Wright College Students Leave it All on the Stage at Talent Showcase

(Wright College student-performers taking the stage for one last applause.)

As the spring 2023 semester began to wrap up, the 2023 Wright College’s Talent Showcase took place on April 27. Organized in large part by the Wright College Music Club and Wright’s theater program, Stage Wright Productions, the showcase gave students an opportunity to show off their various talents and come together as a community.

The first of these student performers was self-taught pianist and vice president of Wright’s music club Julia Carrozza, who played Hanz Zimmer’s immortal piece “Time” from the movie “Inception.”

(Carrozza playing “Time”)

Up next was Vyeron Parayno, a self-described hopeless romantic, who sang a powerful rendition of Josh Groben’s Broken Vow.

(Parayno singing “Broken Vow”)

After Parayno was the Director of Show Soraya Ledesma-Rivera, the organizer for the talent showcase. Her song of choice was the ever famous “Rain on My Parade,” originally recorded by Barbara Streisand for the 1964 musical “Funny Girl.”

(Ledesma-Rivera singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade”)

Following Ledesma-Rivera came Dannika Marquez, who sang a wonderful rendition of “Golden Hour” by JVKE.

(Marquez performing “Golden Hour”)

Now came multi-instrumentalist Ethan Stein, who performed a Vietnam War inspired song, Todd Rundgren’s “Just One Victory.”

Stein performing “Just One Victory”

The emcees for the event were Stage Wright Productions members Leiana Carrasco and Max Rue. Incorporating humor and crowd work into their emceeing, the two of them did an excellent job.

Carrasco (L) and Rue (R)

After Stein’s performance, Wright College Music Club-centered band Tenacious E gave a genuine performance of Weezer’s “Buddy Holly.”

(Tenacious E performing “Buddy Holly”)

Next up came Sofia Dimas and co with a lively performance of “La Seine” by the French singer Vanessa Paradis.

(Dimas (second from right) and co performing “La Seine”)

After Dimas came Jairo Altamirano and co performing “Te Quiero” by the critically acclaimed Spanish singer-songwriter José Luis Perales.

Altamirano (R) and co performing “Te Quiero”

After this came Javier Cruz and his bejeweled leather jacket, who performed a brilliant mashup of flamenco guitar, a traditional style of music originating from Spain.

Cruz performing a flamenco mashup

Following Cruz came Altamirano for one last number, the atmospheric Mexican blues standard “Me Gustas Mucho”

Altamirano performing “Me Gustas Mucho”

The 2023 Wright College Talent Showcase was a major success and gave students not only an opportunity for a night of fun socializing, but as well as an outlet for creative expression. The night would not have been possible without sound manager Michael Lesko, stage manager Jude Johnson, emcees Rue and Carrasco, and of course the director of the show Ledesma-Rivera.