The evening of March 16th hundreds of Prairie Ridge students, teachers, parents, and friends filled the auditorium to help raise money for a good cause.
The National Honor Society first organized Karaoke for Cancer four years ago, and since then, the event has returned to the PR stage each year for one-of-a-kind Friday night entertainment to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
This year the Prairie Ridge National Honor Society gathered over $2,500 through ticket sales and donations for Ovarian Cancer Research at Prentice Women’s Hospital.
Mrs. Boddy fulfilled the role of an entertaining and engaging emcee as she made the audience laugh with her limitless supply of math jokes and her unmatched talent of stalling until technical difficulties were addressed and fixed. Every time she returned to the stage and stepped in front of the curtain, the audience met her with overwhelming applause, while she reminded them of her inability to sing and perform onstage, exclaiming that “my appearance as the Queen in the musical is the most you will ever see me do.”
Members of Student Services–Mrs. Berg, Mrs. Murren, Mr. Dusenske, and Mr. Brown–opened the show with their unique rendition of “Party Rock Anthem,” accompanied by blinding lights and amusing dance moves. They were followed by Mrs. Palese, Ms. Franco, and Mr. Higgins singing “Brighter than the Sun.” Ms. Bartells and Mrs. Tiria sang “Dímelo” and featured Vienna Tiria dancing.
Vienna was not the only child to accompany her parents on stage as Ms. Glover flawlessly performed “Jump Around” with her daughter Ella attached to her leg and wearing a matching shirt. Mr. Seiler and Ms. Orsi performed “It’s Tricky,” while Mr. Mason took the stage and presented his version of “Ice Ice Baby” bringing onto the stage his daughter as guest performer.
Mr. Mairet, though nervous and hesitant to perform at Karaoke for Cancer, sang “Forever Young” while Mrs. Koch and Ms. Orsi brought the crowd to its feet with “Living On a Prayer.” Mr. Kennett, Mr. Seiler, and Mr. Dusenske displayed their version of “Can’t Touch This,” with dance moves to enhance the performance.
Amidst the teacher performances were the refreshing student performances. The Madrigals and Liam Dyer’s band Message to Montauk both raised $100 in order to reveal their talents. The band Message to Montauk not only sang an original song and later accompanied Mr. Delzell in his performance of “Between Days,” but also brought CDs of its original music, selling them for $5 each and donating the proceeds to cancer research.
The entertainment reached new heights as Mr. Pellikan walked onto the stage sporting a black dress and a disheveled wig, singing “Proud Mary” with the help and assistance of his devoted son and daughter, who danced in the background and provided backup vocals as necessary.
Mr. Kennett closed the show performing “Blue (Da Ba Dee).” Appearing on the stage, with a blue face, a blue hoodie, and a wide array of blue props, he engaged the audience in his performance as he walked up and down the aisles of the theater and promoted the crowd’s loud cheering.
Before the night was over, Kurtis Stefan had asked the Madrigals to sing “Happy Birthday” to Alexandra Saldan and Danny Tobias enlisted the help of emcee Mrs. Boddy in asking Jess Herak to prom. By the end of the extremely eventful show, everyone in the audience had enjoyed an awesome night.
Kurtis Stefan, one of the NHS presidents, ended the night with words of gratitude and appreciation, thanking “everyone for making Karaoke for Cancer possible and yet another successful event.”
See more pictures from the event on Facebook.
