On Friday, Feb. 26, the Leesville Choral Department Parent Arts Booster Club hosted its sixteenth annual Performing Arts Café.
With what Diane Covington, choral director, predicted to be the “the best PA Café yet,” tickets were sold out and the cafeteria was packed.
At 2:45 p.m., volunteers transformed the school cafeteria into a circus themed setting.
Decorations included red, yellow and blue balloons and streamers as well as giant stuffed animals and buckets of popcorn.
At 7 p.m., the audience watched over twenty acts while enjoying desert and coffee served by members of the choral department. Servers wore tiger and elephant hats to complete the circus theme as they warmly greeted the audience.
The Emcees of the evening were Cameron Steagall, senior, who came dressed as a ringmaster, and Brooke Walsh, senior, who was dressed as a tight rope walker.
The evening began with Merritt Murray, freshman, who performed the song “Broadway Baby” from the musical Follies.
Lela Johnston, senior, concluded the evening with a soothing rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight.”
“I was so proud of my daughter, and it is always exciting to see all the talent that comes from people on stage. Parents always see choral students together on a stage during concerts, so it’s interesting to see what people sound like on their own,” said Trish Boone, parent of MacKenzie Boone, sophomore.
A highlight of the evening was the duet of Brooks Jordan, sophomore, and Bob Nelson , sophomore, who performed Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.”
“The PA Café this year was by far one of the best I have ever been to, and maybe one of the best this school has probably ever had,” said Steagall.
“Sure there were some performances that the audience responded to more than others, but overall everyone sounded okay.”
“McKenzie Boone” is actually spelled with an ‘a’, so “MacKenzie Boone”.