With the postponement of Kilter on everyone's mind, 14 performers prepared for Songbirds at Sunset on the night of September 26 at the West Pavillion. Founders Hall President Leila Vaughn ’22 put her heart into setting the entire night up, from sound checks, to equipment, to donuts and coffee for everyone to have while the show went on.
She went for the ‘coffee shop feel’ and it definitely hit the mark.
First up was Parks Robinson ’23, who sang and played the guitar wonderfully, singing a cover of a song as well as an original song. Then it was Jude Michael ’23, playing the guitar alongside a track that he created, titled “Hollows,” a rather interesting title that fit an equally interesting song that focused on the story of being friends with a sleep paralysis demon.
Then it was the stylistic talents of Emily Cothran '22 that broke up the musical acts of the evening, performing a monologue entitled, “Person in the Chair” from the Broadway musical “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The monologue focused on her sitting in a chair, explaining the irrationality of sitting in dark theaters and hoping that the show would be over as quickly as possible.
The show quickly jumped back into singing, with a song that will touch all former (or current) pop punk band kids' hearts, “Young Volcano” by Fall Out Boy, performed by Vauhgn and Mary Brook Diamond ’22. The pair sang the song duet style, with the guitar and their voices working in perfect unison.
The evening’s entertainment then switched to Laugh Track, the Covenant College Improv Group. They played two games for the eager audience, the first titled “Ding.” The crowd provided a situation that two members of the group had to act out. If at any point the head of the group (Beebe Stroud ’22) decided that she wanted something to change she would shout “ding” and whatever it was had to be done differently immediately. The second game was called “Armondo,” where the crowd provided a word (in this case “peanut”) and everyone had to act out a scene involving a peanut.
Next up was Judah Hoobler ’21, singing two original songs, “Winter Slumber” and “Your Sister,” while accompanying himself on the guitar. The second song received quite a bit of response from the audience, especially the line where he said, “Your sister is prettier than you.” The show jumped into the first musical theater song afterwards, a mashup of “I Dreamed a Dream” and “On My Own” from the show “Les Miserables” performed by roommates Sara Rogers ’24 and Sarah Bussard ’24.
The astonishing talents of Ashe Mejeur and Friends followed suit, performing a song by Regina Spektor on the ukulele and piano, with Bennett Sunders ’21 acting as a human cello in accompaniment. Then it was Meg Miller ’20 performing a tap dance number in a Rosie the Riveter costume to the song “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” from the Andrews Sisters, which she finished off by posing in the famous “We Can Do It” pose.
The show’s second comedy act of the night was Banjo Jones ’22 telling the story of himself, a man in orange and another man in need of a bus ticket. Jones garnered quite a few laughs throughout the entire act, as well as a standing ovation from the audience. The stylistic talents of Diamond followed suit, with her rendition of Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.” Her performance also received a standing ovation.
The last two acts of the night actually accompanied each other. First was Cade Horton ’22 singing “Poncho and Lefty” while playing the guitar, before he was joined on stage by Levi Tucker ’23. The pair of them played guitar, while Levi sang an original song “Where Was I Going Again?”
All in all the night was a wonderful success and is sure to be remembered as such.