More karaoke nights to come

DIANA TRASATTI STAFF WRITER DLT722@CABRINI EDU

Cabrini students had the opportunity to rock out to hits such as, “The Thong Song,” “Bye Bye Bye,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Respect” on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Karaoke night was the latest event planned by the Office of Student Activities. It was held at the cafeteria on Thursday from 5-7:30 p.m. Students had the opportunity to perform on stage in the cafeteria’s New York setting.

Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” was the song of choice for Joe Johnson, a junior political science major. “It was an awesome experience. You don’t get a chance to do karaoke much around here. It’s one of my favorite songs and my friends were encouraging me to go up there, so I did.” And does Johnson recommend another karaoke night in the future? “Yes, it was a great experience and lots of fun.”

The cafeteria was decorated in a New York style theme. There were balloons, Broadway posters and Fifth Avenue Street signs. There was a large screen provided with the words so the audience could sing along and a stage for the performers.

“The Sign” by Ace of Base was among the crowd’s favorite, which was performed by Mike McFarlane, a junior criminology major. McFarlane describes the experience as great. “The lights were hot but I just took it in stride. I just went with it.”

Karaoke night came about when the dining services wanted to do something in conjunction with the cafeteria’s New York theme, says Ashley Shoenfelt, director of student activities. An outside company came to set up the sing along screen, stage and microphones.

The audience took part in the fun and sang along when Charles Bush, a senior

English major, Greg Lusty, a junior business administration major, Rodney Collins, a junior business administration major and Lamar Fisher, an undecided freshman, sang N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye.” Collins agrees that the experience was worthwhile. “We should do it more here. It was fun.”

Towards the end of the night even the cafeteria workers got in on the fun. Two of the workers sang and danced to Juvenile’s “Back that Thang Up” as the crowd clapped along.

Some other performers include freshman elementary education major, Ariel Johnson who performed “Killing Me Softly; and junior political science major Genicka Faye Voltaire who performed “Unbreak My Heart.”

There were a good number of people present at the event. OSA is happy with the turnout says Shoenfelt. The students and performers expressed eager interest to have more karaoke nights in the future.

In fact the head writer of the increasingly popular play throughout college campuses will be coming to Cabrini College on Nov. 7. Leigh Fondakowski, the head writer of the controversial play “The Laramie Project,” is planning to be on campus Nov. 7 and 8. She will have dinner with members of the theater program, including the actors, stage crew members and the directors that are involved in the project. She is planning to stay for a performance by the Cabrini Theater.

“The Laramie Project” is a play about a young man who died traumatically at an early age of 21. In 1998 Matthew Shepard, a homosexual resident of Laramie, Wyo., spent a night at a bar celebrating the fact that he could drink legally. While he was in the bar two other young men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, offered Shepard a ride. The next morning Shepard was found against a fence, brutally murdered. Both McKinney and Henderson were charged with being involved in the murder of Shepard.

The play addresses Shepard’s death through over 200 interviews from residents in Laramie who knew him or were affected by his death.

Four weeks after the death of Shepard nine members of the Tectonic Theater Project began to conduct these interviews for a year and a half.

In that year and a half they created the play and decided that instead of writing the words for the people who lived there, they would just play the residents as characters. The monologues and conversations that the characters have are the true words of the residents.

“The Laramie Project” is a play that teaches a lesson about the dangers of hate crimes. It is a heartwrenching play to watch as the characters are real and have a message to tell the audience. By seeing this play the Cabrini community will see the value of a more tolerant society.

Dr. Thomas Stretton, assistant professor of education, is returning as theater director this year.

Performance dates are on Nov. 1, 2, 3 and Nov. 8, 9, 10 and 11. Tickets are going fast so it’s best to get tickets as soon as possible to see this performance.