By 10:05 p.m. on Feb. 6, the Loft had to close its doors due to overcapacity and the door stayed closed for that reason until a little after midnight. While the Loft may have closed its doors, Wheaton’s first ever Live at the Loft Talent Show opened the eyes of students to all the talent hiding at Wheaton.
There were 12 acts total, ranging from singing, to dancing, to karate, to guitar playing. Instead of making the event a contest, everyone performed for fun.
Nesly Kohen ’17, a Talent Show participant who sang for her act, was very happy about the format of the Talent Show.
“I loved that it wasn’t a competition, but a friendly talent show, so everybody could do whatever they wanted to do. It was nice to be on stage at the Loft. It was really crowded, that made me really excited. But I guess that’s the beauty of sharing your talent and being on stage,” she said.
The Talent Show was run by the 2017 Class Council, which consists of President Sam Evans ’17, Vice President Laura McIntyre ’17, Secretary Sam Hickson ’17, Treasurer Allie Taylor ’17 and Student Representative Kelly Ludew ’17. They were in charge of recruiting people to perform as well as securing the space. Evans also served as the MC of the event.
Taylor’s favorite part was the huge crowd size. “We were all [on the 2017 Class Council] a little afraid at first that not too many people would show up, but once we saw the line out the door, we all became pretty relieved. And it was great to see everyone in the audience react to each act in a positive way,” she said.
Like other Live at the Loft Thursday events, there was free pizza, which is always a draw, but the attendance far exceeded your normal evening. At the end of the night, many students expressed hope that the talent show would become an annual occurrence at Wheaton.