Given the large audience in attendance, the fourth annual Mills Got Talent show was again successful.
Current and prospective students sat on the floor or stood in the back as the various performers took the stage in Lisser Hall on Sunday night.
“We had over 400 people there I think,” said Collette Bowler, Soccer Coach and P.E. teacher at Mills who organized the event for the fourth year in a row. The event occurred simultaneously with a prospective student visit program, and students were encouraged by Admissions to bring their “prospies”. Prospective students were also
The acts included various groups and individuals performing dance routines, reading poetry, doing stand-up comedy, singing and playing musical instruments. There was even a harp performance. According to Bowler, two prospective students performed works. One recited a monologue from Hamlet and the other read her own poetry.
“It was really great to see the variety of acts – it was interesting to see the new talent the prospective students brought,” said junior Michaela Ellis, who videotaped the show for Mills.
The emcees, all senior student athletes performed skits to introduce each act. Each skit was about a year from the past decade, highlighting trends such as clothes, music and current events.
An appearance from alumna, Jenny Safreno, class of 2009, who emceed the first three years of the event, also added a sense of nostalgia to the night. Her movie, shown on a projection screen, showcased her life after Mills – which apparently hadn’t changed. She was shown at grad school with her excess of Mills paraphernalia.
“It was a lot of work, we spent two weeks writing the skits, rehearsing and memorizing. The night of the show, we were there from three until 10 p.m.” said Lisa Kelly, a senior and one of three hosts for the night.
In addition to the three emcees, student athletes also helped with the curtains, lights and sound.
“Once it got going it was a lot of fun – we had such a such a great team. In the end it was definitely worth it,” said Kelly.
“It’s things like this that make me miss Mills,” said Kat Hall, a former Mills student.
This year’s show included some perennial performers, including a band formed in part by Hall and juniors Jess LaFrank and Emily Meike.
The band, which included several new members, performed three songs, including an acoustic version of Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time.” They performed the song last year, and were not planning on performing again, according to Meike, until the audience screamed for an encore after their final song.
“My first performance was pretty good but I learned the inefficiency of not doing a sound check,” said Hall.
Meike agreed and said that, “Despite the technical difficulties I think it was a magical performance.”
New performers included first year Safiya Karmy-Jones, who performed a comedy routine based on her life as a Mills woman.
“I really liked the comedy. She did a good job of relating her experience to that of everyone at Mills,” said junior Dalia Cuenca. She said Mills Got Talent was a good way to present Mills to potential students.
“It’s great that it was a prospective student night, so they can get a better idea of what Mills is like and make their decision whether to come or not,” said Cuenca.
Bowler said she agreed it was great having Mills Got Talent on the prospective student visit day.
“Very different types of people come to Mills, from all walks of life and all different types of personalities, and this is very representative of that,” said Bowler.
Karmy-Jones ended her set with a joke that future Mills women will soon come to understand.
After describing a comedy show at her former high school where students told “yo momma” jokes, she made the Mills version of the joke, “Yo momma… is a strong, independent woman.”
