) and a flute quintet with steel drums in the background.
Photo credit Donna PastoreGorham Middle School has many talented students who took the stage recently, but the GMS Cookie Shakers (pictured) stole the show. Top row (l to r): Jack Decrow, Lillian Andreasen, Aiden Fortier, Ava Spitzinger, MaKenna Wheeler, Kyleigh Staples, Cooper Henderson, Paige Perreault, Alicia Poschke, and Lily LaClair. Bottom row (l to r): Sophie Gunn, Anna Yahwak, Lily McDonald, Ella LaBrie, Aidan Lee, Brady Arsenault, Anthony Jordan, Bode Bragdon, and Ethan Homa (Missing: Caden Smith).
Congratulations to all the other talented students who performed: Annika Mocciola sang “Quiet” from the musical “Matilda;” Tayler Prince sang “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” with Ethan Ho joining her halfway through; and Aiden Fortier mesmerized the audience with his dance to “Brother.” Emcee Aera Hyson told audience members to follow Emelia Bailey (opera singer) down the yellow brick road as she sang “Somewhere over the Rainbow;” Ethan Ho came back on stage to sing his renditions of “I Believe in You & Me” and “I Will Always Love You;” and Alicia Poschke and Paige Perreault danced to “Prison of Decisions.”
The last emcee of the night, Emma Smith, told audience members that Ava Spitziger was going to take them to church with her song “Take Me to Church;” Clara Shvets awed audience members with her Irish Step dance solo; and Maddie Downey sang “All of Me.”
To wrap up the night, a flute quintet comprised of Anya Mazaris-Atkinson, Eden Johnson, Morgan Cole, and Junbei Chen with GMS’ Mrs. Williamson performing on the steel drums played “Hedwig’s Theme” and “Eye of the Tiger.” Hyson then warned the crowd they would be frozen to the edge of their seats with the next act of Elsa and Friends (Williamson and Ms. Collins had a Elsa and Moana sign off while movie clips played on the screen in back of them); and Dakoda Coyne rounded out the performances with her breathtaking dance to “I Can’t Breathe.”
The final act brought the house down with laughter after Hutchinson introduced the GMS Staff Cookie Shakers as having “limited dancing abilities” and needing to improvise after being unwittingly signed up for the show. Twenty sixth grade students then came on the stage dancing, each wearing a bobble head of a GMS staff member cut out in the shape of a cookie on their heads.